Views (January 01, 2007)

Odyssey Re staff and guests congregated at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto on Oct. 26. to meet with former Toronto Maple Leafs captain Darryl Sittler. After hearing Sittler speak, guests went home with autographed pictures of themselves standing next to Sittler and the Stanley Cup.

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The Women In Insurance Cancer Crusade (WICC) Ontario Chapter hosted its 9th Annual “Breakfast for Breast Cancer” on Nov. 1, 2006. With over 450 in attendance, the breakfast was held at the Arcadian Court in Toronto. Guest speaker Susan Minns, a humourist and motivational speaker, captivated the audience with a humourous and touching story about how she has Multiple Sclerosis and survived cancer. She told of her experiences in facing these issues and reminded her audience to keep in mind the positive and funny side of life.Cancer education and awareness is not just for adults, but also for children; WICC thus scheduled the breakfast on “Take Your Kids to Work Day.”

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The Ontario School Boards’ Insurance Exchange (OSBIE) held its 20th anniversary celebration in November, with a special cocktail reception and keynote address by Brian Thwaits entitled ‘Brain Trainer’. Jim Sami, OSBIE’s general manager and attorney-in-fact, welcomed industry guests to the celebratory gathering.

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The Arcadian Court in Toronto set the stage for the Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario (RIBO)’s 25th Annual General Meeting. RIBO welcomed members in good standing who deliberated and voted on matters raised at the meeting. Attendees discussed general business and took the opportunity to meet and talk with RIBO’s council members, incoming members and senior management for 2006. Noting RIBO’s 25th anniversary in 2006, RIBO president Toots Everley welcomed the presence at the AGM of Donald W. Lambie, who became RIBO’s first president in 1981.

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SCOR celebrated the 2006 Beaujolais Nouveau Wine release along with dozens of insurance industry guests at their annual reception held at Toronto’s Acqua Ristorante E Bar in November.

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Achieving price discipline should be the primary focus for insurers and reinsurers when considering their own risk management practices, Aon Re Services president Bryon G. Ehrhart told the 2006 Aon Re Canada Rendezvous in Mississauga. Ehrhart was the keynote speaker at the 2006 rendezvous, which was held at the Delta Meadowvale Resort & Conference Centre from Nov. 1-3, 2006. Hundreds of people, including many senior insurance executives and company CEOs, were on hand to hear Ehrhart on Nov. 3, as well as Nov. 1 keynote speaker Vincent J. Dowling, the managing partner of Dowling & Partners Securities.

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Seventy-one Grade 9 students attended the Insurance Institute of Ontario’s ‘Feed the Minds of Youth’ day, held in conjunction with Take Your Kids to Work Day in Toronto in November. A total of seven insurance companies participated in the event, in which the children ate a pizza lunch while learning about a variety of insurance careers. The students heard speaker Dave Smiley give an introductory speech, entitled ‘What is Insurance?’. They also played an educational game called Career Links.

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The Ontario Risk and Insurance Management Society (ORIMS) held a November breakfast seminar featuring special guest speaker Alain Normand, the manager of emergency measures and corporate security of the City of Brampton. Normand’s presentation was entitled “Are You Ready for an Influenza Pandemic?” and provided attendees with a captivating and comprehensive outline as to what individuals, corporations and communities should be thinking about with respect to this impending emergency. Also at the breakfast, seminar moderator Steve Pottles, a communications committee member for the RIMS Canada 2008 Conference-Toronto, held a special ceremony that officially unveiled the ’08 RIMS Canada Conference logo. On hand was Susan Meltzer, conference co-chair (not present was other co-chair, Nancy Chambers), who invited Steve Wilson, senior publisher of Canadian Underwriter magazine to join them for the official unveiling of the ’08 conference logo. Meltzer asked Canadian Underwriter to assist in the design of the logo, the creation of Canadian Underwriter art director Michael Chimienti. The conference logo visually illustrates the theme ‘Where Great Ideas Come Together’ and is entitled: “THE EXCHANGE: Toronto 2008”. The 2008 RIMS Canada Conference is being held in Toronto Sept. 21-24, 2008, with ORIMS as conference host chapter.

