The interim leader of the British Columbia Conservatives says the party would introduce a hybrid system restoring accident victims’ rights to sue if elected Oct. 24.
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British Columbia’s Conservatives say they would repeal the province’s no-fault auto insurance system and restore accident victims’ ability to sue, in a policy proposal revealed through a leaked letter to legal and insurance groups.
In the letter, interim leader Lorne Doerkson says the party would bring forward legislation if elected on Oct. 24, moving to a new “hybrid system” intended to keep rates affordable while protecting people hurt by reckless drivers.
Doerkson told reporters the policy is needed so people with serious injuries can be properly compensated to manage their post-accident lives, adding that no-fault insurance has been “very challenging” for some residents.
He said he had made “no promises” about the plan and later pointed to the need to contemplate changes to the insurance model, including for people facing catastrophic and potentially life-altering injuries.
The leaked letter is dated Sept. 29 and is addressed to the vice-president of the Insurance Bureau of Canada, along with the presidents of the Law Society of B.C., the Trial Lawyers Association of B.C., and the Canadian Bar Association. In it, Doerkson says new legislation would be passed within a year of the Conservatives being elected.
“Accident victims will get back their right to recover for their serious injuries, and government will get out of the legal profession’s business.” Doerkson wrote.
He said B.C. could look to other provinces with what he described as “hybrid insurance models,” naming Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, P.E.I., and Newfoundland and Labrador.
The province’s no-fault insurance system was introduced in 2021 under the NDP government and generally prevents car accident victims from suing. The NDP’s leader, David Eby, has criticized the system, describing ICBC’s situation as a “financial dumpster fire,” and the party has said trial lawyers have been lobbying to end no-fault insurance, which it says lowered rates and has kept them frozen for seven years.
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