A well known local personal injury lawyer is deflecting blame for high insurance costs away from the legal profession.
Greg Monforton is reacting to a report on the insurance industry penned by the former head of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Bureau.
The report titled "Fair Benefits Fairly Delivered" makes 35 recommendations.
It suggests trial lawyers are a part of the problem, but Monforton strongly disagrees.
He says a big factor was the implementation of 'No Fault' insurance in the 1990's.
"A significant part of the costs associated with the system are the direct result of granting the automobile insurance industry its wish to expand no fault benefits. All the major players got together and said, "We're going to coerce the government to imposing a no fault system which we will be able to control better than the civil justice system".
Monforton says the government has continually given in to demands form the insurance industry.
"To fall into the catastrophic injured persons category the injuries have to be truly horrendous. Just a couple of years ago, the industry persuaded Queen's Park to basically cut the magnitude of benefits available to the catastrophically injured in half. There's no other way to put it than, this is a beast that will never be satisfied."
He points out the insurance industry in Ontario is extremely profitable and has significant influence over government.
The report on the industry was quietly released earlier this month with little comment from the Wynne government.