BC Attorney General calls on BC Liberal leader to release suppressed 2014 ICBC report

By ThinkPol Staff

British Columbia’s Attorney General is calling on the newly elected BC Liberal Party leader Andrew Wilkinson to show leadership and release the original 2014 ICBC report the former BC Liberal government hid from the public.

The BC Liberals received a report in 2014 warning of the impending crisis at ICBC, but the then BC Liberal government quietly deleted them before making the report public, the Vancouver Sun reported in January^[1]http://vancouversun.com/news/politics/liberals-scrubbed-2014-report-into-icbc-financial-crisis.

Eby wrote to Mike de Jong requesting that he exercise his power as former Finance Minister to waive cabinet privilege so the report can be released to the public.

But de Jong, who cut a deal with Wilkinson during the leadership contest^[2]https://mikedejong.com/blogs/updates/de-jong-wilkinson-support-each-other-as-second-ballot-choice, has so far refused to reveal the unredacted report.

“I know this is Andrew Wilkinson’s first Question Period in his new job today but I’d like to ask him if he has yet directed his friend Mr. de Jong to release the ICBC report redacted by the BC Liberal government,” Eby said. “The decision to hide the report and not act has cost British Columbians more than a billion dollars, and it’s time for Andrew Wilkinson and the BC Liberals to be accountable for that.”

Last month, Eby promised to put out the “financial dumpster fire” at ICBC, which is projected to run a $1.3 billion loss in the current fiscal year, by making drastic changes to the the way the insurer operates.

But the BC Liberals, who ran the province for 16 years until last July, are blaming the six-month-old NDP government for the financial crisis faced by BC’s auto insurer.

“The BC NDP are trying to distract from the fact they are not taking action on the challenges ICBC is facing,” BC Liberal critic John Yap stated in a release^[3]http://bcliberalcaucus.bc.ca/blog/newsreleases/statement-bc-liberal-critic-john-yap-icbc/. “The threat posed by rising claims and payouts is well-known and the previous government took steps to deal with the issue.”

“As well, a third-party review of ICBC was ordered by the BC Liberals and was delivered on July 10, so it was waiting on the desk of the new minister,” the MLA for Richmond-Steveston added. “Instead of taking the immediate actions the report called for, David Eby has done nothing for seven months except order another review.”

Eby urged Wilkinson, who took over the reins of the BC Liberals earlier this month, to show leadership by instructing de Jong to release it.

“British Columbians deserve to know exactly what the BC Liberal government knew and when they knew it,” said Eby. “If Andrew Wilkinson wants to show that the BC Liberals have learned anything, he should tell Mr. de Jong to the release the report immediately.”

[Photo Credit: Province of British Columbia]