[LabComm] James Slams Executive Bonuses at ICBC

[BC NDP NEWSWIRE]

James Slams Executive Bonuses at ICBC

NDP Leader Says BC Liberals Should Give Windfall Profits Back to Drivers

Vancouver - The Campbell government should use windfall profits at ICBC resulting from unexpected good weather to reduce rates, not provide executives with bonuses, NDP Leader Carole James said today.

ICBC is reporting a 73 per cent increase in profits in 2004 over 2003 owing to good weather and fewer accidents. As a result, the Corporation announced big executive bonuses while offering no insurance rate relief to drivers.

"Big profits at ICBC should equal rate reductions for drivers, not bonuses for executives," said James. "The public expects the Campbell government to put drivers first."

Although the total cost of the bonus packages is not public, ICBC says they range from 18 per cent for lower level managers to as much as 45 per cent for senior executives. An ICBC spokesperson explained using the profits to offer rate reductions would be "rash".

"I suspect the public has a different definition of "rash" than Campbell's appointees on the ICBC board," said James. "What's rash is for the government to use unexpected good weather as a convenient excuse to jack up bonus packages.

James said that a blatant pay-off to ICBC executives at the expense of drivers undermines the reputation of the public insurance company in the eyes of the public - something that must be music to the ears of the private insurance lobby who have donated generously to the BC Liberals and who are benefiting from the Campbell government's stealth privatization of auto insurance.

James called on Gordon Campbell to review ICBC's policy on the payment of bonuses to ensure that they result from good management, not unexpected good fortune.

"Well-run public auto insurance has provided good value to drivers in BC for many years," said James. "But this kind of behavior shows that the BC Liberals don't care about what average British Columbians are paying to keep their cars on the road."

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