Insurance Industry Says No To Ontario Government Promise Of A 15% Reduction. PS: I told you so!

Insurance Industry Says No To Ontario Government Promise Of A 15% Reduction In Auto Insurance Premiums - And Ontario Government Falls in Line!

The cozy, behind-the-scenes relationship between business and government was on full display last week when the vice president of policy development for the auto and home insurance industry lobby group, the Insurance Bureau of Canada, came right out and said publicly that the # 1 promise of the 2013 Ontario Liberal budget - a 15% reduction in auto insurance premiums - simply wasn't going to happen.

Despite legislation passed by the Ontario legislature that mandates it, the Ontario government’s goal of a 15% reduction in auto insurance rates is “absolutely not” doable, the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s Barbara Sulzenko-Laurie said last Tuesday during a panel discussion at the National Insurance Conference of Canada.

Even more telling are Ms. Sulzenko-Laurie's exact words uttered publicly at the conference which makes clear that not only is the industry going to do everything possible to block the promised 15% premium reduction, but that the government is a full partner in this outright lie to the Ontario people.

When asked whether the promised 15% reduction is going ahead, Ms. Sulzenko-Laurie's said:

“Absolutely not, and I think the government fully knows that although the government has not come out and said it”.

“But certainly in our conversations with the superintendent of insurance, he’s indicated to us that no one in FSCO (the Financial Services Commission of Ontario - the regulator of auto insurance in Ontario) believes that there’s 15% that’s in the system (to be reduced),"

“When we’re talking to the political side (Ministers and their staff), they don’t admit it, but they sort of smile knowingly in response to the question”.

So the Ontario government is not going to honour its promise to 8 million Ontario drivers to cut Ontario auto insurance premiums by 15%. It knows it, the bureaucrats regulating the industry know it, and the insurance industry knows it.

And the 15% premium reduction was no ordinary promise - this was the key promise of the 2013 Ontario budget. This was the promise that allowed the Liberal government to survive because a 15% premium reduction was the key demand of the NDP for the Ontario budget - the main reason the NDP allowed the Liberal government to survive another year!

Some background on the issue:

In 2010, the Ontario government slashed statutory auto insurance benefits that in just one year resulted in $2 billion in savings for Ontario auto insurance companies.

And predictably, auto insurance profits went through the roof giving the auto insurance industry some of the best financial results in years between 2011 & 2013.

Here's two examples of the 2010 benefit cuts:

Example 1: Because of the 2010 changes, the $100,000 maximum for medical/rehabilitation benefits was reduced to $3,500 for minor injuries (even though many so-called minor injuries are quite significant) and $50,000 for even more serious non-catastrophic injuries.

Example 2: The $72,000 maximum attendant care benefit for non-catastrophic injuries was reduced to zero (yes, zero!) for minor injuries and $36,000 for non-catastrophic injuries.

And it was a direct result of these benefit cuts - and the subsequent near-record industry profits - that the Ontario Liberal government made the 15% cut the key initiative in its 2013 budget.

But despite there being a law mandating the 15% premium reduction, the insurance industry has decided it just isn't going to happen. And the government, as it often does, has caved to the industry and is just biding it's time until it can come up with a spin-line that will provide a lame excuse for why their number one promise to the Ontario people in their 2013 budget, is simply not going to happen.

Want to know what is really happening in Ontario auto insurance while the industry is crying poor? Read lawyer Alan Shanoff's 3 excellent pieces from the Toronto Sun - the links are provided below.

And then let the Ontario government know what you think about the government breaking its # 1 promise of its 2013 budget!

*Note: The above was posted on my Face Book page without an author's name included; However, I take it that he or she wanted it promulgated, and so I post it here with thanks.

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/08/30/auto-insurance-bomnanza

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/07/26/anti-fraud-bill-a-mirage

http://gerry-stopthebull.blogspot.ca/2014/03/ontario-auto-insurance-premium.html

__________________________________

Relevant Members Addresses

 Hon Charles Sousa 

Mississauga South

csousa.mpp@liberal.ola.org

Ministry	Ministry of Finance 7th Floor, Frost Building South 7 Queen's Park Crescent Toronto, Ontario M7A 1Y7
Tel	416-325-0400
Fax	416-325-0374 Contact Kathleen by Phone, E-mail or Mail Phone 416-325-1941 TTY/Teletypewriter: (for the hearing impaired) 1-800-387-5559 E-mail premier@ontario.ca Mail If your message is private or personal, you may choose to write to me at the following address: Kathleen Wynne, Premier Legislative Building Queen's Park Toronto ON M7A 1A1

FYI: Kathleen Wynne, Charles Sousa, Joe Oliver, and Stephen Harper...

Tickle down economics don't work!

A recent study in the U.S. shows that singles are on the increase...

Yet they continue to pay for programs that are exclusively geared toward families.

Billions upon billions are being spent on child benefit programs each year, but no one seems to know how much.

This isn’t surprising, since they are divided among so many jurisdictions that it is difficult if not impossible to track down. (see http://gerry-stopthebull.blogspot.ca/2014/06/tales-from-nanny-nation.html for a miniscule list.) These range from a basic $1,300 per year, non-conditional grant ,to the so-called “No One’s Perfect” -- a federally-sponsored grant for underage parents.

