Insuring our Society

We may purchase insurance to minimize the financial impact of events which disrupt the normal rhythm of our lives. Typically insurance contracts are purchased for our residence and vehicles.

Tough on Insurance Premiums

 

Insurance companies are often involved in advocating change in society that will reduce the claims that are made against insurance policies. Policy holders are aware that increased claims will cause an increase in insurance premiums. Reducing claims benefits both the insurance company and the policyholder. As a consequence, involving insurance companies in campaigns for increased safety, proper operation, and harm mitigation is likely to be effective.

The Canadian Encyclopedia article reminds us of the War Measures Act that was invoked by Pierre Elliott Trudeau. The only use of the War Measures Act in a domestic crisis occurred in October and November 1970. A state of “apprehended insurrection” was officially declared to exist in Quebec as of 15 October 1970. Emergency regulations were proclaimed in response to two kidnappings by the terrorist group Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ). The FLQ had kidnapped British trade commissioner James Cross and Quebec labour minister Pierre Laporte. Laporte was found dead on 17 October.1 

The War Measures Act is currently an overreach in the Occupation of Ottawa and the blockage of vital international trade but some provincial jurisdictions have taken actions that will penalize participants as they try to continue to operate their vehicles and acquire the necessary insurance coverage. The Insurance Bureau of Canada advises that a Good Driving Record can reduce our premium.

License suspensions, parking tickets and convictions for driving offenses all add up to higher car insurance premiums. In fact, after being convicted of a driving offence, it can take up to 6 years for your record to be considered clean again by insurers. Over the years, building a consistently accident-and conviction-free driving record can help reduce your premium.2

Judy Trinh of CBC News reports that those involved with organizing the Ottawa protest include former RCMP and military officers.

Police have called those heavy trucks potential weapons, but they are also essential tools used to transport supplies such as two-by-fours to build shelters, firewood and burn barrels to keep protesters warm and propane tanks for barbecues. In the core, abandoned cars and trucks with their tires removed are blocking streets. To Michael Kempa, a University of Ottawa criminology professor,, the placement of these vehicles is not random but rather strategic in that they may prevent police infiltration… Residents have noticed protesters taking shifts getting into the cabs of idling trucks to blare air horns. The ear-piercing sound rang out at all hours, until a court injunction earlier this week forced a temporary pause.3

The nature of the occupation of Ottawa and the blocking of international trade routes certainly goes beyond the usage of vehicles likely considered when the insurance policies for these vehicles were established. It is time for enforcement officials to suspend licences, revoke vehicle permits, issue parking tickets, and initiate convictions for risking public safety.

 

References

1	(2013, July 25). War Measures Act | The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 10, 2022, from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/war-measures-act
2	(n.d.). Welcome to Insurance Bureau of Canada. Retrieved February 10, 2022, from http://www.ibc.ca/
3	(2022, February 9). How organizers with police and military expertise may be helping .... Retrieved February 10, 2022, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/convoy-protesters-police-tactical-knowledge-1.6345854

 

How do you use your vehicle

The last time I sought insurance for my automobile I was asked about the way I use it. I related that I drove back and forth from work and took the car to do errands for groceries and supplies. Since then, I have retired and we have gone through two years of COVID. I am pretty confident that my use of the vehicle is well within the bounds required by my insurance contract. I wonder if the companies that insure the trucks involved in the occupation of Ottawa and the disruption of essential traffic in Canadian cities are including this usage in the coverage offered by their policies.

 Insurance Premium and Terms and Conditions

In my province, when I renew my vehicle permit, I may be required to settle outstanding tickets charged against my vehicle to complete the process. It seems to me that my driving record is something that helps determine my insurance premium. James Menzies writes that many trucking companies have decided to steer clear of Ottawa protests. Derek Koza, of Wellington Motor Freight, pointed out another reason company equipment can’t be seen in such events. 

“Due to insurance concerns we would not allow company branded equipment to participate in the convoy as the usage would be outside of the scope of our policy use. Wellington Group of Companies will not block ​individuals from using their personal vehicles and participating in the convoy should they wish as we support freedom of speech in a respectful and peaceful delivery.”1

Sierra Alley reports about violations that might be hurting  trucking insurance rates. An interview on November 16, on TalkCDL Trucking Podcast featured a REV insurance representative who discussed rates and the tangible steps truckers can take to keep their premiums down.

Accidents on record

Speeding tickets

Open containers or illegal substances on the truck

Safety violations that are logged on DOT reports

Tickets or accidents as a result of using handheld devices

 

There are common coverages recommended.

• General Liability Coverage: This covers the actions of a driver who is operating on someone else’s premises, such as loading docks and truck stops. It provides coverage for bodily injury to others and damage to the property of others due to a vehicle accident.

• Primary Liability Coverage: This does not cover your truck, but rather covers the damage you may do to others while operating your truck.

• Physical Damage Coverage: Provides coverage to repair or replace damage to your equipment in the event of an accident or other risks, such as fire, theft, glass breakage, or vandalism.

• Non-Trucking Liability Coverage: Coverage for damages or injuries to others while the truck is not under dispatch from the company you are currently leased with.

• Cargo Coverage — Protects your cargo against damage or loss while in transit, whether that be stolen goods, wet load, refrigeration breakdown, debris removal, etc.

• Trailer Interchange: Covers a non-owned trailer being used under a trailer interchange agreement.

• Medical Payment: This covers medical bills if you or a passenger is injured while driving or riding in the tractor, this coverage varies from state to state.

• Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists: This coverage protects you if someone hits you and does not have liability coverage to repair whatever you need repaired2

•  

I imagine that enforcement personnel moving from vehicle to vehicle asking for proof of insurance, issuing tickets, and possibly more serious warrants would create a disincentive for truck operators to remain in a situation that threatens their ongoing cost for vehicle insurance.

