Who Are We?
What We've Written
Links
- Interesting Reading
- Martha and her Monthly
- Alberta -- The Details
- Freddie's Diary
- Bill Barley
- Vive le Canada
- Blogs Canada
- Alberta Blogs
- Seniors
- Healthcare
- Education
- Insurance
- Provincial Parties
- The Premier's Page
- The Liberal Opposition
- The Alberta New Democrats
- Alberta Social Credit Party
- Alberta Alliance
- Alberta Greens
- Find and E-mail Your MLA
- Consumer Information
Archives
- July 2003
- August 2003
- September 2003
- October 2003
- November 2003
- December 2003
- January 2004
- February 2004
- March 2004
- April 2004
- May 2004
- June 2004
- July 2004
- August 2004
- September 2004
- October 2004
- November 2004
- December 2004
- January 2005
- February 2005
- March 2005
- April 2005
- May 2005
- June 2005
- July 2005
- August 2005
- September 2005
- October 2005
- November 2005
- December 2005
- January 2006
- February 2006
- March 2006
- April 2006
- January 2007
Check out previous postings
By Topic - Click Here
By Date - See Below
What's Your Political Stripe
- Are you more like George Bush or Nelson Mandella? Pope Jean Paul II or the Dalai Lama? Take a 5 minute test and find out where you fit. Email me your results if you want along with which Alberta Party you support today; PC, Liberal or NDP. I'll compile the results and post them here; anonymously of course.
- Take the test at:The Political Compass.
Send us mail
- Let us know if you have any comments to contribute. If you find any interesting sites we would be glad to add them to the list. We'll post your comments with or without your name if we think they are appropriate. If you want your name used, please say so in your e-mail or it won't be used. We will never post your e-mail address. Hope to hear from you and hope you enjoy Ralph's World.
Ralph Klein has gone and it is time to retire Ralph's World. Thanks to all of you who have supported this venture by contributing material and through your comments. It has been fun.
Should we get another blog underway? Let me know your thoughts by e-mailing me at johnnyslow@gmail.com.
John Slow
January 1, 2007
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
Auto Insurance Problem - Solved
From Hansard in the Alberta Legislature November 18, 2003 our Premier spoke in response to a question from Opposition Leader Ken Nichol:
Mr. Klein: Mr. Speaker, I don't know how old the hon. leader is. I'm 61
years of age. I suspect that he's about 59 or 58, and I also believe
that he's had a good driving record. I would say that he's paying
about the same rate as I'm paying, which by the way is about the
same rate as I'd be paying in Saskatchewan or Manitoba or British
Columbia, about the same rate. I pay about $600 or $700 a year in
car insurance; that's PL and PD and collision combined.
I think if we all just dealt with the Premier's insurance agent the whole thing would be solved. I'm a couple of years older than the Premier but that shouldn't matter. No accidents, no impaireds, no tickets plus I drive a pretty basic six year old family sedan. Sort of like the Premier I guess. So if I can get his rates, I'd save myself a few hundred dollars a year and I won't complain anymore about insurance rates.
So, I have e-mailed Premier Klein (see below) asking how I can contact his agent. When the Premier replies, I will contact his agent for a quote which I will pass on to you all here at Ralph's World. Then those of you with a good driving record like Ralph and I can get a good deal from his agent (a Premier deal you might say). This will go a long way to alleviating the Insurance Crisis in Alberta.
Here's my e-mail to the Premier.
Dear Premier Klein
Would you please pass on the name and contact information of your auto insurance agent that provides you with PL and PD and collision combined for $600 or $700 a year. I'm assuming you don't drive an old beater but if you could let me know what kind of car this was for and what your PL and PD coverage is I would appreciate it. I think most of this Province's insurance woes could be solved just by dealing with your insurance agent.
I look forward to your reply.
Yours truly
John Slow
PS My Insurance renewal is due in mid December so a timely response would be very much appreciated.
