Volume 50, Number 4, 1983

EN:

The author is concerned with certain problems in the field of fire, automobile and miscellaneous risks insurance. He describes them and expresses the wish that the state would assist the development of Canadian insurance companies to enable them to meet the foreign challenge which they presently face. Even if foreign competition has a useful function, Canadian companies with their smaller resources should have the measures appropriate to their expansion.

EN:

The principal events of 1982, both in Canada and in the United States, are reviewed and the author draws our attention to the extraordinary fluctuations which disturbed the financial markets in both countries. Along with many other economists, he forecasts an improvement in the U.S. economy for the beginning of 1983, but he wonders to what degree Canada will follow this lead and when a major change will occur here. Any improvement in Canada will probably follow well behind that of our neighbour. When will things get better in Canada? There are no precise statistics or facts to give us the answer, even if some optimists suggest it might be in the course of 1983.

EN:

The author, Mr. André Daigneault, describes the real estate market at the present time. In particular, he distinguishes between an individual building, a rental location and a commercial building, which all differ from one another. For individual buildings and rental accommodation, more construction would be possible if the costs were not so high. The situation is now a little better, due to the reduction in interest rates. As for commercial buildings, the rents are high but too much space is available due to the amount of construction which has taken place in Montreal and the rest of Canada. The problem is no longer to build, but to fill.

EN:

This is the text of the speech of Mr. Jean-Marie Poitras to the members of the Quebec Association of Fiscal and Estate Planning, on October 7th 1982. Mr. Poitras discusses certain problems caused by the present state of life insurance in Canada. His conclusion: “The state should leave more room for free enterprise, relying on individuals’ dedication and sense of responsibility.”

FR:

Notre collaborateur résume ici les dispositions prises en Angleterre pour protéger l’assuré contre la faillite de l’assureur. Son intention n’est pas d’entrer dans les détails, mais simplement de donner un aperçu des mesures prévues pour donner aux affaires d’assurance, traitées en Angleterre, la plus grande sécurité possible.

EN:

We asked Me Roger Comtois the following question: should collections of paintings be considered as “furniture”, as normally understood? The writer is kind enough to give his reply in this text. He distinguishes between what is intended to decorate the house or apartment, and what really constitutes a collection of works of art put together by the owner over the years and which may he on his premises or elsewhere.

EN:

Me Rémi Moreau has studied the annual review of the year’s results which appeared in our magazine in each of the last ten years. He believes that the reader will appreciate a general over view of insurance results for the entire decade, and we thank him for taking the trouble to study the many and varied articles of our contributors. As the reader will have noticed, each year we try to summarize the tendencies of the previous twelve months. Me Moreau's article enables us to follow the major developments in the insurance field and the opinions they evoke from our contributors.

FR:

J est un homme curieux. Il demande à son ami Angus Ross de lui dire ce qui se passe en ce moment dans le domaine de l’assurance et de la réassurance. Notre collaborateur n’hésite pas à lui répondre en toute franchise; ce qui ne saurait déplaire à nos lecteurs. Un autre de nos collaborateurs écrit, de son côté : « La situation de notre industrie n’est pas saine ». A. R. nous donne un diagnostic assez dur. Nous ne le discutons pas, car il n’est pas sans valeur.

EN:

The writer describes here some personal ideas on various subjects: the computer and thought; a recent statement concerning life insurance policies written before 1970; the advantages and disadvantages of personalized office hours. He also describes the future of the American market as seen by a speaker at the American College of Bryn Mawr; the problems of cash flow in reinsurance, the confusion caused by a recent judgment of the Court of Appeal concerning a claim against a third party for automobile insurance; an inventory of personal effects and, finally, the insurance results in Canada during the first three months of 1982.