 

References

1	(2022, January 29). Trucking companies steer clear of Ottawa protests. Retrieved February 8, 2022, from https://www.trucknews.com/transportation/trucking-companies-steer-clear-of-ottawa-protests/1003156700/
2	(2020, December 11). These violations might be hurting your trucking insurance rates. Retrieved February 8, 2022, from https://cdllife.com/2020/these-violations-might-be-hurting-your-trucking-insurance-rates/

 

Conflict As Ends Justify Means

A recent segment of the Current on CBC radio included an interview with Jon Ronson who has produced a podcast that explores the history of the development of the culture wars in areas such as abortion and sex education.

PHOTO BY ROB GURDEBEKE/THE CANADIAN PRESS/FILE

 

Some scenarios he relates reveal how the fury of these debates may have evolved because of decisions and desires not related to the values currently driving heated conflicts.

In his new podcast Things Fell Apart: Strange Tales From The Culture Wars, Jon Ronson traces the history of culture wars over issues like religion, gender, and sexuality — and finds some very weird stories along the way.1

Steven Mintz, aka Ethics Sage, asks the related question “Do the Ends Justify the Means?” He cites Niccolo Machiavelli for an early explanation of the ends justifying the means, expressed in Chapter XVIII of The Prince. The statement that “the ends justify the means” can be traced back to Niccolo Machiavelli. The closest he came to it was when he expressed his view in Chapter XVIII of The Prince:

“There is nothing more necessary to appear to have than this last quality (appearing to be religious), inasmuch as men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, because it belongs to everybody to see you, to few to come in touch withyou.”Machiavel_Offices_Florence2

Mintz explains that in this quote from Chapter 18 of The Prince about keeping faith, or being true to your word, Machiavelli is instructing a Prince on how to behave and how to keep up appearances. He says it’s very important to appear merciful, faithful, humane, upright, and religious. He also says that one must be prepared to act in a manner contrary to the appearance to keep up the appearance. This is because everyone can see what you appear to be, and only a few will get close enough to touch you and actually find out what happened. 

These people (each with slightly different reasons and motivations) are all about appearing as they wish people to see them. Even if it is nothing like what they really are, even if they are saying the exact opposite of what they will eventually do, they know that few will see through their appearances. So, for Machiavelli, to appear to be doing something is good enough even if the actor has no intention of doing so, or achieving an end result far outweighs how we got there; what road we took; and whether our behavior was ethical or not.2

Max Fawcett shares his opinion, in the National Observer, that the anti-vaxxer truck convoy signals an insidious spread of Trumpism in Canada where Conservatives are misrepresenting reality and promoting false information and fake controversies to their base.

Take former leader Andrew Scheer’s recent tweet, in which he declared his affinity for the convoy of truckers making their way to Ottawa to protest the government’s policy. “Trudeau is attacking personal liberty and threatening everyone's ability to get groceries because of his overreach on vaccine mandates,” Scheer wrote. “He is the biggest threat to freedom in Canada.”3

The fusion of hyperbole, hatred and fear-mongering is, to Fawcett, exactly the sort of thing the Republican Party has traded in ever since Donald Trump stepped onto that Trump Tower escalator in 2015. Since then, both he and the Republican Party he controls have routinely treated the truth and those who tried to defend it with open contempt.

There’s no question supply chains are stretched right now due to a combination of factors (recent floods in B.C. and droughts on the Prairies, for example, not to mention the growing percentage of truck drivers and other key employees who are sick with the Omicron variant), and that this is showing up in the form of shortages of certain products in our grocery stores. But to pretend, as the Conservative Party of Canada has for days now, this is entirely because of the federal government’s vaccine mandate for cross-border truck drivers (a similar mandate already exists in the United States) is dishonest in the extreme.3

Fawcett finds that they have gone further than just garden variety dishonesty, too.

Reverse the mandate 🚛🚛
Sign the petition and SHARE 👇https://t.co/noPa1ZRX8e pic.twitter.com/iMF1Dhc5sX

— Melissa Lantsman (@MelissaLantsman) January 21, 2022

In a recent tweet, Thornhill MP Melissa Lantsman (who was once heralded as a bright, new moderate voice in the party) used a stock image of empty shelves in a British grocery store in a post that suggested “empty Canadian grocery store shevles [sic] could become a larger problem.” When people pointed out the obvious error — and deceit — she simply doubled down and directed people to her petition against the federal government’s vaccine mandate. These sorts of blatant lies and deliberate attempts to mislead Canadians are a threat to our democracy. But what makes the CPC’s recent conduct even more dangerous is the obvious desire on the part of its key members, including former leader Scheer and potential leadership front-runner Pierre Poilievre, to provoke a portion of the Canadian public that’s already inclined towards anti-social behaviour — and direct their fury towards the prime minister.3

The truckers, who are over 80% vaccinated, have gathered support for their freedom convoy. Unfortunately, it is likely that this demonstration has become the means for others to use misinformation, and populist demagoguery to promote ends that threaten the truth needed in a well functioning democracy.

 

References

1	(2022, January 25). The Current for Jan. 25, 2022 | CBC Radio. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-jan-25-2022-1.6326525
2	(2018, April 3). Do the Ends Justify the Means? - Ethics Sage. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://www.ethicssage.com/2018/04/do-the-ends-justify-the-means.html
3	(2022, January 27). Anti-vaxxer truck convoy signals insidious spread of Trumpism in .... Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://www.nationalobserver.com/2022/01/27/opinion/anti-vaxxer-truck-convoy-signals-insidious-spread-trumpism-canada