Steinbach MLA and Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen, minister responsible for Manitoba Public Insurance, announced that the Manitoba government introduced amendments to the Drivers and Vehicles Act, the Highway Traffic Act and the Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation Act that would improve the licensing and registration system to better serve Manitobans.
“The new bill would help to improve Manitoba’s driver licensing, vehicle registration and vehicle insurance framework,” said Goertzen. “These changes modernize public automobile insurance regulations, policies and procedure to provide a better value for Manitoba ratepayers, as well as align Manitoba with other jurisdictions.”
The amended Drivers and Vehicles Act would address various aspects of driver and vehicle licensing, including allowing Manitoba driver’s licences or provincial identification cards to be issued in either physical or electronic format and giving the registrar of motor vehicles the authority to issue temporary driver’s licences while licence applications are in process.
The bill includes amendments to the Highway Traffic Act that would increase the minimum amount of required automotive third-party liability insurance to $500,000 from $200,000 and enable regulations to specify the procedure for surrendering a licence, permit or registration issued in electronic format.
Proposed changes to the Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation Act include clarifying the public auto insurer’s ability to consider a person’s claims history. The new bill would also enable Manitoba Public Insurance to set and implement driver premiums based on the approval of the Public Utilities Board without the need to specify them in regulations.