Mr. Klein: Mr. Speaker, I don't know how old the hon. leader is. I'm 61
years of age. I suspect that he's about 59 or 58, and I also believe
that he's had a good driving record. I would say that he's paying
about the same rate as I'm paying, which by the way is about the
same rate as I'd be paying in Saskatchewan or Manitoba or British
Columbia, about the same rate. I pay about $600 or $700 a year in
car insurance; that's PL and PD and collision combined.
I think if we all just dealt with the Premier's insurance agent the whole thing would be solved. I'm a couple of years older than the Premier but that shouldn't matter. No accidents, no impaireds, no tickets plus I drive a pretty basic six year old family sedan. Sort of like the Premier I guess. So if I can get his rates, I'd save myself a few hundred dollars a year and I won't complain anymore about insurance rates.
So, I have e-mailed Premier Klein (see below) asking how I can contact his agent. When the Premier replies, I will contact his agent for a quote which I will pass on to you all here at Ralph's World. Then those of you with a good driving record like Ralph and I can get a good deal from his agent (a Premier deal you might say). This will go a long way to alleviating the Insurance Crisis in Alberta.
Here's my e-mail to the Premier.
Dear Premier Klein
Would you please pass on the name and contact information of your auto insurance agent that provides you with PL and PD and collision combined for $600 or $700 a year. I'm assuming you don't drive an old beater but if you could let me know what kind of car this was for and what your PL and PD coverage is I would appreciate it. I think most of this Province's insurance woes could be solved just by dealing with your insurance agent.
I look forward to your reply.
Yours truly
John Slow
PS My Insurance renewal is due in mid December so a timely response would be very much appreciated.
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Welcome to Alberta Paul
Toronto Star Editorial: Health fight eternal "Here we go again. Less than 24 hours after media reports said Canada's premiers had agreed finally to keep their word and set up a National Health Council, Ralph Klein was backtracking".
Mr. Martin has just been introduced to the wild and wonderous world of Alberta politics.
Listen carefully Paul. Ralph's a bit testy these days. His power deregulation policy, while providing large profits for the companies involved, is saddling the voters with huge power bill increases. He just announced a guaranteed floor on insurance company profits. He called it a price freeze but he froze them after the insurance companies jacked the rates by over 50% in one year so it locks in their $600 million profit they made last year. These and other issues have the faithful wondering about their caring premier.
So he has pulled out his tried and trusted weapon when things get a little rocky. You beat up on someone from out of Province and preferrably in the Federal Government. This fires up the talkshow hosts who lead the citizens in a Province-wide gnashing-of-teeth and wringing-of-hands with crys of "No More NEP", "We want our own cops", "No more transfer payments to those Eastern lay-abouts" etc. Then he goes a way for a few days - England in this case - and waits for the citizens to settle down. And they always do.
You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time Paul. So when Ralph denies that he had reached a deal with you on the Health Council when you thought you had one, it doesn't mean you misunderstood. Ralph just needed a patsy to dump on and you were it.
If you really want to understand Mr. Klein, just look where he spends our taxpayer money. Here's a sample.
Support for Alberta Horse Racing - $33 million/yr
Support for the homeless in Alberta - $15 million/yr
Support for Canadawide Health Council - $2 million/yr max
Bamboozling the Alberta voters - priceless
Have fun in the West Paul.
Mr. Martin has just been introduced to the wild and wonderous world of Alberta politics.
Listen carefully Paul. Ralph's a bit testy these days. His power deregulation policy, while providing large profits for the companies involved, is saddling the voters with huge power bill increases. He just announced a guaranteed floor on insurance company profits. He called it a price freeze but he froze them after the insurance companies jacked the rates by over 50% in one year so it locks in their $600 million profit they made last year. These and other issues have the faithful wondering about their caring premier.
