There is a renewed push at Queen’s Park to lower auto insurance rates in Brampton.New Democrat MPP Gurratan Singh (Brampton East) and Progressive Conservative MPP Parm Gill (Milton) are touting separate private member’s bills Monday to tackle the inequity in rates.“Drivers in the Peel Region and other parts of the GTA pay significantly higher auto insurance rates than others in the same region, for no good reason,” said Singh, whose brother federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh also championed the issue when he was an MPP.Read more:‘Pay as you go’ auto insurance rolls out in OntarioYour letters: Time to address soaring car insurance rates“In the last year alone, my community of Brampton has seen premiums increase at a rate nearly five times higher than the provincial average,” said the rookie New Democrat.“The average Brampton driver’s annual premiums are nearly $1,000 more than the average driver in much of Toronto,” he said.To that end, Singh would like to amend the Insurance Act to stop companies from charging GTA residents different insurance rates based on their postal code.Instead, the Greater Toronto Area would be classified as a single geographic area.Similarly, Gill’s bill would curb “postal code discrimination” on rates.“Ontarians pay the highest auto insurance rates in the country,” said the newly elected Tory MPP, who was once a federal Conservative MP for Brampton.“My bill, if passed, will ensure drivers will not be unfairly targeted based on where they live,” he said.Singh said he would be willing to work with Gill on a bipartisan consensus to help motorists.“I hope that the Conservatives are strong on this issue. This is something that affects all people,” he said.
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