MoveUP has learned that Interim Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson has pledged privately to the trial lawyers and the private insurance industry to overhaul BC’s insurance industry with a plan that would double rates for drivers.
In a letter dated September 29, 2026, sent from the BC Conservatives interim leader Lorne Doerkson to several industry groups, Doerkson indicated “[e]verything’s on the table, including opening auto insurance to private competition.”
Doerkson commits that “government will get out of the legal profession’s business” with a plan to bring costly personal injury lawyers back into the ICBC process, reversing the BC NDP’s changes that reduced rates significantly.
“British Columbians now have access to the most affordable auto insurance rates in the country, and Lorne Doerkson knows that people won’t support his plan because it would double rates,” said MoveUP President Annette Toth. “That’s why he made this promise privately and hasn’t disclosed it to British Columbians. His plan would line the pockets of the private insurance and trial lawyer industries by taking money right out of the pockets of British Columbians and leaving us all worse off.”
Regardless of partisan affiliation, every British Columbia knows the sordid track record of the BC Liberal government with ICBC. They siphoned $1.2 billion out of ICBC, deliberately hid recommendations on how to counter losses, and drove rates up to unaffordable levels all as part of their clandestine attempt to dismantle ICBC and put thousands of British Columbians out of work all to appease the private insurance industry.
“The BC Conservatives have no credibility when it comes to public auto insurance. That’s why Lorne Doerkson made this commitment behind closed doors. He would leave British Columbians paying double or more for their auto insurance and force you through the legal system just to access health coverage all so they can line the pockets of private interests.”
Highlights from Ernst & Young analysis from 2022:
An Ernst & Young’s comparison of insurance costs found that comparable drivers in Alberta were paying dramatically more than drivers in BC Here are some highlights from the Ernst and Young report.
Ernst & Young compared an 18-year-old male student driving a 2012 Honda Civic.
The BC provincial average was $2,551.
The Alberta provincial average was $5,936.
That’s $3,385 more every year.
That’s 2.33 times the BC rate.
Ernst & Young also looked at a couple in their early 30s driving a 2017 Toyota Tacoma, fully licensed for 15 years and driving 20,000 kilometres a year.
BC: $1,639
Alberta: $4,270
That’s $2,631 more every year.
Or 2.61 times the BC provincial average.
The same pattern appears across other profiles.
A 30-year-old male driving a 2019 Ford F-350:
BC: $2,065
Alberta: $4,791
Alberta: 2.32 times BC
A 37-year-old male driving a 2021 Tesla Model 3:
BC: $1,855
Alberta: $4,200
Alberta: 2.26 times BC
A 35-year-old male driving a 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan:
BC: $1,269
Alberta: $2,597
Alberta: 2.05 times BC
The Ernst & Young report examined 30 different driver profiles across nine provinces.
