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Recent numbers show that B.C. drivers fork out some of the highest rates for auto insurance in the country, second only to Ontario.

In 2015, the average B.C. driver spent $1,316 on car insurance. In neighbouring Alberta, it was $1,179 and over in Quebec it was just $724 per year.

Moreover, we don’t need to tow ICBC to the scrapyard in order to benefit from competition. The provincial government could mutualize it and let policyholders become the owners of the company. Why not fashion it after Mountain Equipment Co-op or Vancity? Both of those firms are owned by their customers, yet they compete against other companies on price, selection and customer service, something ICBC often lacks.

In a newly released report, author Mark Milke explains: “So long as it involves full competition from the private sector — Vancity and MEC both face competition from non-co-op businesses — (a mutualized ICBC) would increase choice, service and price possibilities for consumers. It might also be the most politically attractive option: It combines the usefulness of competition with a co-operative model already known by many British Columbians.”

Turning ICBC into a co-op that answers to its voluntary member customers would also pull the plug out of the government oil pan and eliminate the urge for politicians to dip into the ICBC reserve when it suits their budgets. If governments run businesses, they run the risk of fattening it or starving them based on the political needs of the day, rather than simply providing a service to people who use them.