The NDP government has withdrawn the appointments of three ICBC board members amid criticisms that the public insurer has become a financial trainwreck.
David Eby, B.C.’s attorney general and the minister responsible for ICBC, announced on Thursday that Catherine Boivie, William Davidson and Ronald Olynyk have had their appointments to the board rescinded.
Coverage of ICBC on Globalnews.ca:
The NDP made three new appointments in their place.
The province has added Doug Allen, who previously served as interim CEO of TransLink, replacing Ian Jarvis during the failed 2015 transit referendum.
Allen was appointed interim CEO of BC Ferries back in 2002 and oversaw its restructuring into a semi-private model.
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The province has also added union activist Bonnie Pearson to the board.
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Pearson has served as a vice-president of the BC Federation of Labour and a member of its finance committee. SHe has also worked as secretary-business manager for the Hospital Employees Union, and union representative for employees of the Workers Compensation Board.
The third appointment is investment consultant Jeremy Bell, a partner at George and Bell Consulting.
Bell has served as chief investment officer with the Healthcare Benefit Trust and as an alternate trustee with the Municipal Pension Board and as a committee member on the Alberta Public Service Pension Plan.
The move follows the appointment last month of former NDP leader Joy MacPhail as chair of the ICBC board, after Premier John Horgan replaced former BC Liberal appointee Barry Penner.
The replacements weren’t the only shakeups that happened in Victoria on Thursday.
The NDP also fired Brent Mullins as chair of the BC Labour Relations Board (LRB) and Employment Standards Tribunal, and appointed LRB vice-chair Jaquie de Aguayo to replace him.
She will hold the position in an acting capacity for at least six months while a permanent replacement is sought.
ICBC woes
ICBC is facing significant cost pressures, with an independent Ernst & Young audit suggesting that the insurer will need to raise rates by as much as 30 per cent without significant changes.
The NDP government has rejected two controversial recommendations in the report: the reintroduction of photo radar, and a move to a no-fault insurance scheme.
READ MORE: ICBC a financial train wreck, critics say
The New Democrats have blamed ICBC’s financial woes on the former BC Liberal government, which withdrew $1.2 billion from ICBC’s optional insurance business and transferred another $1.4 billion to offset deficits in the coverage of basic service beginning in 2012.
The Liberals have blamed the problems on skyrocketing injury claims, mounting court costs and the increasing costs of metal and repairing luxury cars.
Last year, the BC Liberal government announced it would stop insuring high-end vehicles in a bid to reduce costs.
Earlier this summer, the NDP asked ICBC to investigate technological solutions to cut back on distracted driving and monitor driver behaviour.
- With files from the Canadian Press
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