Life Insurance

VANCOUVER, April 26 /CNW/ - Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) todaystrongly urged federal MPs to support Bill C-343, which would make auto thefta separate offence under the Criminal Code and implement mandatory jail timesfor repeat offenders. Bill C-343 is currently before the House of Commons forsecond reading. "Bill C-343 is an important piece of legislation that could save lives,"said Lindsay Olson, Vice-President, British Columbia and Yukon, IBC. "Itrecognizes that auto theft is a violent offence and should be treated assuch." She added: "Police say that auto theft is not a stand-alone crime. Takinga tough stand on auto theft helps police crack down on other offences, such asbreak and enter and drug trafficking." Currently, auto theft falls under theft of property over or under $5,000in the Criminal Code. Olson added: "Auto theft is not merely a property crime. It is a crimethat is both a serious and violent offence that threatens the safety andsecurity of our communities - something that the people of British Columbiaknow all too well. We've all seen the media reports of British Columbians,including law enforcement personnel, being injured or killed by people drivingstolen vehicles." According to Statistics Canada, in 2005, the latest year for which datais available, a total of 34,800 motor vehicle thefts occurred in BritishColumbia, including more than 21,340 in the city of Vancouver alone. Overall,British Columbia has the second-highest rate of vehicle theft in the country. Auto theft costs lives. A study by the National Committee to Reduce AutoTheft concluded 81 people were killed due to auto theft between 1999 and 2001. Auto theft costs Canadians more than $1 billion a year, a cost borne byevery citizen through taxes and insurance premiums. The national rate of autotheft is 56% higher than 20 years ago and is rapidly shifting away from beinga random act toward organized crime rings, as documented by Statistics Canadaand the RCMP. Insurance Bureau of Canada is the national trade association of theprivate property and casualty insurance industry. It represents more than 90%of the non-government home, car and business insurance in Canada. To view newsreleases and information, visit the media section of IBC's website atwww.ibc.ca.

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