The Union Life Mutual Assurance Company (UL Mutual) will assume the policies, since Union of Canada Life Insurance was placed into liquidation in February 2012. At the time of windup, Union of Canada Life serviced approximately 22,000 policies across Canada, most of them in Quebec.

“On transfer of the policies, 99 per cent of the policyholders will be fully protected,” said Gordon Dunning, Assuris’ President and CEO in a statement. “For the one per cent of policyholders with benefits over the Assuris limits, Assuris guarantees that these policyholders will retain at least 85 per cent of their insurance benefits. This includes death benefits, health expenses, cash values and monthly income. Policyholders with deposit-type products, such as accumulation annuities, that are over the Assuris limits will retain at least $100,000 of their accumulated value.”

Assuris said it is working closely with the liquidator, Grant Thornton Limited, and UL Mutual to finalize arrangements and ensure the timely transfer of the policies. “In the next couple of weeks, each policyholder will receive a letter outlining how their benefits are protected,” Mr. Dunning said. “Policyholders are advised to continue paying their premiums as usual to ensure there is no interruption in their insurance coverage.”

Policyholders who have questions regarding the protection provided by Assuris can contact the Assuris Information Centre toll-free at 1-866-878-1225, which operates seven days a week, 24 hours a day. They may also consult the Assuris website: www.assuris.ca.

What did you think when you arrived in the Slave Lake region last year? Can you describe the devastation?

I arrived in late evening, with the sun going down.  Aside from the RCMP, the only thing I saw was a black bear loping across the highway.  As I drove to our command centre, I realized that on my left was the main part of the devastation, and I really couldn’t believe what I saw.  I’d been in the claims business for 18 years and had just joined FirstOnSite Restoration at the end of 2010, and never in my time had I seen anything so dramatic, and so sad.  There were pick-up trucks with every bit of glass, rubber and plastic melted, and they were resting on their steel rims – and it dawned on me that they were standing inside what would have been a garage.  It was barren, and black, and there was still a thin haze of smoke around.

The other odd thing was that there was no traffic at all, save for the RCMP who were in a permanent rush to get where they were going.  It really did feel like the whole town had been locked down due to some sort of insurrection.  The damage was so widespread, and so total, it was hard to think it was a forest fire.  The next day, when I could really look at things, I realized the full scope of the fire, and how fast the wind must have driven the flames.  It was incredible.

In such an immense disaster-area, how do you know where to begin the restoration process?

We had been in town for several days after the fire, helping both the RCMP and one of the local grocery stores get back into secure and operating condition.  We took our cues from the RCMP and the town leaders – they wanted the grocery stores up to take delivery and to be able to serve the people of Slave Lake as they returned.  In turn, we started with the local businesses and restaurants as the residents would need those sorts of services on their return.  So as a group, we fanned out through town offering to help, and offering to bring them back up to operation as quickly as possible.  Many of the businesses were relieved that we could help, that we were trained and knew what we were doing.

Prior to getting access into the town, we had also reached out to many of the insurers who rely on us throughout the year, and offered our services to them for all of their policy holders, residential or commercial.  As we are a restoration company, we were concentrating on structures that needed repair, not replacement, and given our work with the insurers and their claims staff, we were able to help the residents of Slave Lake return to some semblance of “normal”.  Given the scale and scope of the damage, though, that did take some time.

The Slave Lake Command Centre, from above, June 7, 2011

How did your work in the Slave Lake region compare to your work in other disaster-stricken areas, especially considering the local community and the number of people working there to restore the area? 

FirstOnSite's base camp in Slave Lake, May 2011

I believe this is the largest mobilization for a firm of our type anywhere in Canada.  We had over 100 of our own staff there, and also hired about two dozen local residents.  As we didn’t have a location there – our closest was Grande Prairie at the time – we leased a compound that housed and fed our staff, and allowed us to stage our operations from it.  It meant that our staff became very close-knit, and really related to the residents and rallied around their recovery efforts.  The people of Slave Lake are so gracious, and so welcoming.  We had staff from British Columbia through Quebec helping out, and people kept coming up to them to say thank you.

What’s Slave Lake like now?

