Views (March 01, 2006)

The Insurance Institute of Ontario’s 107th Convocation and Awards Night acknowledged the achievements of nearly 400 CIP and FCIP graduates on Jan. 26, 2006, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. More than 1,300 guests cheered on the most recent graduates at the annual event, which highlighted special guest speaker CBC News anchor Peter Mansbridge. Multiple awards were presented to Royal & SunAlliance Insurance Company’s Jeremy Gallant, who took home the Kenneth E. MacLeod Prize as well as the First Year Student award. Elaine Kempster, State Farm Insurance, also picked up two awards including the Frank Gray Memorial Prize and the Diamond Jubilee Award. Anthony Chan of Hunter Keilty Muntz & Beatty was named instructor of the year. Other award winners include: Ashok Kumar Chawla of Professional Insurance, the L.L. Rooke Memorial Prize; Barbara Elizabeth Stratton of AON Re Canada Inc., the Reinsurance Research Council Prize; Jeanne Li of Liberty International Underwriters Canada, the Daphne Mullally Award; and, Warren Bennett of State Farm Insurance Company, the Fellows Award.

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Despite an early Saturday morning snow storm, the Canadian Collision Industry Forum (CCIF), held Jan. 21 in Mississauga, ON, enjoyed a record-breaking attendance of just over 300 delegates. Collision industry stakeholders attending the packed meeting included representatives of collision shops, insurers, trainers, trade associations, as well as product and service providers. The forum successfully provided a venue for collision repairers in search of knowledge and ideas on improving the success of their business, including a discussion on recent efforts to bring about national certification of auto repair facilities. Among this year’s CCIF speakers were (clockwise from top right): Larry Jefferies, CARSTAR Automotive Canada and CCIF chairman; Ken Friesen, Concours Collision Centres; Tony Canade, Assured Automotive; Mike Bryan, administrator, CCIF; George Cooke, The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company; Tom McGee, I-CAR; and Brian Kelleher of Mitchell International.

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This year’s 6th SMARTRISK Curling Bonspiel was a soaring success, raising over $25,000 in net proceeds. Fundraising event sponsors this year include (see photo; left to right): George Cooke, The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company; Robert Conn, SMARTRISK Founder; Debbie Dickinson, M.J. Dickinson Insurance Adjuster Ltd.; Carol Jardine, Canadian Northern Shield Insurance; Donna Shumka, SCM Adjusters Canada Ltd.; and, Bill Gore, Guy Carpenter & Company. The charitable profits this year’s sponsors helped to raise will directly benefit SMARTRISK’s injury prevention initiatives, including education programs that uncover devastating truths regarding the true toll injuries can take. SMARTRISK programs are designed to be dynamic, exciting and interesting, and to help bring about a reduction in the incidence of serious injuries and deaths by explaining how participants can use simple smart thinking to prevent injury. Some of the charity’s positive programs include: “SMARTRISK Heroes,” a travelling road show that encourages young people to choose to take only smart risks; “SMARTRISK No Regrets,” a peer leadership program that focuses on preventing injuries in areas relevant to youth, such as sports, recreation, driving and the workplace; and, “SMART MOVES,” a seniors falls prevention program. SMARTRISK is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to protecting against predictable and preventable injuries that, more than any other cause of death, are continuing to kill and debilitate Canadians between the ages of 1 to 44. Visit www.smartrisk.ca to learn more about SMARTRISK’s programming and activities.

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Avec Insurance Managers Inc. and Omega General Insurance Co. have joined to form a strategic partnership. Omega General, Canada’s newest national insurer, specializes in underwriting quality insurance programs and bringing balance sheet solutions to unique insurance opportunities. Avec is a national MGA specializing in underwriting marine, surplus lines and inland marine risks.

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Collision Reporting and Occurrence Management System (CROMS) won two of Microsoft’s “prestigious awards” at the Microsoft World Wide Partners Conference, providing CROMS with top honours at both the global and national levels. The CROMS application submitted by Accident Support Services Inc. was recognized as a “Global Winner.” Microsoft Partners chose CROMS for its ability to deliver market-leading customer solutions built on Microsoft technology. The award was presented at the annual ceremony held in Minneapolis on July 9, 2006. CROMS won the Integrated E-Business Solutions Award based on its unique features as an integrated, inter-operable, modularized, extensible and security-enhanced application. While winning this award, CROMS was also presenting a live demonstration of the winning system through a Web Portal at the international ‘2005 Traffic Records Forum’ in Buffalo. Microsoft Canada also, a short time later, awarded CROMS with the award at the national level. So, once again, Accident Support Services’ CROMS took top honours with Microsoft’s Impact Award for excellence as “Solution of the Year.” CROMS is a paperless, single-point-of collection application used for the reporting and distribution of vehicle collisions. It supports a partnership between the general public, police services, insurance firms, road safety engineers and the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) for the Province of Ontario.

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The 17th Annual KRG Children’s Charities Gala, held Feb. 9, 2006, at the historic CARLU in Toronto, offered a sweet deal when Steven Wise, chairman and CEO of charitable organization, presented a $500,000 cheque to the SickKids hospital. Wise presented the cheque to Wanda Schoonhey, director of the burns, plastic surgery and craniofacial program at SickKids, and Dr. Christopher Forrest, head of the division of plastic surgery. The KRG gala event, which highlighted a live version of the retro game show ‘Let’s Make A Deal,’ also donated money to: Zareinu Education Centre, for children with physical and developmental disabilities; The Jean Tweed Centre, for women with substance abuse problems; Camp Oochigeas, for children with cancer; Variety Village; and, The Children’s Aid Foundation. The hundreds of guests in attendance at the annual gala included insurance industry representatives, clients, friends and co-workers. Paul Martin, president and COO of KRG Insurance Brokers has been committed to developing the charities corporate sponsors and affiliates. Through Martin’s contacts and insurance industry relationships, KRG Children’s Charities now enjoys the support from over 20 insurance companies and industry affiliates at these events. KRG Children’s Charities – a non-profit foundation operated by the KRG Insurance Group of Toronto – has provided financial funding of more than $2 million to ensure special needs children can enjoy a better life, a healthier well-being, and more suitable educational requirements to help them in all aspects of development.

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The Toronto Insurance Women’s Association (TIWA) held its annual Wine and Cheese Reception at Toronto’s Metro Convention Center on Feb. 16, 2006. TIWA welcomed more than 2,000 industry professional guests at its always-popular annual event. For more information on TIWA events, visit www.tiwa.org.

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The Insurance Brokers of Toronto Region (IBTR) welcomed Chubb Insurance Company of Canada CEO Ellen Moore as guest speaker at the IBTR January luncheon, held at Toronto’s Ramada Hotel-Don Valley on Jan. 18, 2006. The luncheon also featured representatives of Crimestoppers, who gave a presentation on the origins of and information about their program. Moore spoke about the effects catastrophic loss can have on Canada’s insurance market.

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Held in conjunction with the CLAIMS 2006 Conference, OIAA again hosted a Career Fair, bringing together more than
a dozen insurance company and independent adjusting firm employers. Well over 100 insurance-program students from both Mohawk College in Hamilton, ON and Fanshawe College in London, ON, attended the annual event.