Noon News Update for May 14 2020

Attorney General David Eby / via Province of BC Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

NANAIMO—There will be no rebates for BC drivers anytime soon. The Insurance Corporation of BC says the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown its budget projections and bottom-line number in disarray. The Minister responsible for ICBC says although the insurance corporation has saved millions of dollars in accident claims because there are fewer drivers on the road during the pandemic, the Insurance Corporation has lost hundreds of millions of dollars in investments in just the past seven weeks, with the plummeting of the stock market. David Eby says ICBC won't know until the summer, what its real year-end numbers are for 2020. ICBC had hoped to offer drivers a dividend or lower insurance premiums, this year, but the pandemic has put those plans on hold. He says drivers may see savings at the end of the 2021 fiscal year, but that will depend on whether investments do better and claims remain low.

The Nanaimo Mayor's Task Force on Recovery and Resilience will hold its first meeting today. The 6 member group will provide strategic direction to council on how to best recover economically and culturally from the COVID-19 pandemic. Its recommendations will help guide the city's five year fiscal and strategic plans. Mayor Leonard Krog says the group will collaborate with public and private groups, along with community organizations. Its members include the President of Vancouver Island University, the chair of the Nanaimo Port Authority, the executive director of the local United Way, the CEO of the Snuneymuxw First Nation's Petroglyph Development Group and a senior director of Vancouver Island, MNP, an accounting and investment counselling firm. It's final report to council is expected this fall.

The Premier is hoping his meeting with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman earlier this week, will lead to BC becoming an NHL hub this year. John Horgan says BC can easily accommodate the number of arenas and hotel rooms needed for a "Hub City" The league is studying whether it can complete the 189 games left in the season by having teams travelling to four "hub cities" to play games without fans in a compressed timeline. Much depends on the rate of COVID-19 infections in cities and how long players would have to self-isolate. BC's Provincial Health Officer says she will not bend the rules, when it comes to a 14-day self-isolation for international travellers, even though she loves hockey. Dr. Bonnie Henry says she would have to see a very detailed plan from the NHL before making any decisions, and no plan has been presented yet. Other Canadian cities in the competition include Edmonton and Toronto.

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Lisa Cordasco

Senior Reporter and News Director — Lisa is responsible for creating the station's first morning news current affairs show on CHLY. She is also deeply involved in training and mentoring student and citizen journalists who volunteer their time at the station. Before joining CHLY, Lisa spent 35 years in various roles at CBC Radio, from host to reporter. Her passion for journalism and radio has led her to Nanaimo, where she intends to provide CHLY listeners with news they can use, in an alternative radio environment. Her other not-so-secret passion is costuming for any occasion.

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