Slave Lake is now healing, and now rebuilding.  Most of the properties that had partial damage have been repaired at this point.  The houses that were total losses, however, are just starting to be rebuilt.  I understand only a few were completed as of a week or two ago, but there were about 200 building permits issued by the municipality for reconstruction.  I think it will take all of this summer for things to really return to normal.

It wasn’t just restoration professionals that mobilized to the area, but many others from different fields, ranging from the insurance industry to firefighting forces to health care volunteers. What did you learn from working so closely with such a varied group?

We learned that ultimately, we all had a common goal.  It didn’t take long for our folks to be feeling that they were doing good work, that they were making a difference and helping the people of Slave Lake.  Firefighters and health care workers feel that every day, but not necessarily people that are removing burned siding or cleaning soot out of a home.  They really started to feel that they were helping to return the town to normal.  We also learned a lot about mobilization for a large scale disaster – something we were able to put to good use later in 2011 for the tornado that affected Goderich, Ontario.

This marks Western’s first acquisition in the B.C. capital.

Hodges & Company, owned and operated by Steve Hodges, has been in business in the Victoria area since 1965. The company will continue to operate from its office on Douglas Street under the Western Financial Group banner.

“As Victoria continues to grow, so do we,” said Hodges. “By joining Western’s expansive network with its wider variety of insurers, insurance products and financial services, we will build the best possible client relationships and provide our customers with great insurance at more competitive premiums.”

“We’re thrilled to welcome Steve, his team, and the beautiful city of Victoria to our growing Western network,” said Scott Tannas, President and CEO of Western Financial Group. “As we enter the BC capital for the first time, we look forward to offering Steve’s customers more services at competitive prices.”

“Victoria is such a famous west coast city, with a wonderful history.  Its natural beauty is synonymous with British Columbia. After establishing Western in other parts of the province, it is truly exciting to see our name in the capital. With such rapid growth in this area, we promise to grow along with the city, and be the best insurance broker we can be for the people of Victoria.”

You won’t find Thomas Chin, either. Or Kariann Goldschmitt. Or Jake Edelstein.

More than 900 million people worldwide check their Facebook accounts at least once a month, but millions more are Facebook holdouts.

They say they don’t want Facebook. They insist they don’t need Facebook. They say they’re living life just fine without the long-forgotten acquaintances that the world’s largest social network sometimes resurrects.

They are the resisters.

“I’m absolutely in touch with everyone in my life that I want to be in touch with,” Arwood says. “I don’t need to share triviality with someone that I might have known for six months 12 years ago.”

Even without people like Arwood, Facebook is one of the biggest business success stories in history. The site had 1 million users by the end of 2004, the year Mark Zuckerberg started it in his Harvard dorm room. Two years later, it had 12 million. Facebook had 500 million by summer 2010 and 901 million as of March 31, according to the company.

That staggering rise in popularity is one reason why Facebook Inc.’s initial public offering is one of the most hotly anticipated in years. The company’s shares are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market on Friday under the ticker symbol “FB”. Facebook is likely to have an estimated market valuation of some $100 billion, making it worth more than Kraft Foods, Ford or Disney.

Facebook still has plenty of room to grow, particularly in developing countries where people are only starting to get Internet access. As it is, about 80 per cent of its users are outside U.S. and Canada.

But if Facebook is to live up to its pre-IPO hype and reward the investors who are clamouring for its stock this week, it needs to convince some of the resisters to join. Two out of every five American adults have not joined Facebook, according to a recent Associated Press-CNBC poll. Among those who are not on Facebook, a third cited a lack of interest or need.

If all those people continue to shun Facebook, the social network could become akin to a postal system that only delivers mail to houses on one side of the street. The system isn’t as useful, and people aren’t apt to spend as much time with it. That means fewer opportunities for Facebook to sell ads.

Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, says that new communications channels – from the telephone to radio, TV and personal computers – often breed a cadre of holdouts in their early days.

“It’s disorienting because people have different relationships with others depending on the media they use,” Rainie says. “But we’ve been through this before. As each new communications media comes to prominence, there is a period of adoption.”

Len Kleinrock, 77, says Facebook is fine for his grandchildren, but it’s not for him.

“I do not want more distractions,” he says. “As it is, I am deluged with email. My friends and colleagues have ready access to me and I don’t really want another service that I would feel obliged to check into on a frequent basis.”

