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VICTORIA — As the B.C. Liberals went into the last election, they knew very well that the Insurance Corporation of B.C. was headed for a financial crackup.

The alarm bells had been ringing for several years, building to an all-bad-news report about the upward pressures on rates, delivered to the cabinet near the end of 2014.

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The report called for “bold moves” to rein in the payouts for minor soft-tissue injuries, punitive premiums for those who indulged in distracted driving and other high-risk practices.

It also documented how the crisis had been compounded by the Liberal government’s practice of siphoning hundreds of millions of dollars out of the ICBC accounts to sweeten the province’s financial statements.

The Liberals were not amused by the reminder of their recklessness with the ICBC accounts, nor by what they regarded as advice to move to a “lite” version of no-fault insurance.