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Auto reforms could run up against major roadblock


November 28, 2017   by Greg Meckbach, Associate Editor


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Don’t hold your breath waiting for further Ontario auto insurance reforms.

No major changes are expected to Ontario auto insurance law before next year’s election, even though 35 recommendations were released more than seven months ago in a review commissioned by Finance Minister Charles Sousa.

“I suspect auto insurance legislation is not necessarily the biggest priority in the government,” Willie Handler, principal of Willie Handler and Associates, said Tuesday in an interview.

Currently a consultant, Handler worked 33 years in various positions in the Ontario public service, including 20 years on auto insurance regulatory policy. In his public service roles, he was involved with four major reforms of Ontario auto insurance.

Handler predicts a provincial election in the spring will be critical roadblock in the way of implementing the government’s auto reforms. There will not “be an opportunity to introduce legislation” on auto reform before a spring election, he told Canadian Underwriter.

And even if the election does not happen until the fall of 2018, “it would be difficult, if not impossible, to pass legislation in that time frame,” Handler said. “They might be able to make a few regulatory changes but that’s about it.”

David Marshall authored the government’s review of auto insurance, released in April 2017. He is a special advisor to the finance minister on auto reform, as well as a former CEO of the Workplace Safety Insurance Board, Ontario’s government-run no-fault workers compensation insurance system.

The province was already moving on two changes recommended by Marshall – programs of care for common traffic injuries and the new Financial Services Regulatory Authority – before the Marshall report was released.

Marshall also recommended the province look at auto insurance pricing alternatives with a view to providing more competition.

That proposal “seems to suggest moving away from prior approval of rates,” Handler said Tuesday, adding the ruling Liberals have always rejected that idea. “Will they look at it more closely this time around? I’m not sure.”

Canadian Underwriter asked a Ministry of Finance spokesperson which of Marshall’s recommendations the government has rejected, which it plans to implement and which recommendations are awaiting a decision. The spokesperson did not directly answer the question but Sousa did say Nov. 23 he will have more to say about auto insurance “in the coming weeks.” Sousa’s spokesperson noted that Sousa’s parliamentary assistant held consultations this past August.


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