Premier has plan to end MPI, Kinew says; province calls NDP leader’s claim ‘outright lie’

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This article was published 04/07/2019 (1904 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NDP Leader Wab Kinew says documents his party has obtained show Premier Brian Pallister “has a secret plan to privatize Autopac,” but the Tory government calls that an outright lie.

In a series of freedom of information requests, the Opposition New Democrats have obtained a trove of emails, letters, reports and briefing papers that have illuminated the relationship between MPI, the private insurance brokers that help sell its products and the Pallister government.

The documents, provided in stages to the Free Press and other media outlets, have placed the premier on the defensive. He’s insisted he’s not picking sides in highly contentious negotiations between the public auto insurer and brokers on such issues as their commission rates and involvement in future online sales of driver’s licences and vehicle insurance.

On Friday, Kinew said newly released documents — including a portion of a PowerPoint presentation listing six potential future operating scenarios for MPI — include one in which the Crown corporation would be disbanded. The scenarios were presented to the MPI board of directors on April 18.

The scenarios — outlining operating models for delivery of insurance services and driver’s licence sales — are accompanied by a list of pros and cons, in point form. Nowhere does it say which of the options, if any, management recommended.

While one of the models is entitled “MPI Disbanded,” which Kinew seized upon, another reads, “Broker Network Disbanded.”

The others include: a scenario in which brokers would control all customer transactions, online and in-person, and MPI would provide “back-end support”; a scenario in which brokers would control 100 per cent of online sales while in-person sales would continue to be shared by MPI and brokers; a shared-delivery model where online and in-person transactions could be completed either through MPI or a broker; and a model where online transactions would all be completed through MPI and in-person sales continued to be shared by MPI and brokers.

At a news conference outside the Main Street MPI service centre, Kinew said the privatization option, coupled with recent revelations showing a pattern of government support for broker concerns, leaves no doubt the Progressive Conservatives are considering privatization.

He specifically referred to a March 11, 2019 email from MPI CEO Ben Graham to the Progressive Conservative-appointed board of directors saying the government had decided “brokers will own 100 per cent of online MPI transactions” as proof.

“Everything is moving online in the insurance industry. Owning 100 per cent of online operations in the coming years in Manitoba will mean owning 100 per cent of the insurance operations in the province,” Kinew said, when asked to back up his privatization claim.

He said in provinces where auto insurance is in private hands, such as Ontario and Alberta, rates charged to motorists are considerably higher than in Manitoba.

However, Pallister spokeswoman Olivia Billson said the government has no intention of privatizing MPI.

“This is an outright lie and another example of Wab Kinew’s troubled relationship with the truth,” she said in an email to the Free Press.

“It’s a shame Wab Kinew and the NDP are resorting to reckless, fear-mongering tactics in an attempt to gain attention.”

In a statement, MPI said its management reviewed a number of operating models as part of initial efforts to offer online services to Manitobans.

“This review was designed to identify all possible scenarios, however likely or unlikely they would be implemented,” the corporation said. “This enables MPI to evaluate the potential impact of online services for each model.”

The corporation said the exercise was intended for “internal discussion only,” as part of planning and future negotiations for online service delivery.

According to the documents obtained by the NDP, MPI listed several disadvantages to its demise, including: major job loss and union issues, major “process disruptions,” loss of underwriting and claims expertise and a significant change for customers.

Meanwhile, the union representing close to 1,600 MPI head office and service centre workers said any consideration of the privatization of MPI is concerning. In a statement, the Manitoba Government and General Employees Union said Manitoba consistently has some of the lowest auto insurance rates in Canada, and privatization would mean the loss of head-office jobs to a financial centre such as Toronto.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca

 

MPI notes