So he has pulled out his tried and trusted weapon when things get a little rocky. You beat up on someone from out of Province and preferrably in the Federal Government. This fires up the talkshow hosts who lead the citizens in a Province-wide gnashing-of-teeth and wringing-of-hands with crys of "No More NEP", "We want our own cops", "No more transfer payments to those Eastern lay-abouts" etc. Then he goes a way for a few days - England in this case - and waits for the citizens to settle down. And they always do.
You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time Paul. So when Ralph denies that he had reached a deal with you on the Health Council when you thought you had one, it doesn't mean you misunderstood. Ralph just needed a patsy to dump on and you were it.
If you really want to understand Mr. Klein, just look where he spends our taxpayer money. Here's a sample.
Support for Alberta Horse Racing - $33 million/yr
Support for the homeless in Alberta - $15 million/yr
Support for Canadawide Health Council - $2 million/yr max
Bamboozling the Alberta voters - priceless
Have fun in the West Paul.
Friday, November 07, 2003
Welcome to the Seniors Action and Liaison Team - SALT
SALT is a self-financed group of Edmonton seniors concerned with social justice issues in Alberta and Canada. Click on their link on the right under Seniors to find out more about them and to read their position papers.
A cheery Alberta welcome to all SALT members.
A cheery Alberta welcome to all SALT members.
Sunday, November 02, 2003
Questions for Mr. Rob Renner MLA re Auto Insurance
Dear Mr. Renner:
I am trying to understand the current automobile insurance situation which you are intimately involved with. While searching the government website related to this I came across a section entitled "How vehicle insurance rates are set in Alberta?" This article talked about the role of the Alberta Insurance Board (AIB) in approving compulsory automobile insurance rates in Alberta. The part that caught my eye was the statement "Premium levels are supposed to cover the cost of expected future claims. There is no component to recover past losses."
I went to the AIB website but as you can see, it is a little light on information and provides no e-mail address for contact. This is why I am hoping you will be able to answer my questions where are:
1. Automobile insurance premiums increased 50.1% from April 2002 to April 2003 in Alberta according to Statistics Canada. As this increase is expected to cover future claims and not to recover past losses, could you please tell me what documentation the insurance companies provided which projected that claims costs would rise 50.1% in the upcoming year.
2. Given that insurance company profits rose to $644 million dollars this year, up from $110 million last year, do you think there is any possibility that the AIB has confused the words "expected future claims" with the words "expected future profits".
3. As the AIB website does not indicate who sits on the Alberta Insurance Board, could you please tell me who does, what their affiliation is to the insurance industry, consumer agencies, or other groups and finally, how I might get in touch with these people to further understand their function.
Thank you in advance for considering my request.
Yours truly
John Slow
PS to Ralphsworld readers. I will post Mr. Renner's reply when I receive it.
I am trying to understand the current automobile insurance situation which you are intimately involved with. While searching the government website related to this I came across a section entitled "How vehicle insurance rates are set in Alberta?" This article talked about the role of the Alberta Insurance Board (AIB) in approving compulsory automobile insurance rates in Alberta. The part that caught my eye was the statement "Premium levels are supposed to cover the cost of expected future claims. There is no component to recover past losses."
I went to the AIB website but as you can see, it is a little light on information and provides no e-mail address for contact. This is why I am hoping you will be able to answer my questions where are:
1. Automobile insurance premiums increased 50.1% from April 2002 to April 2003 in Alberta according to Statistics Canada. As this increase is expected to cover future claims and not to recover past losses, could you please tell me what documentation the insurance companies provided which projected that claims costs would rise 50.1% in the upcoming year.
2. Given that insurance company profits rose to $644 million dollars this year, up from $110 million last year, do you think there is any possibility that the AIB has confused the words "expected future claims" with the words "expected future profits".
3. As the AIB website does not indicate who sits on the Alberta Insurance Board, could you please tell me who does, what their affiliation is to the insurance industry, consumer agencies, or other groups and finally, how I might get in touch with these people to further understand their function.
Thank you in advance for considering my request.
Yours truly
John Slow
PS to Ralphsworld readers. I will post Mr. Renner's reply when I receive it.
