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B.C.’s oil spill readiness challenged Anne Watson awatson@nsnews.com
THE Ministry of Environment says the province is not ready in the event of an oil spill, according to recently released documents.
Happy trails
NEWS photo Paul McGrath
FRIENDS of Cypress members Mike Castle (left), Hugh Hamilton, Katharine Steig, Kitty Castle, Marshall Bauman and Cypress Mountain’s Maureen Collins launch the new Cypress Provincial Park trail map compiled and produced by the Friends of Cypress. Scan the photo with the Layar app to view a video.
The documents, obtained through a Freedom of Information request, are from new minister Mary Polak’s briefingbookanddealspecifically with “the expansion of oil and gas transport through B.C. (such as the Northern Gateway and the Kinder Morgan pipeline in the Lower Mainland) and the risks to B.C.’s environment from oil spills.” According to the document, “The Ministry of Environment — as the ministry responsible for preparedness, prevention, response and recovery for spills — is not adequately staffed and resourced to meet the existing and emerging expectations to address spills. Even a moderatesized spill would overwhelm the province’s ability to respond and could result in a significant liability for government.” See B.C. page 5
ICBC wants 4% auto insurance hike Anne Watson awatson@nsnews.com
SOME car owners could see their insurance rates go up on their next renewal.
ICBC announced on Friday it is filing an application with the British Columbia Utilities Commission to increase its basic auto insurance rate. If approved, customers could see their basic insurance rates increase more than four per cent starting Nov. 1. “We put forward capital management framework to the BCUC for their approval and what that’s doing is saying we want to contain rates within 1.5 per cent of what was approved the previous year,
Corporation says distracted driving is causing more crashes
making rates more predictable and stable,” said Mark Blucher, CEO and interim president of ICBC. For customers with optional coverages, such as collision and comprehensive, rates will decrease by four per cent. ICBC is raising the basic rates due to the increase in bodily injury claims. “The number of claims that we’re actually receiving is a result of more crashes where drivers are being distracted behind the wheel
using their smartphones, (and) more pedestrians and cyclists, we’re getting more claims from them,” said Blucher. “When we pay those claim amounts to our customers, the amount we’re actually paying is increasing as well.” He said there are two reasons for the increase in claim amounts; high medical costs and lawyer-represented claims. Ian Tootill, co-founder of Sense B.C., a group that advocates for motorists, said the timing of the announcement was cynical and deliberate right before the long weekend. “On the one hand they’re telling us that all the changes that they made to the Motor Vehicle Act and all this clobbering they are See Liberals page 5
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