Lawsuit filed against Alberta government over provincial driver examination changes

The Certified Driver Examiner’s Association (CDEA) and nine formerly privately-employed individuals filed a lawsuit against the Alberta government on Wednesday over its move to deprivatize the industry.

The lawsuit alleges a breach of the plaintiff’s constitutional rights, saying the new system has abolished driver examiners’ privately-run businesses. None of the allegations have been proven in court.

“We really did not want to take it this far and we did not want to sue the government,” said Olga Kalmring, the treasurer for the CDEA and one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We really did not want to take it this far and we did not want to sue the government," said Olga Kalmring, the treasurer for the CDEA and one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

“But since the matter is before the courts now, what we hope for is for fairness and justice.”

The lawsuit was filed in Lethbridge Court of Queen’s Bench after the NDP government deprivatized the driver examination system. Under the new regulations, only government employees can conduct road tests, which Kalmring says has left many private examiners out of a job.

“It’s very hurtful that all of this expertise, all this that I accumulated over the years I basically cannot apply it anymore, so now my livelihood is taken away.”

Premier Rachel Notley said the new system is effective, with changes being made to ultimately improve road safety, but Kalmring disagreed, stating the new system simply doesn’t work.

Kalmring said she believes there will be less staff, errors in the booking system and unflexible hours, all of which could see Albertans facing prolonged wait times for all upcoming driver examinations.

“If nothing changes by August, we’re looking at minimum three months delay on any test,” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "If nothing changes by August, we're looking at minimum three months delay on any test," she said.

“As private owners, we were able to tailor our schedule around other people, but the government isn’t offering flexible times.”

The new system, which was introduced on Mar. 1, 2019, sees offices across the province open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., from Monday to Friday. It’s a stark difference from privately-owned testing centres, which Kalmring said were often open until later in the da,y and even on some Saturdays, to better accommodate clients.

During an election campaign stop on Monday, when asked about the public’s growing concern for testing wait times, Notley said she has faith in the new system and that the NDP will work on fine-tuning any flaws after the election.

“If there are any unintended consequences or delays, well then we’ll dig in right away and fix it,” she said, “but we know the overall model is the right one.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "If there are any unintended consequences or delays, well then we'll dig in right away and fix it," she said, "but we know the overall model is the right one."

Kalmring said the CDEA attempted to contact members of the NDP government several times to reach a settlement but said those attempts were ignored.

Before driver testing was deprivatized in the province, Alberta was believed to be the only jurisdiction in North America that delivered road tests via the free market.

The NDP had pointed to several reasons for wanting to deprivatize the industry, citing a report that suggested private providers were failing to deliver projected cost savings to consumers and a concern about a lack of sufficient oversight of the industry.

A study commissioned by the NDP also raised concerns about allegations of improper behaviour by driver examiners.

–With files from The Canadian Press’ Dean Bennett