VANCOUVER – A major media outlet has done what the leader of the B.C. Liberals refused to do – released the full version of the B.C. Liberal-suppressed 2014 ICBC report that would have saved British Columbians billions of dollars at ICBC.
“British Columbians paid for this report and deserve to see the recommendations that the B.C. Liberals rejected and hid from the public,” said New Democrat MLA for Delta North Ravi Kahlon. “If the B.C. Liberals had implemented some of those recommendations instead of playing political games for their own partisan purposes, they wouldn’t have left ICBC in such a financial mess for British Columbians.
“There needs to be accountability, and it’s upsetting but not surprising that Andrew Wilkinson, the new B.C. Liberal leader, refused the Attorney General’s request to release the deleted and hidden pages.”
“Instead of doing the right thing for people, Andrew Wilkinson is doubling down on the B.C. Liberal record of putting themselves ahead of British Columbians.”
Wilkinson refused to ask Mike de Jong to exercise his authority as former Finance Minister to waive cabinet privilege so the public could read the report. The public was eventually able to see the pages only because the Vancouver Sun did what Wilkinson refused – released the pages.
B.C. Liberal MLA Todd Stone, who was the minister responsible for ICBC at the time, made it clear that Wilkinson bears significant responsibility for the B.C. Liberals’ bad choices at ICBC. At the November 19th B.C. Liberal leadership debate, Stone told Wilkinson:
“I would remind you that you were sitting at the cabinet table with me for the last four and a half years, as we discussed ICBC many many times.”
Kahlon said the Attorney General and New Democrat government have been working hard to fix the B.C. Liberal mess, and noted many of the recommendations that were rejected and kept secret several years ago match with some of the steps the New Democrat government has initiated.
“This emphasizes the fact that if the B.C. Liberals had just implemented those changes years ago, the mess wouldn’t have grown to such catastrophic proportions,” said Kahlon. “Those were several lost years that the province will have to work overtime to make up for and fix.”
The full report can be viewed here: http://vancouversun.com/news/politics/read-the-icbc-report-the-b-c-liberals-didnt-want-you-to-see