B.C. Conservatives would scrap ICBC’s no-fault insurance, leaked letter shows, as Eby cries ‘secret deal’

The British Columbia Conservatives would repeal ICBC’s no-fault auto insurance system and restore crash victims’ right to sue if they win the Oct. 24 provincial election, according to a leaked letter from interim leader Lorne Doerkson that pushed car insurance to the centre of the campaign on Tuesday. In the Sept. 29 letter to the vice-president of the Insurance Bureau of Canada and the presidents of the Law Society of B.C., the Trial Lawyers Association of B.C. and the Canadian Bar Association, Doerkson said a Conservative government would pass new legislation within a year of taking office, The Canadian Press reported. He described the plan as a new “hybrid system” meant to keep rates affordable while protecting people hurt by reckless drivers.

The letter was made public by MoveUP, the union that represents some 5,000 ICBC workers. “Everything’s on the table, including opening auto insurance to private competition to drive down auto insurance rates and bringing back sensible limits on minor-injury claims,” Doerkson wrote, according to Daily Hive. “One thing isn’t up for debate: people seriously hurt by reckless drivers deserve their day in an independent court, not just an online tribunal staffed by government appointees.” He pointed to Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, P.E.I. and Newfoundland and Labrador as provinces with hybrid models B.C. could learn from. Daily Hive noted that the letter gives no premium estimate or financial breakdown, and that private competition is described as an option under consideration rather than a firm commitment. The letter also promises to repeal the NDP government’s 2024 changes to the Legal Professions Act.

Doerkson defended the idea at an unrelated news conference in Vancouver, saying the current model has failed people with the worst injuries. “Obviously we have to provide affordable insurance coverage for all of our residents, but for those that have experienced catastrophic injury and potentially life-altering injury, this program has not supported them well,” he said. He also told reporters he had made “no promises” about the plan. The NDP seized on that remark, quoting the letter’s line that “in the first year of a new mandate, a Conservative government will bring in legislation,” in a party statement published by the Indo-Canadian Voice.

NDP Leader David Eby called the letter a “secret deal” between the Conservatives and trial lawyers. “For a leader of a major party in this province to enter into a secret deal with those lawyers to sell out British Columbians and not tell them the truth is disgraceful,” he said, according to Daily Hive. In a statement, MoveUP president Annette Toth said Doerkson “knows that people won’t support his plan because it would double rates.” The union cited a 2022 Ernst & Young comparison of 30 driver profiles across nine provinces, which put the average annual premium for an 18-year-old novice driver of a 2012 Honda Civic at $2,551 in B.C. and $5,936 in Alberta. Daily Hive cautioned that those figures describe one driver profile, not the average premium all drivers pay. The Conservatives rejected the doubling claim and accused their opponents of using unsupported figures to alarm drivers.

The NDP brought in no-fault coverage, which ICBC calls Enhanced Care, in 2021, after Eby described the old system as a “financial dumpster fire” with losses in the billions, CP reported. The model generally prevents crash victims from suing and instead pays care and recovery benefits regardless of who was at fault. In September 2021, ICBC said customers who renewed more than 1.3 million personal policies between May 1 and Aug. 31 that year saved an average of $496, or about 28 per cent, compared with their previous premiums, and that it had processed 3.6 million one-time refunds averaging $150. The NDP says the system lowered rates and has kept them frozen for seven years.

Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth, the NDP candidate in Port Coquitlam, was asked about families who say the system has left them under-compensated after serious crashes. He argued that under the old model people could wait years for a court decision, with legal fees taking roughly a third of their settlements, and that ongoing treatment under Enhanced Care can exceed what a settlement tied to an at-fault driver’s coverage would pay, Daily Hive reported. He said improvements are an ongoing effort and pointed to appeal processes for people unhappy with their coverage.

The fight comes 18 days before voting day in the snap election. According to Elections BC, advance voting runs Oct. 16 to 21, and voting places open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Pacific time on Saturday, Oct. 24. Eby, Doerkson and Green Leader Emily Lowan will face off in the campaign’s only televised leaders’ debate on Wednesday, Oct. 14, from 6:15 to 8 p.m. PT, moderated by Angus Reid Institute president Shachi Kurl, CBC News reported.

Sources: The Canadian Press via Global News; Daily Hive; MoveUP statement (Oct. 6, 2026); BC NDP statement via Indo-Canadian Voice (Oct. 6, 2026); ICBC newsroom (Sept. 23, 2021); CBC News; Elections BC.