Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff has sent a letter to Ontario Finance Minister Rod Phillips, regarding commercial insurance and COVID-19.
In the letter, Mayor Canniff says he is seeking Minister Phillips’ support in ensuring that Ontario businesses retain the ability to access affordable commercial insurance now and throughout the remainder of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A number of local business in various sectors have told me their insurance has been cancelled outright or they are being forced to pay exorbitant premiums through no fault of their own,” Mayor Canniff wrote.
“Insurance underpins our entire economy. It is virtually impossible to obtain financing or operate a business without it. Indeed, every one of Ontario’s 400 plus municipalities will soon be facing renewals and could be in the same position.”
Mayor Canniff said he is aware the insurance sector “has not been immune to the effects of the pandemic.
“However, the government, in the words of Premier Ford, cannot let that industry ‘get all the cream and gravy … and just slough off everything else.’ Action is needed now because business requires investment. As noted in last week’s budget, our economic recovery depends on it. That investment will not happen without access to commercial insurance,” Mayor Canniff wrote.
Without acknowledgement and action from the Province, the path to economic recovery in Ontario will be slower and more painful, Mayor Canniff wrote.
“Jobs will be lost, more businesses will close and we will all suffer,” the Mayor wrote.
“Please assure all Ontarians that your government is committed to addressing this issue in an immediate and substantive way.”
The letter was also sent to MPP’s Rick Nicholls and Monte McNaughton, Mayor Cam Guthrie, chair of Ontario’s Big City Mayors, and Graydon Smith, the president of AMO.
