Manitoba Crown corporation says some drivers will not need road tests for licence

WINNIPEG -

Many Manitobans are being temporarily offered the ability to get a driver's licence without doing a road test, and the idea has raised safety concerns in some quarters.

Manitoba Public Insurance, the province's Crown-owned auto insurance corporation, announced the step after 1,700 workers went on strike Monday, causing a backlog of services.

"We've had to cancel 4,000 Class 5 driving tests and knowledge tests, and every day that this labour disruption goes on, that backlog gets larger and larger," MPI board chair Ward Keith said.

People who graduate from the driver education program, which is aimed primarily at high school students but also available to others, will be able to get a Class 5 licence -- the common licence that applies to passenger vehicles -- and skip the road test while the strike continues. Other applicants will continue to undergo a road test, which will be handled by certified driving instructors brought in for the work.

Keith said the move can be done without compromising road safety because the driver's education program includes hours of practice on the road in addition to in-class instruction.

But a private driving instructor in Winnipeg said it's a bad idea.

"I teach driver's ed kids and I would say 80 per cent of the kids, maybe even more, are not ready to go on the road without further training," Neena Bedi said.

"Some of them are not sure about understanding the traffic signals and ... most of them, it's their reflexes. Like if something happens -- anything unusual, out of the ordinary happens -- they don't know how to react."

Karine Levasseur, who teaches political studies at the University of Manitoba, said the corporation's move appears to contravene a section of the provincial driver licensing regulation, which says drivers must do a road test before getting a licence.

"We have a regulation in place meant to prescribe to MPI how to conduct business, and yet it's not living up to that," Levasseur said.

Keith said the corporation has been in talks with the provincial government about the change and has had legal input as well.

"MPI is confident that the successful completion of the driver's ed program, including, as I said, the in-vehicle evaluation components, are equivalent to the provincial road test," Keith said.

The government is prepared to make any necessary regulatory changes, Keith added.

The strike began after contract talks broke down over wages. Keith said the corporation has offered monetary benefits of up to 17 per cent over four years. But the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union said that figure is misleading because it includes non-wage benefits.

The Progressive Conservative government, facing an election set for Oct. 3, has faced a summer of labour discontent in the public sector. Workers at Crown-owned Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries went on strike earlier over wages and many government-run stores were closed before a settlement was reached last week.

Another branch of the MGEU, representing 11,000 civil servants, announced this week it is preparing to hold a strike vote. The government said Thursday it has offered the civil servants wage hikes of two per cent each year for four years, as well as benefit improvements and a signing bonus.

The Opposition New Democrats accused the government of creating a safety risk at Manitoba Public Insurance by not reaching a collective agreement.

"(Premier) Heather Stefanson could end this strike today by bargaining in good faith, but instead she's putting Manitobans' safety at risk," NDP critic Matt Wiebe said in a written statement.

   This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 31, 2023