Each year from September to June, this writer reviews legislation passed in Alberta. Bill 47, now known as the Automobile Insurance Act, SA 2025, c A-47, has now passed in the Alberta legislature. It introduces Canada’s first ever private, no-fault regime and promises enhanced benefits at lower insurance rates by eliminating a large portion of the civil justice system and some of the civil rights of the disabled. Thankfully, Bill 47 does not take effect until Jan. 1, 2027, giving the Alberta legislature time to pivot and rebalance. For the reasons below, this writer gives this legislation a failing grade.
1. Bill 47 requires a conviction to allow access to even basic civil rights.
Police have neither the funds nor the training to be the gatekeepers of the civil justice system, and we should not rely on the police to make these sorts of decisions that drastically affect the
compensation provided to the victims of poor drivers when their lives have been changed forever. Under Bill 47, if the police fail to investigate properly, the victim of the poor driver is left without any recourse and loses the ability to sue the at-fault driver.
Think of how the victims of O.J. Simpson were failed by the criminal justice system south of the border when he was found not guilty in that system for the murder of his wife and her lover but was found civilly liable in the civil justice system.
A loss of life or livelihood from a poor driver, while not murder, has much of the same impact on a family. Often, the only justice that victims of poor drivers will receive is through a civil action in the court system — Bill 47 removes this right. Police cannot be expected to operate the civil justice system as well as the criminal justice system. It is never a good idea to over-rely on the criminal justice system and reduce the civil accountability of impaired, careless and distracted drivers.
2. Albertans already have a care-first model
Some of the proponents of Bill 47 did not fully realize this. All auto insurance policies in Alberta have a section B, a care-first portion that provides immediate no-fault care after an auto collision up to $50,000 per Albertan for physiotherapy, psychological services, massage therapy, acupuncture and other treatments.
It was a misrepresentation to suggest to Albertans that they did not already all have this benefit. Even a pedestrian who has no insurance and is hit by a vehicle with insurance already had the benefit of this $50,000 in care and some wage loss for the first two years after a collision. This was not even referenced in press releases. (See Section B – Accident Benefits – S.P.F. No. 4.)
3. Discrimination against disabled persons and taking away their rights to ostensibly save premiums is against the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, is unconstitutional and reflects poorly on Alberta.
Victims of serious and fatal auto collisions and their families are vulnerable, and how we treat our most vulnerable says a lot about who we are as a community. The Canadian Constitution does not allow the use of racial discrimination to lower costs, and likewise, does not allow the lowering of premiums by discriminating against the disabled and vulnerable. Bill 47 eliminates entire classes of basic human rights and represents a big middle finger from insurance companies toward s. 15 of the Charter.
The courts have long acknowledged that all Canadians have certain universal entitlements, including the right to receive fair and equal compensation for injuries suffered from the actions of careless drivers, as noted below:
Everyone in Canada, wherever they may reside, is entitled to a more or less equal measure of compensation for similar non-pecuniary loss.
(Cinar Corporation v. Robinson, 2013 SCC 73 at para. 96; see also Andrews v. Grand & Toy Alberta Ltd., [1978] 2 S.C.R. 229 at 263-264, adopted in Alberta in Hohol v. Pickering, [1984] A.J. No. 2555 at para. 41; R. v. A.(W.), 2003 ABQB 50 at para. 112; and T.(A.) (Next Friend of) v. Mah, 2013 ABQB 241 at para. 5)
4. Bill 47 attempts to eliminate the right of disabled Albertans to seek court assistance contrary to the voice of most Albertans who want the ability to seek assistance from all three branches of government, including from the civil justice system.
According to Nanos Research as of May 6, three-quarters of Albertans (75 per cent) consider the right to sue someone for compensation when they cause harm or injury to be important (score of 7-10 out of 10, mean of 8), while more than four in five Albertans (82 per cent) emphasize the importance of holding people legally and financially responsible for their actions when it causes injury or harm (score of 7-10 out of 10, mean of 8.3). Bill 47 tramples on the priorities of the majority of Albertans.
5. Bill 47 was passed without appropriate exploration of other methods of savings that do not involve discrimination against the vulnerable.
Albertans have never sent the message that they wish to subsidize autobody repair fraud by removing the rights of the disabled. For example, consider the issue of autobody repair fraud, which may be pervasive across Canada. An investigation performed by an insurance company found that nine out of 10 hidden cameras revealed evidence of autobody repair fraud.
There are other indicators of potential fraud and mismanagement in the auto repair industry (see I.C.B.C. v. Blue Mountain Collision Ltd., 2003 BCCA 716), including data showing that
Alberta is paying more to repair cars in one hailstorm than to all victims of poor driving in any given year since 2018. Given the lack of any efforts in Alberta to explore this issue, insufficient investigation has been made prior to trying to slash the rights of disabled victims. The Globe and Mail also raised the alarm about hidden and ongoing insurance brokerage fees rising much higher than expected for a mandatory product in Canada (12.5 per cent to 23 per cent, compared to one per cent to two per cent for stockbrokers) (Carrick, R., Feb. 17, 2017, “Flying blind while shopping for insurance.” The Globe and Mail, p. B10).
6. Bill 47 clearly hurts Alberta truckers, trucking businesses and taxpayers.
Dollars are paid into WCB (Workers’ Compensation Board of Alberta) and to Alberta Health from the civil justice system. When funds are collected for WCB under the civil justice system, WCB fees to truckers and their companies are reduced dollar for dollar as per WCB policy 07-02. Similarly, funds paid to Alberta Health from the civil justice system significantly reduce the tax burden on Albertans. There is no evidence this was properly considered.
7. Bill 47 was marketed to Albertans based on a falsehood.
Contrary to several news releases, insurance companies do not pay the lawyers of victims for their legal services and victims usually hire lawyers on a contingency basis because they cannot afford a lawyer during this vulnerable time of life. The hostility toward vulnerable victims of car crashes receiving quality legal advice is the origin of the archaic 1907 term “ambulance chasers” (see Bergel & Edson v. Wolf, [2000] O.J. No. 3566), a term that has since been retracted over the past 100 years in the name of access to justice. Without quality legal representation, many Albertans would receive much less than the law directs and would be reliant on social welfare at the cost to the taxpayers.
In addition to 18 years of continuous legal practice, Travis Bissett has served on the legislative review and editorial committees of the Canadian Bar Association and is twice elected to the board. He is also a proud executive member of the Alberta Civil Trial Lawyer Association, a contributing editor of two legal manuals with the Legal Education Society of Alberta, and a volunteer adjudicator with the Law Society of Alberta. Bissett can be reached at tbissett@stringam.ca.
The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the views of the author’s firm, its clients, Law360 Canada, LexisNexis Canada, or any of its or their respective affiliates. This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice.
Originally written and posted on https://www.law360.ca/ca/personalinjury/articles/2360624/7-reasons-bill-47-was-likely-alberta-s-worst-legislation-passed-between-september-2024-and-june-2025