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Re: ICBC is unnecessary, go private; and Will NDP privatize ICBC?, letters, July 29.

Jim Thornton of Osoyoos and Roger Pratt of Nelson, the authors of the above referenced letters, have very short memories.

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In the May 2001 election, Gordon Campbell campaigned to privatize ICBC. Once elected, the B.C. Liberals realized that privatization of ICBC is impossible, for two reasons.

Firstly, since the early 1990s, under NDP Premier Mike Harcourt, ICBC’s Road Safety Program has provided significant funds to municipalities throughout B.C. to pay for road improvements that reduce injuries and save lives. If ICBC were privatized, private auto insurers would not make any financial contributions to improve roads or intersections because it might benefit their competitors, and local governments can’t afford the whole cost of improvements on their own.

Secondly, in 1998, NDP Premier Glen Clark moved the Motor Vehicle Branches, now Driver Licensing, to ICBC from government. In doing so, ICBC became responsible for all the administrative costs, initially $50 million but much higher now, while collecting all the fees for driving tests and fines, and sending every penny collected directly to government. No private company would be willing to take on that arrangement where they have to pay for everything and keep nothing of what they collected, and so government would be required to fund Driver Licensing again.