Howlett and Waldie’s October 28 2004 Globe and Mail article covers the controversy surrounding hidden commission payments in the property and casualty insurance industry. In the aftermath of a U.S. scandal involving payments of the same type, the Ontario government has urged Canadian insurance companies “to disclose commission compensation to the public” and calling for greater corporate transparency. According to Howlett and Waldie, insurance brokers commonly receive two different types of payments: a 12.5 percent base commission rate for auto insurance, and twenty percent for home insurance, and have for the past few decades. These payments, called “contingent commissions” (Waldie, 2004) have remained undisclosed, as the companies are not required to publicly reveal these hidden commissions.
