Mark McCourt is an auto accident injury lawyer at McCourt Law Offices in Edmonton.If you are injured by a negligent motorist in Alberta, you have the right to compensation from the at-fault driver's insurance company for your pain and suffering, income loss, out-of-pocket expenses, and other damages.However, Albertans' fundamental freedoms are under attack.In 2023, the United Conservative Party (UCP) won the provincial election. Premier Danielle Smith appointed Nate Horner as Finance Minister and commanded him to work with stakeholders to review recommended reforms to make auto insurance rates more affordable. Minister Horner ruled out no-fault insurance as an option unless it was "the only answer" to reduce rates, vowing that such a major change would need a mandate from Albertans.The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) responded with a proposal titled "Enhancing Care and Expanding Choice," which recommended keeping intact the rights of innocent injured Albertans to sue reckless drivers for non-minor injuries and giving policyholders more options in purchasing coverage for medical expenses. The proposal, which also recommended eliminating the insurance premium tax and removing the grid rating system under which good drivers over-subsidize the rates of bad ones, predicted savings of about $325 per year on the average Albertan's auto insurance premium.Vancouver-based Aaron Sutherland, chief Alberta lobbyist for the IBC, cited a survey commissioned by FAIR Alberta which "confirms there is little support for a move to a no-fault insurance system in Alberta." Sutherland aptly described no-fault insurance systems as “disastrous," noting that in provinces with no-fault auto insurance, "people injured in collisions are denied access to justice.”.Sutherland pointed out that "in provinces with 'no-fault' insurance systems (BC, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan), the government sets strict limits on the benefits provided to those injured in a collision, and injured people cannot sue if they do not receive what they need to recover. These limits help keep costs and premiums down. However, in keeping claims costs low, those injured may receive far less in benefits and care than those living in a province with a competitive, tort-based auto insurance system. In short, you get what you pay for."Actually, Albertans will pay more for no-fault insurance delivered by private, profit-driven corporations than what we pay for our current, best-in-class auto insurance system (tort law protecting your rights if you're injured by a negligent motorist plus immediate, ample care-first benefits payable to people hurt in car crashes regardless of fault).The Insurance Brokers Association of Alberta (IBAA) agreed that a no-fault system should not be implemented in Alberta, and recommended scrapping the insurance premium tax, allowing Albertans the option to choose a limited right to sue for minor injuries while maintaining full tort rights for non-minor injuries, and ending the over-subsidization of bad drivers' premiums by good drivers.In a letter provided to Premier Smith and Finance Minister Horner over two years ago, the Alberta Civil Trial Lawyers Association (ACTLA) recommended: "that the Alberta government implement the IBC's 'Enhancing Care & Expanding Choice' proposal as a framework for auto insurance reform in Alberta." Alberta economist Dr. Jack Mintz concurred with IBC, IBAA, and ACTLA that the UCP government should not implement a staggeringly unpopular no-fault scheme and should instead maintain a tort-based auto insurance system for those Albertans left with permanent clinical impairment due to careless drivers.Despite this consensus amongst the stakeholders, Minister Horner ignored these recommendations and, following in the footsteps of NDP provinces such as Manitoba and BC, passed legislation implementing no-fault auto insurance effective January 1, 2027. As columnist Licia Corbella astutely observed, no-fault "flies in the face of everything the UCP government claims it stands for and was elected on — that is, smaller government, less red tape, personal responsibility, and being a defender of our rights and freedoms.” At last year's UCP AGM, party members voted overwhelmingly to repeal Nate's no-fault plan.Horner resigned from cabinet a couple of months ago. His replacement, Finance Minister Jason Nixon, is well advised to scrap Horner’s no-fault auto insurance scheme and instead consider a plan that would reduce rates for good Alberta motorists while preserving Albertans' rights to chronic pain compensation from reckless drivers' insurers. In a guest column in the Edmonton Journal last September titled “Alberta should take the off-ramp on Care-First auto insurance,” I outlined reforms that would reduce the average Albertan’s auto insurance rates by over $700 per year.Mark McCourt is an auto accident injury lawyer at McCourt Law Offices in Edmonton.