Kleinrock says his resistance is generational, but discomfort with technology isn’t a factor.

After all, Kleinrock is arguably the world’s first Internet user. The University of California, Los Angeles professor was part of the team that invented the Internet. His lab was where researchers gathered in 1969 to send test data between two bulky computers – the beginnings of the Arpanet network, which morphed into the Internet we know today.

“I’m having a ‘been-there, done-that’ feeling,” Kleinrock says. “There’s not a need on my part for reaching out and finding new social groups to interact with. I have trouble keeping up with those I’m involved with now.”

Thomas Chin, 35, who works at an advertising and media planning company in New York, says he may be missing out on what friends-of-friends-of-friends are doing, but he doesn’t need Facebook to connect with family and closer acquaintances.

“If we’re going to go out to do stuff, we organize it (outside) of Facebook,” he says.

Some people don’t join the social network because they don’t have a computer or Internet access, are concerned about privacy, or generally dislike Facebook. Those without a college education are less likely to be on Facebook, as are those with lower incomes. Women who choose to skip Facebook are more likely than men to cite privacy issues, while seniors are more likely than those 50-64 years old to cite computer issues, according the AP-CNBC poll.

About three-quarters of seniors are not on Facebook. By contrast, more than half of those under 35 use it every day.

The poll of 1,004 adults nationwide was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications May 3-7 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

Steve Jones, a professor who studies online culture and communications at the University of Illinois at Chicago, says many resisters consider Facebook to be too much of a chore.

“We’ve added social networking to our lives. We haven’t added any hours to our days,” Jones says. “The decision to be online on Facebook is simultaneously a decision not to be doing something else.”

Jones says many people on Facebook try to overcome that by multitasking, but they end up splitting their attention and engaging with others online only superficially.

Arwood, 47, a restaurant manager in Chicago, says she was surprised when colleagues on an English-teaching program in rural Spain in 2010 opted to spend their breaks checking Facebook.

“I spent my time on break trying to learn more about the Spanish culture, really taking advantage of it,” she says. “I went on walks with some of the students and asked them questions.”

Kariann Goldschmitt, 32, a music professor at New College of Florida in Sarasota, Fla., was on Facebook not long after its founding in 2004, but she quit in 2010. In part, it was because of growing concerns about her privacy and Facebook’s ongoing encouragement of people to share more about themselves with the company, with marketers and with the world.

She says she’s been much more productive since leaving.

“I was a typical user, on it once or twice a day,” she says. “After a certain point, I sort of resented how it felt like an obligation rather than fun.”

Besides Facebook resisters and quitters, there are those who take a break. In some cases, people quit temporarily as they apply for new jobs, so that potential employers won’t stumble on photos of their wild nights out drinking. Although Facebook doesn’t make it easy to find, it offers an option for suspending accounts (Look for a link under the “Security” tab in “Account Settings.”)

Goldschmitt says it takes effort to stay in touch with friends and relatives without Facebook. For instance, she has to make mental notes of when her friends are expecting babies, knowing that they have become so used to Facebook “that they don’t engage with us anymore.”

“I’m like, ‘Hmmm, when is nine months?’ I have to remember to contact them since they won’t remember to tell me when the baby’s born.”

Neil Robinson, 54, a government lawyer in Washington, says that when his nephew’s son was born, pictures went up on Facebook almost immediately. As a Facebook holdout, he had to wait for someone to email photos.

After years of resisting, Robinson plans to join next month, mostly because he doesn’t want to lose touch with younger relatives who choose Facebook as their primary means of communication.

But for every Robinson, there is an Edelstein, who has no desire for Facebook and prefers email and postcards.

“I prefer to keep my communications personal and targeted,” says Jake Edelstein, 41, a pharmaceutical consultant in New York. “You’re getting a message that’s written for you. Clearly someone took the time to sit down to do it.”

In a Superior Court application filed this week, the government invokes the Civil Remedies Act to lay claim to $51,000 awarded to Ved Dhingra, who killed his wife Kamlesh six years ago.

Last month, Ontario’s top court ruled the Toronto man could collect on the policy because he was found not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder for battering and stabbing his long-estranged spouse to death. (See: Insane killer entitled to victim’s life insurance, Ontario’s top court rules)

The court did say the province could use the civil-remedies route to grab the money, which the government is now doing.

