Media Releases 2008

May 31, 2008

Insurance Bureau of Canada carries climate change message to Quebec and Canadian Federation of Municipalities

Quebec City - Failure to develop a national climate change action plan that includes the immediate upgrade of our aging water and sewer infrastructure could lead to scenarios whereby Canadians find themselves scrambling for fresh water in the aftermath of natural disasters.

This was the message today from Insurance Bureau of Canada Director Robert Tremblay during a presentation to the Canadian Federation of Municipalities in Quebec City.

Tremblay continued to spread IBC’s message that adaptation to the effects of climate change must become an urgent national priority, stating that, “It is imperative that we build and rebuild our infrastructure with new climatic values in mind.” He emphasized the immediate need for all of us, from individuals to governments, to take action to adapt to the effects of climate change in Canada.

Tremblay reminded his audience that infrastructure failure has played a devastating role in every major natural disaster in Canada in recent memory. He urged all levels of government to work together to make sure communities are able to make necessary improvements to their water and sewer infrastructure.

IBC continues to encourage governments to develop a comprehensive strategy to deal with the effects of increasingly frequent and severe weather events including:

Improving aging infrastructure;
Strengthening building codes and building to stronger climatic design values; and,
Implementing sweeping land use revisions.

Insurance Bureau of Canada is the national industry association representing Canada’s private home, car and business insurers. Its member companies represent nearly 95% of the property and casualty (P&C) insurance market in Canada. The P&C insurance industry employs over 104,000 Canadians, pays more than $6 billion in taxes to the federal and provincial governments, and has a total premium base of $35 billion.

To view news releases and information, visit the media section of IBC’s website at www.ibc.ca.