The British Columbia government has appointed Paul Taylor, former president and CEO of Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC), as chairman of the ICBC board.

Taylor is taking the job for 12 to 18 months on a volunteer basis. He will be compensated for expenses only. The position of ICBC chair has been vacant since January, when Nancy McKinstry resigned to pursue other opportunities.

In addition to serving as head of the ICBC, Taylor has also been deputy minister of Finance and secretary to the Treasury Board in BC, chief of staff to the premier, and he held a number of high-level positions with Alberta Finance in the 1990s. He is currently president of US operations for power company, TransAlta.

Taylor has also served on a variety of private and public sector boards including NaiKun Wind Energy Group, B.C. Forestry Investment & Innovation, B.C. Automobile Dealers Association, TransAlta New Zealand and TransAlta Power Ltd., the Conference Board of Canada, and the World Wildlife Fund – Canada.

The government announced earlier this year that it would conduct reviews of all Crown corporations, and it says that the review of the ICBC is ongoing. A report is expected to be released before the fall.