The Civil Remedies Act, enacted in 2002, aims to compensate victims of crime and prevent criminals and others from profiting from wrongdoing.

“The $51,000 in Canadian currency, which is the payment from Mrs. Dhingra’s life-insurance policy, is proceeds of unlawful activity,” the province states in its new filing.

“The court shall, except where it would clearly not be in the interests of justice, make an order forfeiting the property if the court finds that the property is the proceeds of unlawful activity.”

Dhingra’s lawyer, Eric Wolfman, said he was “disappointed” the government would use the act to go after the life-insurance cash.

“This piece of legislation was never meant do that – it was meant to combat organized crime,” Wolfman said Thursday.

“This is not a grow-op, this is not a biker club headquarters.”

Even though the act specifically includes people found not criminally responsible because of a mental disorder, Wolfman said whether the policy money constitutes proceeds of a crime will be “hotly contested.”

Among the ground-breaking questions to be decided is whether in fact a crime was even committed, he said.

The court can turn down the government’s request if it decides it would not serve justice to grant it.

The case is scheduled to be heard in September. In the interim, the government is seeking to have funds frozen until the case is decided.

Dhingra suffered from a mental disorder for many years and was once found naked in the street. He took out the policy in 1998.

He was charged with second-degree murder in June 2006 after he hit his estranged wife several times on the head with a white marble religious statue at her home, then stabbed her 24 times in the neck and body. He also tried to kill himself.

Then 66 years old, he was found not criminally responsible in 2008 and later granted a conditional discharge. He was released from a mental institution in October 2010 and claimed the policy money.

Normally, common-law rules prevent criminals from cashing in on their crimes, but the appellate justices decided Dhingra could not be considered a criminal because of his mental state when he killed his wife.

View the video here on your mobile device.

This video first ran in April 2011.

Do you want success? If you do, you must always look forward and you must live your life as though bad times have no meaning for you at all. Set-backs are not permanent road blocks…they are merely reminders that nothing in life comes easily and that every worthwhile endeavour contains an element of risk and no shortage of obstacles. When faced with a stumbling block, go ahead and stumble or even fall…and then get up, dust yourself off and try again. If you always keep the end goal in mind, your path will be true and your success will be assured.

People who face obstacles as complete barriers to success will almost always fail. Their lack of determination and courage will hold them back interminably. Projects will never be done well (or done at all) and sadly, those people who dwell on bad times will never be happy. Great leaders and successful people in all areas of human endeavour focus on the good times. The world loves people who persevere; the world loves people with chutzpah and the world loves people who move past the bad times as if they never occurred.

Thanks for listening. I’m Wayne Kehl from Dynamic Leadership

Check out Wayne’s other words of wisdom on the following topics:

The four agreements

Generation  Y

Electronic hit and run

All good things must end

Are you truly kind?

Find a job you love

Do you ever think about happiness?

London’s Financial Times has reported that the third-largest Canadian insurer plans to enlist Morgan Stanley to advise it on a possible sale of the century-old U.K. business.

But Sun Life spokesman Frank Switzer said Wednesday the company does “not comment on rumours or speculation.”

That didn’t stop Canadian analysts from weighing in on what a potential sale could mean for the company.

“The transaction, if it occurred, would likely help capital ratios but hurt income,” said RBC Capital Markets analyst Andre-Philippe Hardy.

“The U.K. business is not one that was targeted as a growth area for Sun Life so bolstering capital ratios would make sense in our view.”

The division earned $153 million in 2011 and $177 million in 2010 and using $160 million as a reference point, the loss to earnings could be about 27 cents per share, Hardy said.

The reports come as it appears more likely that Greece will exit from the eurozone, a prospect that threatens to launch the region into financial chaos, which many investors fear could leave the entire continent saddled in debt and recession.

Sun Life’s U.K. business has about a million life and pension policies, with about GBP 11.8 billion (C$19 billion) in assets under management.

The company stopped selling new policies in December 2010 and has since been focusing on servicing existing customers only.

Sun Life closed up shop on sales of individual insurance products – variable annuities and life insurance – in the United States last December, after the division caused it financial strife.

The move contributed to a $635 million charge on the value of its variable annuity and segregated fund insurance contracts in the 2011 fourth quarter and resulted in the loss of some 800 jobs.