Bear in mind that this doesn’t include education, which in my Ontario community amounts to 72% on the annual tax bill. Multiply this by every school district across Canada, and you are probably talking trillions of dollars per year.

Yet, there is NO aggregate accounting per province, LITTLE co-ordination between provincial and federal programs (which frequently duplicate one another), and NO cost/benefit analysis for any of it. So, who knows whether the money being spent is even achieving the goals for which it was intended?

Or is it, as I suspect, largely a black hole.

It is, from my perspective, the sloppiest handling of major amounts of taxpayer’s money that I can think of -- perhaps rivaling the arms industry for unaccountability.

Here's the real story behind yesterday's election in New Brunswick

51.99% of the voters (193,944) were ignored.

Fair Vote Canada

The number of votes cast for unsuccessful candidates out numbered those for the winners by 14,774 votes. A total of 193,144 votes (51.99 per cent) were cast for unsuccessful candidates.

"Not only was a majority government elected with only 43 per cent of the votes, but most voters from New Brunswick will now be represented by someone they did not vote for." says John Hoben, a member of Fair Vote Canada's National Council and a Fredericton resident.

“Fair Vote Canada congratulates the Green Party with its new seat garnered with 6.6% of the popular vote but wonder how NDP voters feel about their 13% shut-out?” adds Kelly Carmichael, Executive Director of Fair Vote Canada. “During the campaign, we heard a diversity of opinions on important subjects, like jobs and fracking. When voters are making decisions about the health and prosperity of our communities, we need a voting system that respects all voices.”

How long can politicians and Elections Canada pretend that there is nothing wrong with the electoral system?!?

An open letter to Kathleen Wynne & Charles Sousa: Dear Ms Wynne and Mr Sousa, please take note of the following:.

...And just in case you don't get the message: TRICKLE DOWN GRANTS ONLY BENEFITS THE RICH CORPORATIONS! It-just-doesn't-work for the 99%, and it sure as hell doesn't do any good for seniors. So let the Sisco Systems, General Motors, auto insurance companies and the like rob us on their own.

And while we’re on the topic of ‘corporate welfare bums,’ here are three headlines which show where the money usually ends up (… and it ain’t with the 99%).

'Tech giant Cisco getting millions from government to expand Ontario workforce'

Ontario taxpayers invest $220M to create 1,700 jobs (i.e. $130,000 per job) -- Nice deal if you can get it!

Why Cisco Has Showered These 3 Men With Billions Of Dollars

Get the picture?

Even right-wingers aren't thrilled with Stephen Harper's income splitting plan

When, oh WHEN is someone going to start realizing that singles and seniors are paying for all these 'family' handouts and tax credits, but getting nothing  in return.

Stephen Harper's proposed family income splitting plan isn't even popular with right-wingers, according to a new survey of 5,000 supporters of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

The right-wing organization surveyed supporters in the lead-up to the Parliamentary session that kicked this week, and found the majority said paying down debt should be the top priority (52%) compared to reducing taxes (44%).

And when it comes to what kind of tax cuts they want, income splitting is decidedly not a favoured option.

During the 2011 election campaign, Harper promised that once the federal budget was balanced, the Conservatives would bring in income splitting for families with children under 18 (up to $50,000). Harper restated his commitment to reduce taxes during his speech on Monday to mark the beginning of the Parliamentary session.

Think tanks across the ideological spectrum have come out against the income splitting proposal, withresearch showing 9 out of 10 Canadians would receive no benefit from the $3 billion Mad Men Giveaway.

Meanwhile, majority of families (54.1%) that are the express target of the Conservative proposal — couples with children under 18 — would see no benefit whatsoever. Under the proposal, dubbed by one group as "inequality by design," the benefits would go disproportionately to Canada's wealthiest families with a top income-earner and a stay-at-home spouse.

This reality seems to have sunk in among CTF supporters

When asked if they prefer across the board tax cuts or income splitting, they overwhelmingly sided with tax cuts (72.4%) compared to income splitting (21.5%). Meanwhile, just 14.3% said income splitting would be a "meaningful" tax cut to them personally. Only 9% picked the government’s income splitting proposal as their top choice for a tax cut.

To see the whole PRESS PROGRESS - http://www.pressprogress.ca/en/post/even-right-wingers-arent-thrilled-stephen-harpers-income-splitting-plan

Seems I've peed-off someone at Bell Canada or 'Microcrap' ... But do I care?

When I went to my Bell email account  to collect my mail, this morning, I was met with the news that my account had been closed. However, the disturbing part is that they accused me of violating the terms of service, i.e. "It looks like the Terms of Use may have been violated.." In other words, it’s my fault.

Well, the facts of the matter is that I have been paying Bell Canada gratis (including their usurious ‘over charges’ of $3.90 per gigabyte) since August 5^th, 2014. That’s the day I switched to another internet provider, but because Bell requires 30-days notice they have been dipping into my pocket ever since. So the ‘fault’ if any resides entirely with Bell Canada.

In my experience, Bell has shown itself to be a money grasping outfit from which I am well parted. However, you can count on the fact that I will never do business with them again.

So do I care, only to the extent that they have laid the blame on me. 

***

See also: 

http://gerry-stopthebull.blogspot.ca/2014/08/pssst-ma-bell-is-gold-digger-pas-it-on.html

http://gerry-stopthebull.blogspot.ca/2014/08/bell-canada-is-biggest-money-grasping.html