My question is for the Premier. Speaker, the budget dropped, and once again, it’s Groundhog Day for Ontario drivers, who still pay the highest auto insurance premiums in the country. Every year, the government promises action, and like clockwork, the rates go up higher than inflation. They even went up during the pandemic when cars were parked and accidents were way down.

Now, the minister’s newest gimmick is to get drivers to slash their own coverage to save a penny, but in the media, he couldn’t even promise this would actually reduce premiums. Man, the insurance companies are smiling. They’re so proud of him. And if he pulls this off, he’ll make it to the auto insurance company hall of fame. Good luck, Minister.

So will the minister finally come clean and admit that the insurance companies themselves are writing his own policies on auto insurance?

Interjections.

Let’s talk about postal code discrimination in auto insurance. Right after the last election, the Premier himself said he’d fix it. But here we are, two years later, and they just can’t get it done. In this budget—get this—they’re going to buy more time and study it for another two years. You just can’t make this stuff up. It’s like they’re driving in reverse.

Will the minister tell the drivers in Brampton, Scarborough, Vaughan and my community why they just can’t get it done for them on auto insurance?

Interjections.

My question is for the Premier.

Auto insurance rates continue to climb in Ontario.

In Brampton, it has been reported that auto insurance premiums are up by 37% since 2021, meaning Bramptonians pay the highest auto insurance rates in all of North America.

This government keeps giving auto insurance companies the green light to put their hands deep into the pockets of drivers.

Premier, please tell the people of Brampton why they deserve to pay the highest auto insurance rates in North America.

Speaker, it’s only 10:30 a.m., and it seems the minister is already out to lunch on this issue, so I’m going to help him.

The answer is, yes, Ontario drivers are being gouged on their auto insurance. We pay the highest auto insurance rates in Canada despite having some of the lowest per capita accidents. In fact, accidents have been down since the start of the pandemic, and yet insurance rates are climbing at double the rate of inflation. While Ontarians are struggling, insurer profits hit 27%, and drivers are overpaying in the hundreds of millions.

Will this government do the right thing and bring auto insurance premiums down to the level they should be? Yes or no?

Speaker, the proof is in the premiums; I’ve said it before. The Auditor General has confirmed what New Democrats have been saying here for years: Auto insurance postal code discrimination is real, and it has to stop. Drivers with clean driving records in Brampton, Scarborough, northwest Toronto and many other GTA neighbourhoods are paying double the rates of others.

Two months ago, I tabled a bill to end auto insurance postal code discrimination in the GTA. The government supported this very same bill before the election; the Premier said it was a priority. So will they pass this bill into law immediately? Yes or no?

My question is for the Premier.

Speaker, the Auditor General tabled a report yesterday and painted a very clear picture of the state of auto insurance here in Ontario.

My question is very simple: Does the Premier agree that Ontario drivers are being gouged on their auto insurance? Yes or no?

My question is for the Premier. Auto accidents were down by 40% last year compared to 2019, yet premiums keep going up and insurance company profits hit 27.6%. The cost of living in Ontario is unbearable, and drivers continue to be gouged. Auto insurance companies are regulated by this government, so will they do the right thing and return these excess profits back into the pockets of drivers?

Speaker, drivers in GTA communities like mine continue to be ripped off simply because of where they live, compared to other drivers with similar records in different parts of the city. I tabled the bill to end this unfair treatment. Will the government pass it into law immediately?

My question is for the Premier. GTA drivers in my community and many others are still being gouged on their auto insurance—drivers like Yavuz Selim who cannot afford auto insurance, impacting job opportunities and his quality of life; drivers like Deepak who pays $9,000 a year for two cars despite a 20-year clean driving record.

Just before the election, I co-sponsored an NDP bill to end postal code discrimination in the GTA and it received unanimous support, but this government did not pass it into law. I will be tabling the bill again this afternoon. Will the Premier pass it into law so we can finally end auto insurance postal code discrimination in the GTA?

Amendments require the chief executive officer of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario to refuse to approve a risk classification system used in determining the rates for each coverage and category of automobile insurance if the system considers the geographic region as a determinant and fails to consider the greater Toronto area as a single geographic area. The amendment also prohibits insurers from entering into contracts of insurance that provide for insurance rates that were determined based on such a risk classification system.

M. Mantha propose la première lecture du projet de loi suivant :

Bill 13, An Act to enact the Northern Health Travel Grant Advisory Committee Act, 2022 / Projet de loi 13, Loi édictant la Loi de 2022 sur le Comité consultatif des subventions aux résidents du Nord de l’Ontario pour frais de transport à des fins médicales.