One of the attractions of variable annuity products to investors is that they offer a minimum rate of return guaranteed, which can cost the insurer when markets are underperforming. The combination of a market downturn with a substantial increase in the amount of capital required by regulators, has made variable annuities less attractive.

Sun Life employs about 16,000 people, including 7,000 in Canada, and has insurance, wealth management and mutual fund operations around the world.

Shares in Sun Life fell 1.8 per cent or 40 cents per share to close at $21.94 Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Lim has more than 20 years of experience in the brokerage community and has previously worked in both production and claims advocacy roles. Lim also held the positions of vendor manager and assistant regional claims manager for an insurance firm in Calgary.

Lim will be based inCalgaryand will work closely with Walter Waugh, vice president, Operations,Western Canada, to develop and implement national sales initiatives, products and presentations in the western provinces. Lim will report to Gary Gardner, senior vice president, Sales & Marketing.

“We are extremely excited to add an insurance professional of Randy’s caliber and character to our organization,” said Waugh. “He will make an excellent addition to our Western Canadian team.”

Forty-nine percent of chief information officers (CIOs) interviewed said employees can access their corporate networks using their personal smartphones, tablets, computers or other devices.

The Canadian survey was developed by IT staffing firm Robert Half Technology and conducted by an independent research firm. The survey is based on more than 270 telephone interviews with CIOs from a random sample of Canadian companies with 100 or more employees.

CIOs were asked, “Do you allow employees access to your corporate networks via personal laptops, smartphones or tablets?” Their responses:

Yes..................................   49%

    No...................................   51%

                                           ----

                                           100%

Among the CIOs whose firms do allow workers to access the company network using their own equipment, 44 percent said their firms offer limited technical support to these individuals, and 52 percent offer full support. Four per cent offer no support.

“Firms are striving to balance employees’ wish to use their preferred devices with the possible security risks and logistical challenges, such as offering support for these non-standard gadgets,” said Lara Dodo, a regional vice-president of Robert Half Technology in Canada.

Although most CIOs surveyed don’t currently allow employees to use their personal devices to access company networks, the tide may soon turn, particularly with the rise in telecommuting and remote work arrangements.

“As more professionals seek the most cutting edge technologies, they would rather use those devices for both work and personal communication,” she said. “Organizations are aware of this trend and are currently determining the best solutions to mobile device management in the workplace.”

You might also be interested in: More than half of organizations lose data through unsecured mobile devices 

Westaim’s wholly-owned subsidiary, JEVCO Insurance Company is a Canadian specialty insurer offering products through two divisions.  The Personal Lines Division provides insurance in the non-standard automobile, standard automobile, motorcycle and recreational vehicles product lines.  The Commercial Lines Division offers property and liability, niche commercial automobile and surety product lines. Earlier this month, Westaim announced it had agreed to sell JEVCO to Intact Financial for $520 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the fall of 2012.  Adjusting for a $30 million cash dividend paid by JEVCO to Westaim during the first quarter of fiscal 2012, the purchase price is approximately 1.38 times the net book value of JEVCO as at December 31, 2011.

In the first quarter of 2012, direct premiums written were $79.3 million and net premiums written were $75.8 million, compared to $66.3 million in direct premiums written and $62.9 million in net premiums written in the same quarter of 2011.  In the three months ended March 31, 2012, net premiums earned were $77.0 million, producing a Combined Ratio of 93.3%.  In the comparable quarter in 2011, net premiums earned were $70.5 million, producing a Combined Ratio of 99.9%.

Total assets of Westaim were $1.3 billion at March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011.  At March 31, 2012, the Company’s investment portfolio of $1.0 billion was invested predominantly in corporate and government bonds. In the three months ended March 31, 2012, net investment income and net realized investment gains, net of foreign exchange loss, of $9.3 million were included in net income; and net unrealized investment gains, net of income taxes, of $2.4 million were included in other comprehensive income.  In the comparable period in 2011, net investment income and net realized investment gains, net of foreign exchange loss, of $8.7 million were included in net income; and net unrealized investment losses, net of income taxes, of $2.6 million were included in other comprehensive loss.

