COMMENTARY: ‘Lock It Or Lose It’ is about money

I’m Bill Kingston with today’s commentary. The “Lock It Or Lose It” campaign is underway in our area as part of a province-wide plan to try to get people to lock their vehicles. Under this project, for example, a Cornwall police officer goes to a mall parking lot and checks people’s cars to see if they’re open and if valuables are in plain sight. They leave a note about what you did right or wrong.

Understandably, a lot of people are upset about people touching their property and voiced their concerns on Facebook after hearing our story.

But this really isn’t about safety. You need to follow the money trail. The big supporter of this program is the Insurance Bureau of Canada, which represents insurance companies. There’s nearly $23 billion dollars Canada-wide in auto insurance premiums on the line. Money that could be lost by having to pay out on claims for identity theft and theft of valuables from automobiles.

IBC says right on its website that it’s “forecasting and responding to issues that may arise in the industry” with the ultimate benefit for insurance companies (for profit in Ontario) and customers.

So, on the surface, it looks like IBC is being the good corporate citizen but really it’s all about the money and maximizing profits for insurance companies and shareholders. All the while using the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police and officers on the street to do its dirty work.

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