An Abenaki who had been refused a quote for automobile insurance by Industrial Alliance was the victim of racial discrimination, ruled the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse du Québec.
Updated yesterday at 6:20 p.m.
Alexis Wawanoloath, lawyer and former PQ MP, filed a complaint in 2018 against Industrial Alliance.
The insurer had refused to submit a quote for his car because of his postal code in Odanak, an Abenaki reserve near Sorel-Tracy.
When the complainant gave his address to the agent who was processing his request, the latter allegedly replied that the company [fait pas de soumissions dans] reserves “.
According to the agent’s version, a “RESIN” (for “Indian reserve”) had appeared in the computer system, indicating that the company did not serve this territory.
However, Industrial Alliance “did not provide any specific documentation or actuarial data to justify” this restriction applied to the Odanak reserve, located less than a kilometer from Pierreville, a non-Aboriginal municipality yet served by the insurer, underlines the Commission.
The evidence reveals that “the standards and practices followed by the company result in a disproportionate effect of exclusion of people residing in Aboriginal communities”, indicates the decision rendered in October.
Five Aboriginal reserves, including Odanak, are subject to a partial service restriction by Industrial Alliance. In those communities, only existing customers can purchase an insurance policy with the company, the ruling says.
The “evacuated” systemic aspect
Industrial Alliance is not the only company refusing to bid on aboriginal reserves.
In 2020, a survey of The Press reported systematic refusals from several insurance companies.
In many cases, residents saw their submissions refused without even having their file analyzed.
After a delay of four years that he considers “unreasonable”, Mr. Wawanoloath says he is “happy” with the decision of the Commission. However, he regrets that the systemic aspect of these refusals has been “evacuated” from the decision.
Beyond my little person, this situation of discrimination, we cannot say that it is anything other than systemic.
Alexis Wawanoloath, in interview with The Press
The former elected official calls for a systemic investigation into the behavior of the industry towards indigenous communities, as the Commission had undertaken to do in 2020.
“I still have a lot of questions and I have no answers,” he says.
$20,000 in moral and punitive damages
Will the decision deter insurance companies that refuse to make quotes on native reservations? Alexis Wawanoloath hopes so, but doubts it.
The Commission ordered Industrial Alliance to pay Alexis Wawanoloath $10,000 in moral damages and $10,000 in punitive damages, for a total of $20,000.
“The punitive damage of $10,000, I find it small for a large insurance company,” he said.
In its decision, the Commission also asks the insurer to modify its standards and practices “so as to ensure that the criteria for excluding geographical areas are based on verified and verifiable elements and are applied in the same way to allochthonous and indigenous communities”.
The insurer has until November 11 to pay the indemnity, otherwise the case will be brought before the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal.
With The Canadian Press