tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post6365177378523829353..comments2024-03-03T17:01:57.876-05:00Comments on Montreal Simon: Stephen Harper and the Pathology of the ConsSimonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15309809679331128837noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-14524622452193739192016-04-07T09:29:32.954-04:002016-04-07T09:29:32.954-04:00nice postingnice postingAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14428315304604099802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-78229844395861265272016-03-11T09:17:05.169-05:002016-03-11T09:17:05.169-05:00Nice post.Nice post.Edward Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04792924856232780114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-5719395082452098742013-06-21T23:06:25.739-04:002013-06-21T23:06:25.739-04:00CBC news, in an article January 8, 2009 entitled &...CBC news, in an article January 8, 2009 entitled "Flood damage not covered, warns Insurance Bureau of Canada", advised : <br /><br />"Flood victims are out of luck if they are looking to their insurance companies for compensation, because home flood insurance doesn't exist in this country, says the Insurance Bureau of Canada."<br />"The warning to B.C. property owners comes as dozens of Fraser Valley residents begin to assess the damage done by two days of heavy rain falling on top of melting snow, leaving many homes and properties flooded."<br /><br /><br />An article in the December 2010 publication Canadian Underwriter states: <br /><br />"Insurance companies have provided coverage against fire and other perils in Canada for more than 200 years, yet consistently they have chosen not to provide flood insurance to homeowners. Businesses in Canada buy flood coverage. Homeowners have the option of buying flood insurance in the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and France. What is needed to make flood insurable for Canadian homeowners?<br />Flooding accounts for almost half of the disasters in Canada. Insurance is available for other perils in Canada -- earthquake, tornado, hurricane, wildfire, winter storms, lightning and hail -- but not overland flood. Relief programs offered by government agencies and charitable groups reduce the hardship for flood victims, but funding to support immediate, basic needs is not insurance."<br /><br />An article in the June 2011 publication Canadian Underwriter dealing with Manitoba floods states :<br /><br />"Despite this alarming level of water, insurance claims in the area remain (as of press time) nearly non-existent. The inability to purchase overland flood insurance for residential properties plays some part in the infrequency of claims." <br /><br />Trans Canada Insurance Marketing website advises:<br /> "Flood Insurance is available on commercial risks, depending on the location of the property, but is usually not available on homeowners risks"<br /><br /><br />Auto insurance policies are standard policy wording per province and provincially legislated and regulated, whereas there is no provincial regulation pertaining to "standard coverage' in homeowner policies, and Canadian insurers thereby collude to exclude such catastrophic risks, leaving the homeowner, and/or government to bear such burden and catastrophic losses .....<br /><br />Given the apparent market failure of private insurers to provide overland flood coverage to Canadian homeowners, victims of such catastrophic losses as the recent Alberta floods, I am surprised the issue has not been more aggressively addressed by both opposition parties...Renehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04969453615157584548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-71615383561385978742013-06-21T22:59:06.158-04:002013-06-21T22:59:06.158-04:00In a speech delivered November 16, 2011 to the Wa...In a speech delivered November 16, 2011 to the Waterloo chapter, Insurance Institute of Ontario entitled " Making flood insurable for Canadian homeowners", Glenn McGillivray<br />Managing Director, Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction advised: <br /><br />"Canada is the only G8 country in which flood<br />insurance is not available to homeowners. Even Russians, whose economy isn’t exactly known for being one of the most advanced in the world, can purchase a rider to cover their homes against overland flood. But Canadians cannot.<br />To make matters worse, most homeowners in Canada are of the mistaken belief that they are, indeed, covered for overland flood. A professionally administered ICLR survey conducted in 2004 showed that more than 70% of respondents believed that their homeowners policy covered them for overland flooding. More<br />than 60% believed that their policy covered them for coastal flooding.<br />People with these mistaken impressions oftentimes learn the hard way that they<br />are wrong.<br />But who can blame them for thinking as they do?<br />We confuse homeowners by covering some forms of water damage, but not others.<br />Homeowners insurance in Canada routinely covers sewer backup, but not overland flood.<br />It covers burst pipes, failed hotwater heaters and the like, but not overland flood.<br />It even covers burst municipal watermains, but not overland flood."<br /><br />There is not much that can be done immediately with respect to the current Alberta catastrophe outside of rescue and evacuation, but once the waters recede, cleanup and reconstruction will have to be tackled, and unfortunately for many, such losses will not be covered by their insurance policies.<br /><br />Given the contrasts in insurance coverage accorded to homeowners in Canada and Russia, Harper had some nerve seeking to lecture Russia at the latest G8 conference as to their obligations towards their own citizens...<br />Renehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04969453615157584548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-45538246420110335212013-06-21T22:17:59.118-04:002013-06-21T22:17:59.118-04:00The planned Conservative Party convention may be c...The planned Conservative Party convention may be cancelled and rescheduled as the Canadian Press reports :<br /><br />"Federal Conservatives may be forced to cancel a national party convention that's supposed to take place in flood-drenched Calgary next week."...<br />"The Calgary convention centre, where the gathering is slated to take place, is located in the downtown core, much of which was under water Friday and without power."<br /><br />The recent Alberta flood disaster gives the Prime Minister the opportunity to try and remake his public image as a caring, compassionate leader taking the high road, spending on public works and disaster relief, seeking to divert public attention from previous scandals and corruption, so his response to this disaster may give him some reprieve and extended political life.<br /><br />The opposition parties should pay careful attention to such response, as I imagine he will seek favourable press coverage carrying sandbags for photo opportunities while the issue is on the front pages of news media, but will eventually abandon tent dwellers driven from their flooded, contaminated homes to their own fates, and concentrate on large public works where contracts, as usually is the case, are awarded to dubious Conservative-connected firms offering low bids with political bribes and shoddy workmanship.<br /><br />Keep in mind as well that the majority of flood losses in Alberta are not covered by private insurers, as Canadian insurers offer flood loss coverage for commercial losses, but not for homeowner policies. Every other G8 country, including backwards, corrupt Russia, offers such protection to policyholders, but not Canada, where the major insurers in collusion with each other chose to exclude such protection from catastrophic losses from their policies and pass the costs for such losses on to homeowners. Our governments, federal and provincial, are complicit in this as they have allowed such practices to continue unopposed...<br /><br />Renehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04969453615157584548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-9836309201860897712013-06-21T22:16:15.925-04:002013-06-21T22:16:15.925-04:00I really wonder how we ended up in this situation ...I really wonder how we ended up in this situation of having a psycho mail room clerk in charge of our government. I'm looking forward to listening to the songs, reading the books and watching the films.<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX6FsTIq6ls<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23253782.post-55045511550585503462013-06-21T21:09:35.125-04:002013-06-21T21:09:35.125-04:00http://scienceblog.com/46622/minority-rules-scient...http://scienceblog.com/46622/minority-rules-scientists-discover-tipping-point-for-the-spread-of-ideas/<br /><br />First you have to weed out the 10 percent.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com