A northwestern village in British Columbia claims that it is being unfairly charged with ICBC rates higher than its neighbors. Darcy Repen, the mayor of the Village of Telkwa, declared the rates a “human rights issue.” He plans to file a complaint to B.C.’s Human Rights Tribunal regarding the matter.
CBC News pointed out that Telkwa’s rates are so high compared to its immediate neighbors that the next closest area that pays roughly the same rates as the village—the communities surrounding Prince George—lies 350 km away from Telkwa.
Mayor Repen explained that this could mean households that own multiple cars pay hundreds of dollars more for insurance.
“Which is substantial when we consider the other stresses that people are under in terms of the fees that they’re paying and the taxation,” he said. “We’re sort of penalized for being in the same region as a place that has more traffic and more accidents.”
Repen also claimed that the human rights complaint is not just about insurance rates, but also about rural resource communities being forced to pay more to the provincial government and crown corporations than what they can get back in services.
“We feel we’re an integral part of the province. We’re certainly a resource community, our residents work in logging, mining, even in the oil and gas sector,” Repen explained. “We have so much activity, and yet we’re completely shut out.”
ICBC released a statement saying that it met with Telkwa council representatives on the matter during September’s UBCM convention. The crown corporation, however, said that there are no immediate plans to re-examine the existing territories.
“The territories are based on variations in geography, traffic and driving risks in B.C.,” the company said in its release. “The territories can have variations with both urban and rural driving environments located in the same territory.”
“We do have Telkwa council’s comments for consideration, in the event ICBC reviews all provincial rating territory boundaries in the future,” ICBC stated.
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