Coming Events (October 01, 2000)
October 1, 2000 by Canadian UnderwriterAnnouncements in Coming Events are run free of charge as a service to the industry. Items should be submitted by the first of the month prior to the month in which the announcement is to appear. Waterloo Region Insurance Professionals…
Healthcare insurance: TAKING THE PULSE
October 1, 2000 Jane Voll, director of policy and research and Darrell LeadbetteIncreasingly, automobile insurers are playing a greater role in healthcare financing through provincial healthcare levies and because of automobile accident benefits. In 1999, automobile insurers contributed over $1.1 billion to the Canadian healthcare system. The auto insurance industry, as a…
Privacy under the SPOTLIGHT
October 1, 2000 David CarrThe first phase of Bill C-6, the federal government’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, becomes law on January 1, 2001. Only Canada’s Schedule-A banks, wholly regulated companies such as Air Canada and Bell, and data gathering organizations such…
Rallying Ontario’s Brokers
October 1, 2000 Vikki SpencerIncoming Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO) president Dan Danyluk is no stranger to “selling passion”, he says. And, in a time of intense regulatory change, e-commerce explosion and swift market shifts, he intends to sell insurers, brokers and the…
IBAC AGM Sets Solid Course
October 1, 2000 by Canadian UnderwriterIn his closing remarks as president of the Insurance Brokers Association of Canada (IBAC) at the association’s recently held annual general meeting, Jim Ball states, “IBAC lives because it cannot die. We won’t let it. We know how important our…
Developing risk management: POSITIVE REFLECTIONS
September 1, 2000 Vikki SpencerIf experience is required, then Rich Whitehouse is the right choice to host the silver anniversary of the Canadian Risk and Insurance Management Society’s conference. As a delegate at the first conference 25 years ago, he is in a unique…
GOING FOR THE NICHE APPLE
September 1, 2000 Mike Wills, leader of Royal & SunAlliance's Specialty SolutionsGlobalisation has created an expanded market in Canada for specialty niche lines of business. Products such as alternative risk financing or equipment maintenance management which have historically been unavailable in Canada either because the market was too small to support such activity, or large insurers were reluctant to break new ground, are now washing up on Canadian shores.
Walkerton: a risk management nightmare
September 1, 2000 William Blakeney, senior partner at Blakeney Henneberry BakshThe dramatic incident that took place in Walkerton, Ontario during the final two weeks of May, 2000 will go down in history as a tragic example of the suffering and disruption that can occur when municipal and provincial agencies fail to act on system safeguards. The events that led up to the contamination of Walkerton’s water supply present valuable lessons in risk management as well as serious considerations for insurers underwriting municipal risks.
Empowering leadership in the “technology millennium”
August 1, 2000 Sean van Zyl, EditorReforming company management structures to deal with the rapidly evolving marketplaces of financial services formed the central focus of the International Insurance Association Inc.’s (IIA) 36th annual conference, which was recently held in Vancouver. The prime drivers of change impacting…
Rate Setting: is this a regulator’s job?
August 1, 2000 Bill Star, president of Kingsway General Insurance CompanyWhen reviewing the role of insurance commissioners in Canada and the U.S., one must wonder why they became involved in rate approvals. The original role of the insurance commissioner was apolitical, to make sure that companies were properly capitalized, were…
Professional Development: STAYING THE COURSE
August 1, 2000 Vikki SpencerRegulatory harmonization, multi-licensing, mergers and consolidations. In a world of rapid change, ongoing education has become a key survival tool of the new insurance landscape. Whether driven by consumers, regulators or employers, the trend is moving toward increasingly higher levels…
Custodian of the Defense Line
August 1, 2000 Sean van Zyl, EditorWith the recent finalization of the federal government’s proposed financial services reform legislation packaged under Bill-38 — set to be tabled before parliament in the fall — independent property and casualty insurance brokers have heaved a collective sigh of relief…