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With hundreds of tuxedoes in attendance, the Toronto Insur-ance Conference (TIC) held its 51st Annual Black Tie Dinner in November at The Four Seasons Hotel. The gala evening’s speaker was Stuart McLean, a best-selling author, award-winning journalist, humourist, and host of the CBC Radio program, The Vinyl Caf.

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CARSTAR Automotive Canada celebrated another year of hard work and fundraising their annual charity gala in support of the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CCFF). More than 1,000 employees, partners and friends attended the event, where president and CEO Sam Mercanti presented a cheque for $201,000 to the CCFF. The gala, themed Bon Voyage, was held Friday, Nov. 18 at Carmen’s Banquet Centre in Hamilton, Ontario. Guests enjoyed food and entertainment inspired by cities from around the world. For seven years, CARSTAR Collision Repair Centres across Canada have supported the fight against cystic fibrosis (CF) through fundraising initiatives held throughout the year. To date, CARSTAR has raised close to $1.5 million to fund research and treatment in the fight against cystic fibrosis.

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Property and casualty insurers have been warned to prepare for the possibility that Canadian courts may apply the doctrine of reasonable expectations in cases where the policy language is unambiguous. Michael Teitelbaum, a specialist in civil litigation at Hughes Amys LLP (a member firm of The ARC Group), delivered a speech to The Property Casualty Underwriters’ Club (PCUC) during a November luncheon in downtown Toronto. He explained that under the doctrine, in situations in which policy wording may be ambiguous, the courts would interpret the policy in the same way that a reasonable person who is not legally trained would. Currently Canadian courts use this doctrine only when policy wording is ambiguous, Teitelbaum said. But, he cautioned: “There are signs that they are willing to go to that next level.”

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Guests and well-wishers from all segments of the industry ascended to the Arcadian Court in Toronto in November to help celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Elliott Special Risks LP. The reception gave friends and colleagues of the company a chance to share 40 years’ worth of memories and raise a toast to the very ‘special’ anniversary. President David Eastaugh spoke to the gathering about the history of the company and touched on many of the names and personalities that helped build the business over four decades.

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A Nov. 30 Hamilton fundraiser raised more than $100,000 for Sean Corner, a rugby star who was paralyzed during a September 2006 game just prior to learning the team’s insurance had been cancelled. According to lead organizer Dawn Elliott, the manager of the Insurance Institute of Ontario’s Hamilton/Niagara chapter, more than 1,200 people, including industry colleagues, attended the fundraiser, which was held at Michelangelo Banquet Centre in Hamilton, Ontario. The event was titled: “We Are Family.” An evening-long performance by the insurance industry rock-group The Accidental Benefits provided an energetic backdrop to fundraising activities. Such activities included numerous draws for dozens of fantastic prizes; a large silent auction and big professional sports-related live auction. Individuals and companies generously donated all items for the various draws and auctions. Funds will be used for immediate medical expenses, home renovations, vehicle modifications and future care. “Thank you does not seem sufficient,” the Corner family said in a st
atement. “The community has been extremely generous and thoughtful. We greatly appreciate your care and concern.”

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Insurers, reinsurers and other key industry leaders descended on St. Pete’s Beach, Florida in November for the 8th annual North American Insurance Conference. Speakers at the conference included: Tim Gardner, managing director of Guy Carpenter & Company, Inc.; Jeff Goy, the vice president of automobile underwriting at The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company; Stan Griffin, the president and CEO of the Insurance Bureau of Canada; Andrew Haak, senior vice president of LaSalle National Bank; David Hauge, the partner-in-charge at Lord Bissel & Brook (Los Angeles), Jean-Jacques Henchoz, the president and CEO of Swiss Re Canada; Sean Moody, the chief economist at Guy Carpenter & Company, Inc.; and Robert Wooley, the former insurance commissioner of Louisiana, now at Adams and Reese LLP.