“Westaim completed a positive first quarter in 2012.  Our non-standard automobile line of business, in line with our industry peers, continues to reflect profitable results and we expect this to continue in the remainder of 2012.  Increases in motorcycle premium rates will be in effect earlier in 2012 than 2011.  We believe that the impact of the rate increases, along with certain product changes planned to be implemented in 2012, will further enhance the performance of this line of business going forward,” said Cameron MacDonald, Chief Executive Officer of Westaim.

THE WESTAIM CORPORATION
Financial Highlights
(unaudited)
(thousands of Canadian dollars except percentage, share and per share data)

This agreement will see CGI provide infrastructure management services including mainframe and mid-range equipment, and data storage and recovery for RSA’s broker and customer programs and services.

“CGI, a long-time partner to RSA, not only understands our business, but also has extensive experience in the P&C insurance market,” said Steve Knoch, Senior Vice President, IT & eBusiness, RSA Canada. “Having stable, reliable, cost effective IT infrastructure services delivered by our trusted partner will continue to be critically important as we move forward together.”

“As one of Canada’s leading insurance companies, RSA is focused on providing exceptional service and support to clients during difficult times,” said Doug McCuaig, President, CGI, Canada Operations. “CGI is proud to continue to manage the IT infrastructure that supports RSA’s most important business functions.”

View the video here on your mobile device.

This video first ran in July 2011.

If you want to get along with more people start thinking about someone other than yourself. If you have problems with relationships it is probably largely to do with your own actions and the fact that you are thinking more about yourself than the people you don’t get along with.

I once applied for a job as a sales manager with a large, international insurance firm. Part of the application process was a multiple-choice exam to determine the mindsets of the various candidates. I can only recall one question on the exam: “What is the most important characteristic of a great sales manager?” There were ten possible answers and I had to rank them from one to ten in order of importance. The number one answer was this: “The desire to see others do well.”

Frankly, I did not expect it to top the list but I have never forgotten that one question and its wonderful answer. Just think about a world where everyone has a constant, daily desire to see others do well. I now know that if I put others before myself, I will quite unavoidably bring positive energy to everything I do.

Stop being selfish and put an end to negativity, stress, and sadness in your life.

I am Wayne Kehl from Dynamic Leadership

Interested in taking some leadership courses?Click here.

You might also be interested in:

A big ego is a terrible thing to waste

Ten things great leaders do

The four agreements

Generation  Y

Electronic hit and run

All good things must end

Are you truly kind?

Find a job you love

Do you have perseverance?

Do you ever think about happiness?

The Quebec-based financial cooperative said its caisse network, Desjardins Card Services and, in particular, the Property and Casualty Insurance segment posted strong growth in business volumes.

The first quarter was also marked by increased other income due to a positive change in the fair value of certain investments and a more favourable claims experience than one year earlier, particularly in the Property and Casualty Insurance segment.

In the first quarter of 201, the P&C segment’s surplus earnings were $70 million, up $29 million or 70.7% compared to the same quarter of 2011. This was mainly due to increased net premiums, an improved claims experience, and a $6 million contribution from Western Financial Group.

This segment’s total income for the first quarter of 2012 stood at $533 million, an increase of $108 million or 25.4% over the same period of 2011. This performance was due to a $66 million increase in net premiums stemming from an increase in the number of policies issued. This increase resulted from growth initiatives targeting mass-market clienteles and groups, both in Quebec and across Canada; the development of white label partnerships; the development of business insurance; and an increase in the average premium in certain segments of activity. Western Financial Group also contributed $24 million to net premiums. Other income grew $38 million, due in large part to a$26 million contribution from Western Financial Group and gains realized on disposals of investments.

Expenses related to claims, benefits, annuities and changes in insurance and investment contract liabilities increased$22 million or 8.2% compared to 2011. The change was mainly due to growth in the portfolio of automobile insurance policies in Ontario and a $3 million increase attributable to the addition of the activities of Western Financial Group.

The loss ratio was 62.0% for the first quarter of 2012, down 4.7 points from 2011. This change was mostly due to fewer claims as a result of more favourable weather conditions and an increase in the average earned premium compared to the same period of 2011.

Key Financial Data

(1) The decline resulted from the end of the application of the deferred treatment, of equity related to investments in insurance subsidiaries, prescribed by the Autorité des marchés financiers, effective in 2012.

