B.C.’s Attorney General says if future governments want to use surpluses at ICBC to pay for other government spending, they’ll have to bring forward legislation to do that.

David Eby was speaking after he proposed legislation this week that would only allow his and future governments to use any ICBC surpluses to reduce rates or increase benefits to drivers.

Speaking on NL Newsday, Eby says his government wants those discussions to happen in the Legislature, so that the opposition of the day can ask questions.

“And there would be a public discussion and debate,” he said. “Previously how it happened under the previous government was there was not that forthright public discussion about the plan to take money out of optional capital, and certainly there was no discussion about what the consequences of that would be.”

He went on to say if those discussion were to happen at some point in the future under a future government, circumstances could be different to what it is right now.

“Maybe it would be practical at that point. But we don’t want it done under the cover of night with the stroke of a pen somewhere,” he noted. “We want to publicly debate it before government heads back to ICBC accounts to pull money out.”

ICBC is in the middle of a financial crisis having lost $2.5 billion over the past two years, amid rising claims and legal costs.

Eby though is optimistic that recent changes will keep ICBC on pace for a surplus in the upcoming 2020-21 fiscal year.