VICTORIA: The BC division of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today called for the full privatization of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, after news that ICBC wants to raise rates by an average of 7.4 percent in the next year. The CTF also announced it has begun a petition campaign for full competition in automobile insurance.

"If ICBC wants to raise rates, consumers - and the taxpayers who own ICBC - should have a choice on whether they want to patronize ICBC," said CTF-BC director Mark Milke. "Consumers should not be forced to patronize monopoly providers. If ICBC, with its 96% lock on $2.5 billion market share, was a private sector monopoly instead of a government monopoly - it would have bee busted up by governments a long time ago. The CTF does not favour monopolies in the private sector or the public sector."

The CTF has long advocated the full privatization of ICBC in the interests of consumer choice and competition. In the latest CTF survey of its supporters this past summer, 77 percent wanted ICBC to be privatized while only 5 percent opposed such plans.

"British Columbians can now choose between all sorts of insurance companies for their home and life insurance, " said Milke. "It's absurd they cannot choose their own auto insurance provider."