Thanks for the info vdoguy.
I already talked to my MP and sent a letter to the Financial Services Commission of Ontario. In Ontario, motor vehicle insurance is regulated by the FSC of Ontario, an agency of the Ministry of Finance.
I doesn't help in PQ, but I feel better that I did something.
I would hate to see this ignorance spread.
Bonne Chance.
That's good to hear FJRottie,
If these rate increases go through they will have a definite negetive impact on the entire industry in Quebec and force a lot motorcyclists to abandon their valueless bikes. Perhaps drastic registration fees will be adopted by other provinces in the future...
I too sent a letter to our minister of transport. I'm including it just for your interest, (it's a bit long...).
Thanks for the wishes.
>>Dear Mr. Després,
I am writing you to express my utter disappointment and disgust with the proposed rate increases by the SAAQ. Allow me to give you a little background on myself. I am a 47 year old male, honest tax paying citizen of Montreal, and I have held a drivers license for the past 31 years. I divide my seasons by driving a compact car through-out the winter months and a motorcycle throughout the warmer months. The choice of these vehicles is twofold, firstly they both consume less perishable fossil fuels than larger vehicles therefore adding less pollution to our already polluted environment, and secondly they are cost and space efficient. I use both for transportation. They are both equipped with ABS brakes, catalytic converters and the car has benefited from the manufacturers' technological safety research and is equipped with air-bags and reinforced panels. I pay license and registration fees for both though it is impossible to drive both at the same time! I have never, in the past 31 years made a single claim for indemnization from the SAAQ. And I am not alone. 99% of my aquaintances have a similar record, none having ever made a claim for indemnization from the SAAQ. Imagine for a moment the sums that have been paid to the SAAQ from this small sampling. We are not a minority!
What Mr. Harbour is proposing is tantamount to extortion. Is the SAAQ a privately owned enterprise competing for survival in a free and competitive market? NO! Absolutely not. In fact the SAAQ has the mandate to serve the people of this province by legislating laws and practices that make the vehicular experience a safer one. There are numerous solutions and propositions for reducing claims and making our roads safer. In fact our roads presently represent a terrible liability on their own. They are in excruciatingly bad states of disrepair. Years of neglect and patchwork solutions have rendered them extremely dangerous and a shameful sight for those visiting our province.
Sir, there are close to 8,000,000 registered vehicles in Quebec (Stats Can). An "equitably" distributed increase of premiums of $25.00 per registered vehicle would put close $200,000,000.00 dollars of supplementary funding into the SAAQ's coffers per year! This amount combined with more efficient traffic safety legislation and better administration would be more than enough to drastically diminish the stated debt and insure an "equitable" and "durable" fund for future generations. The proposed "inequitable" increase to motorcycles and sub-compact cars is discriminate and poorly rationalized. All vehicles that share our roads are subject to the same factors of risk and statistics show that motorcycles represent no greater risk proportionally than cars, pedestrians or bicycles. In fact two important international studies have shown that in the case of motorcycles, roughly 75% of collisions were caused by the inattention of the other, (car or truck or bus) vehicle's driver. I can speak from experience and ratify the tenure or these findings as I am an experienced driver of both. (For information please consult the MAIDS and HURT studies).
Imagine, for a moment, that other public and private corporations disregard the democratic majority, refuse government intervention, blindly and greedily inflate their rates and fees to appease the bottom line without care nor regard for the ramifications such actions may have on the local economy and the less fortunate sectors of the population. Imagine that we all adopt this blind and greedy attitude, I personally am afraid to follow such a scenario to it's bitter end. You have lost our confidence sir, the Liberal party of Quebec has left us disgruntled, confused, angry and powerless and I'm afraid you may no longer count on the support of this voter, nor those in my circle of acquaintances, nor the thousands of others who are part of the associations and federations that I frequent. Were Mr. Harbour in the service of a private corporation, acting with the same belligerent zeal and disregard for his client's welfare he would be ousted. But we cannot fire Mr. Harbour. You have given him ultimate and unquestionable powers via Bill 55. You have in part created this problem by siphoning many millions of dollars from the insurance reserves and have now given him the axe and the broom.
It is imperative that we find a more reasonable solution to this problem, a solution that takes into account the more "durable" and "equitable" notions of public safety that reduce accidents and therefore the claims burden on the SAAQ. Why have they not legislated against the use of portable phones and DVD players while operating a motor vehicle? Why had the SAAQ abolished the mandatory drivers tests for motorcyclists in spite of the Quebec Motorcycle Federations warnings? Why have they not modified legislation concerning no fault payments to drunken drivers who have caused greivous injury and death to other citizens? These are but a few examples of the absolute lack of genuine responsibility shown by the SAAQ.
I personally and on behalf of numerous co-citizens, am fed up with this lack of foresight and have no intention of supporting any government that unilaterally and irresponsibly attempts to place the bottom line above public safety and equitable sharing of the population's funds in the financial burden.<<
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