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Home My WebLink AboutClinton News Record, 2016-01-27, Page 44 News Record • Wednesday, January 27, 2016 ri www.clintonnewsrecord.com NowsCl Record PUBLISHED WEEKLY — EST. 1860 53 Albert St. P.O. 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Peter Epp Postmedia Network Premier Kathleen's Wynne's promise almost three years ago to mandate an average 15 per cent reduction in automobile insurance premium rates in Ontario was a bit of a stretch, and now even she admits it. On Monday Wynne said the vow -- made in 2013 so New Democrats would sup- port a budget by her then - minority Grit government -- was a "stretch goal': The NDP has traditionally taken a populist approach to automobile insurance. And Leader Andrea Horwath articulated that position in 2013 when she said she wanted Ontario's Financial Services Commission to mandate a 15 per cent drop in auto insurance. At the time, Horwath said average premiums would fall from $1,505 a year to $1,279. She also claimed Ontario's insurance industry was making a profit of $2 bil- lion annually. Wynne was more than happy to promise her gov- ernment's accommodation. In exchange for Horwath's political support, Wynne promised the premium reduction by mid -2015. But it hasn't happened, probably because Wynne's government now has a majority and can do what it wants. It doesn't need NDP support. Indeed, if the Liber- als wanted to reduce insur- ance premiums by 15 per cent, they would have done it. Yet outside of the possibility Wynne never intended to keep her promise, at least to Horwath andherNewDemo- crats, there's a reason Ontar- io's auto insurance premiums are the highest in Canada. Companies selling insurance in this province are mandated to provide four compulsory products for each premium holder, and those mandates, particularly accident benefits, have contributed to the cost of insurance. As well, Ontario's insur- ance industry pays into the provincial health system money designed to help meet the cost of providing non-professional health care services to those who are patients because of an auto- mobile accident. The sum is assessed by OHIP under the Statutory Accident Benefit Schedule. Despite these additional expenses, since 2013 auto- mobile insurance rates in Premier Kathleen Wynne Ontario have dropped by seven per cent, according to the Financial Services Com- mission. And as of Jan. 1, Ontario automobile owners who switch to snow tires are to receive a reduction in their premiums, as legislated by the province. Craig Robertson Postmedia Network If auto with snow tires are safe enough to support a premium reduction from the insurance industry, then perhaps their utility shouldn't be leveraged to save motorists money but to save lives, much as the man- datory use of seat belts. Memo to Trudeau: Oil's still important Postmedia Network Former prime minister Pierre Trudeau once infa- mously asked Saskatchewan farmers, "why should I sell your wheat?" Earlier this week his son said much the same thing about Canada's resource industries, while addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos. Speaking to a gathering of global business and political elites, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he wanted Canadians to be known for their "resourcefulness" rather than their resources in a partisan shot at former prime minister Stephen Harper. It was self-indulgent and hurtful to the tens of thou- sands of workers in Alberta who are losing their jobs because of the global crash Andrew Vaughan The Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau poses for a photo with Youmna Naufal from Lebanon after a session on gender parity in Davos, Switzerland on Friday, January 22. in oil prices. In fact, the written tran- script of Trudeau's speech simply said, less offensively: "Canada was mostly known for its resources. I want you to know Canadians for our resourcefulness." But Trudeau changed that in his delivery to: "My prede- cessor wanted you to know Canada for its resources. Well, I want you to know Canadians for our resourcefulness." That left it to Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, also in Davos, to point out that: "We are still a resource- based economy. Our biggest export is still energy. And I do not see a path where that does not continue to be the case, so clearly we need to do what we can on market access" Nenshi said he appreci- ated Trudeau's efforts on cli- mate change, which will help give Alberta's oil indus- try the "social licence" (approval) it needs from other nations to market its products internationally. Trudeau does deserve kudos for telling actor turned climate activist Leonard DiCaprio to turn down his anti -oil sands rhetoric. The Titantic star trav- elled to Alberta in 2014 to record an environmental documentary and said "we must fight to keep this carbon in the ground." Trudeau also rightly said later in his speech, in French, that: "Our natural resources are important, and they always will be." However, he immedi- ately added: "But Canadi- ans know that what it takes to grow and prosper isn't just what's under our feet, it's what's between our ears:' Doesn't our PM know Canada's resource indus- tries are a source of inno- vation and high tech jobs, much like Silicon Valley in the U.S., which he praised in his speech? Maybe he needs to read up on Canada. if it' ocal, it's her clintonnewsrecord.com CLINTON NEWS RECORD — HOURS OF OPERATION MONDAY: 9:00 - 5:00 • TUESDAY: - CLOSED • WEDNESDAY: - 9:00 - 5:00 • THURSDAY: - 9:00 - 5:00 • FRIDAY: - 9:00 - 5:00 • SATURDAY & SUNDAY: - CLOSED ADVERTISING DEADLINE: FRIDAY AT 2:00 • PHONE 519-482-3443 • FAX: 519-482-7341 www.clintonnewsrecord.com