Part 6

Steve: So in other words, you do feel that you have sort of a community, or a social conscience, or a social role, being that you are a non-profit organization. You think that influences the way you approach some of these issues?

Colin: Absolutely. BCAA firmly believes that being a strong part of the community is what we're all about; not just corporately, but every one of our sales offices typically is very involved in their local communities. We've got over twenty-one sales offices in different cities, and typically, when you go visit them, you'll find that they're involved in the local community, the Rotary Club. A number of different local charities that are important to the community are typically what our local office is supporting.

Steve: Perhaps one last question now: As the population here in B.C. is increasingly diverse in terms of the origins of people and the languages that they speak, do you provide services in different languages, and how successful have you been in attracting some of our newer Canadians to participate in the BCAA?

Colin: We don't specifically try to communicate to members in different languages. English is still the primary language of BCAA, but we do have a number of sales offices who have salespeople who are multilingual, and we are fully represented in all the different communities around the lower mainland and B.C., and what we've found from our analysis is that we've got equal representation in all communities. It doesn't look like we have better representation in areas where there are only English-speaking people versus other languages. It seems to be a need that everyone has. Everyone drives their vehicle, everyone needs insurance, everyone travels, so there's a need for everyone, basically. The local sales office typically has people who can talk to members in their own language, based on the community that surrounds the sales office.

Steve: Well, thank you very much, Colin. I think we've been able to touch on a lot of areas that are of interest to people: cars, insurance, travel. Hopefully, if some of the people listening here can become more comfortable or even more fluent in their English, then by participating in the services that BCAA has to offer, they can take advantage of those, and at the same time, improve their language capability. So thank you very much for taking the time.

Colin: Thank you.