2010: A bad year to fly? – The end of the year witnessed the significant beefing up of airport security protocols for international travel in the wake of the latest terror-intentioned incident. And 2009 was already a troubling year for airline safety: 6 commercial airliners crashed resulting in fatalities. Not included in that total were 2 high-profile crashes that miraculously resulted  more...

Drinking & Driving – the heavy toll on our young people: why?? – As a culture, Canadians have made significant progress in the battle against impaired driving. Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada (MADD) released a December 2nd report assessing legislative progress among Canada’s provinces and territories. MADD’s report ranked Ontario first, and credits the following: * comprehensive graduated licensing program. * 3-day license suspension for  more...

The UN climate-change conference at Copenhagen has now experienced multiple violent demonstrations. In fairness, police noted that the crowds of activists – measured at over 60,000 strong this past weekend - were peaceful for the most part. Rally organizers had repeatedly urged the crowd to remain civilized, but within minutes of the start of Saturday’s march, participants were  more...

Climate-Change and the Integrity of the Supporting Science – As the Copenhagen Climate Conference completes its first week, the “elephant in the room” has been the crisis known as “Climategate”. Last month, the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) located in the UK, had its computer security compromised. The result was that over 1000 e-mails and other documents were anonymously removed  more...

Global disasters affect your premium – After the first 11 months of 2009, it is being reported that global disasters are less frequent and less severe than last year.  And catastrophe (“cat”) losses paid for by insurance, are also down significantly. That’s good news for those of us paying premiums on any insured property.  Here’s why: When  more...

Board members: You may have more at risk than you realize! – Directors across Canada were shocked by the aftermath of a tragic single-vehicle accident which took the lives of 3 young men near Bracebridge last year. In addition to alcohol, speed was also determined to be factor as the vehicle tore through a guardrail , launching itself  more...

Public Vaccination for H1N1 – What if the government is wrong??? It’s hard to nail down objectively, but anecdotal evidence suggests some healthcare workers are beginning to worry about the changing nature of information accompanying the H1N1 threat. If a problem surfaces, can the federal government be legally liable for its pandemic threat vaccination strategy, or  more...

How much risk with Twitter? – Earlier this month, Boris Johnson, the flamboyant mayor of London was riding his bicycle when he came upon a woman being threatened by a group of teen-aged girls, one of which was brandishing an iron bar. Mayor Johnson spontaneously scared off the attackers and escorted the victim to her home. What makes this  more...

Finance Minister Dwight Duncan announced over 40 changes to Ontario’s auto insurance system last Monday. Will this package bring premiums down?? Or even freeze vehicle insurance rate increases over the longer term?? The short answers: no and no. The main changes are: * offering choice for non-catastrophic medical and rehabilitation costs. Policyholders can opt to drop to a limit of $50,000 from  more...

What’s the big deal about cell-phone use while driving?? – Ontario’s new laws banning cell-phone and texting activities while driving, will be a significant inconvenience to some of us. But is the inconvenience worth the trouble?? Now there is greater evidence that cell-phone usage and texting may be among the most common distractions leading up to highway accidents. A study  more...