“In this the International Year of Cooperatives, these results show that Desjardins is capable of performing at a high level both as a cooperative and financially. We also contribute in a tangible way to the sustainable prosperity of our members, clients and their communities,” said Monique F. Leroux, Chair of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Desjardins Group is in growth mode in terms of achieving sustainable development in Quebec and in the other provinces of Canada.”

Desjardins said its commitment to pursue development opportunities across Canada and the world were strengthened recently, most notably with the opening of an office in Paris as part of a cooperation agreement with Crédit Mutuel de France and its agreement with Coast Capital Savings for card services.

Using a car insurance consumer satisfaction survey and ratings, online insurance tool InsurEye sought out the most – and least – satisfied auto insureds in the country. Ratings from Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan were graded according to customer experience, value for money and claims experience. Consumers evaluated their insurers on a scale of one to five stars.

Coming in the highest with an overall ranking of 4.1/5 were drivers in Quebec. InsurEye found that Quebeckers felt especially happy with customer service and value for money. InsurEye noted that the average price of auto insurance premiums is $76 per month.

The second- and third-most content provinces are Saskatchewan (3.9/5) and Ontario (3.88/5). Ontarians gave good marks to their insurers for claims experiences, but lower marks for value for money.

Drivers in Alberta (3.77/5) and Manitoba (3.75/5) were mostly unhappy with value for money in auto insurance. In Manitoba, low marks were given to the claims experience, as well.

The unhappiest of the country are drivers in B.C, ranking their satisfaction at 3.62 stars out of 5. B.C. drivers cited low satisfaction in customer service, value for money and claims service.

“Not having enough competition limits choices and very often translates into a low customer satisfaction.  As we see, consumers are less concerned about paying too much and more concerned about not having enough choice. Competition motivates insurance companies to listen to the customers and further improve their product offering,” said InsurEye co-founder Dmitry Mityagin.

InsurEye points to the consumer feedback ratings in B.C. and Manitoba, where government-run auto insurance systems are the norm.

How happy are Canadians with auto insurance across Canada?

Since its inception, Chevrolet has produced more than 1.5 million Corvettes. Fans of the American classic sports car are varied:  research by Specialty Equipment Market Association and Experian Automotive found that  as of 2009, there were approximately 750,000 Corvettes of all model years registered in the United States. Corvette owners were fairly equally distributed throughout the country, with the highest density in Michigan (3.47 per 1000 residents) and the lowest density in Utah, Mississippi, and Hawaii. Nearly half (47 percent) of owners hold college degrees (significantly above the nationwide average of 27 percent), and 82 percent are between ages of 40 and 69 (median age being 53).

The Corvette’s popularity has also often made this model a target for theft. The US-based National Insurance Crime Bureau examined Corvette thefts and found that in the last 30 years, more than one in ten Corvettes has been stolen.

From 1981 to 2011, 862,918 Corvettes were produced and 90,427 were stolen in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

The following graph shows the 10 most stolen Corvette model years for the period 1981-2011.

As for the top 10 states where most thefts occurred, California leads the nation with 14,002. Of the overall total, 90,427 thefts, 63,409 of them—70 percent—occurred in the top 10 states.

You might also be interested in: Most frequently stolen Ford Mustangs 

The guidelines were developed by the major banks and credit unions, although observers say that consumers routinely using smartphones to tap and pay for items like sandwiches, bread, milk and gas is still a few years off.

“We are not throwing our wallets away in the next 36 months,” said telecom analyst Duncan Stewart of Deloitte Canada.

“But you have to line up all of the ducks now,” Stewart said from Toronto.

The Canadian Bankers Association said the voluntary guidelines are designed to work with the same security standards used by chip-enabled credit and debit cards and existing wireless point-of-sale terminals at retailers.

“This benefits merchants and consumers by building on an existing system, and leveraging the same high security standards used by today’s chip-enabled credit and debit cards,” the association said in a statement.

Deloitte’s Stewart said only about 10 per cent of new smartphones have the ability to make mobile payments and three to four per cent of North American merchants have terminals that are able to read the financial information on the enabled phones.

Telecom analyst Iain Grant of the SeaBoard Group says smartphones first need to be equipped with what’s called Near Field Communication, a technology that allows consumers to tap or swipe their phones against terminals to pay for goods.

Grant said that in five years all smartphones are expected to be equipped with this chip technology.

“The only question is how do you manage the transition until (then),” said Grant, SeaBoard’s managing director.

Grant said he isn’t convinced that merchants will be enthusiastic about mobile payments if it costs them more money.

“If there’s no compelling need to invest any additional money then you will have your brand new spanking phone with its new capability and nowhere to use it.”

Visa Canada said merchants who use its Visa payWave contactless payment service won’t pay additional fees for mobile payments.

“We think it’s a fantastic step forward to have these common standards within a specific geography and it’s really going to help,” said Derek Colfer, business leader of global mobile product innovation at Visa Canada.

It will accelerate smartphone use, Colfer said, adding that over time making mobile payments on enabled smartphones will become as common as using the devices to take pictures.

About 45 per cent of Canada’s wireless subscribers use smartphones and that’s expected to go up to 56 per cent by the end of this year, the Convergence Consulting Group has said.

Colfer said mobile payments will be for “everyday” items.

“We’re not going to be tomorrow, or any year from now, using a mobile device to buy a car,” Colfer said from Toronto. “They’re for price points under $50 for most merchants and at gas stations, it’s for $100 or more.”

EnStream, a joint venture between Rogers (TSX:RCI.B), Bell (TSX:BCE) and Telus (TSX:T) to further the use of mobile transactions, expects Canadians to start tapping and paying for purchases in 2013.

“As the handsets grow and the traffic grows, we’ll deploy the infrastructure,” said Almis Ledas, Enstream’s chief operating officer.

“The (contactless) readers will get out there, the apps will get out there and it will spread.”

Ledas said Rogers and Bell have already done trials testing Near Field Communication technology on smartphones.

Last fall BMO announced its PayPass Mobile Tag for its MasterCard users, which allows them to make purchases that are $50 and under by placing a Near Field Communication enabled sticker on the back of their smartphone.

The Mobile Reference Model (Guidelines) can be found here. (PDF)

Aviva Canada says the solution offers time savings, with brokers saving up to 10 minutes of time for every quote they provide using the pre-fill solution.

“Increasing the ease of doing business for our broker partners is a priority for everyone at Aviva,” stated Maurice Tulloch, President and CEO of Aviva Canada. “By reducing their administrative functions, we are putting time back in the brokers’ hands for servicing customers, business development and other priorities.”

“We are very excited about the solution and the benefits it will provide to our clients,” commented James Nickelo, Senior Vice President of Compu-Quote Inc. “Aviva Canada’s sponsorship and support of the service clearly demonstrate their strong commitment to brokers”.

The new Pre-fill solution will be available at no cost for participating brokers in Ontario starting May 15 and in Alberta and the Atlantic region beginning June 1.

View the video here on your mobile device.

This video first ran in July 2011. 

Have you ever wondered why some people stay in the same job for years? So why aren’t all employees loyal to one employer for their entire careers?

Two words explain it: Great Leadership!

Here are ten things that great leaders do to engage their employees and keep them on staff:

• They lead with humility and selflessness, putting the needs of their employees ahead of their own.
• They work tirelessly, setting a great example for their team.
• They support their workers when they have problems or get into trouble.
• They listen constantly and consistently to their workers.
• They respond immediately, openly and honestly when asked a question.
• They do not play favourites and they treat everyone fairly.
• They never show impatience or anger toward employees.
• They never speak negatively about employees behind their backs.
• They make good decisions for the business and for their workers.
• They understand that every person is different and that no two people perform the same way.

A leader without long-term, engaged and devoted followers is just a lonely person with a title.

I’m Wayne Kehl from Dynamic Leadership.

Dynamic Leadership and ILScorp offer a varied and unique array of leadership courses. Click on the titles for more information

18 Steps to Dealing with Confrontation

Behavioral Selling

Job Security During a Recession And Beyond for ILS

Positive Passion

Ten “Easy” Commandments for Getting Along With People

The Secrets of Commercial Insurance

Check out Wayne’s  other segments on ilstv!

A big ego is a terrible thing to waste

Ten things great leaders do

The four agreements

Generation  Y

Electronic hit and run

All good things must end

Are you truly kind?

Find a job you love

Do you have perseverance?

Do you ever think about happiness?