GN bad gas payout won’t cover trucks, ATVs

PATRICIA D’SOUZA

The Alberta Research Council has determined that a bad batch of gasoline that damaged snowmobile engines and outboard motors in the Baffin and Kivalliq regions did not have the same effect on cars and trucks.

Finance Minister Kelvin Ng, the minister charged with administering a massive compensation program, announced the findings in the legislative assembly on Monday.

He said that the results of tests done on parts taken from a public works and services vehicle and an all-terrain vehicle were “inconclusive.”

He later clarified in an interview that the results showed that “the gas did not cause problems.”

What this means for Nunavummiut is that the government’s compensation program for two-stroke engines such as snowmobiles and outboard motors will not extend to four-stroke engines such as cars, trucks and ATVs.

Instead, the GN is deferring the matter to its insurer, St. Paul’s Insurance. The 40 claims submitted by owners of damaged four-stroke engines will be forwarded to the firm and analyzed by independent appraisers contracted by the insurer, Ng said.

They will be dealt with individually, which means that some may be considered valid claims while others may not. This is vastly different than the GN’s compensation program for two-stroke engines.

The program has reimbursed, and continues to reimburse, owners for the full cost of repair — and will even pay them for repair work they have done themselves.

The GN has received more than 1,200 claims so far, 88 per cent for damaged snowmobile engines, six per cent for outboard motors and one per cent for generators and other small motors. By the end of the week, Ng said, 700 claims had been settled.

Outstanding claims will be paid out in coming weeks, however, the GN has set a Dec. 31 deadline for claims.

If you haven’t submitted receipts and a form explaining when the damage occured, or made an effort to submit the information, you may not be reimbursed.

The announcement of the deadline in the assembly raised alarm in some MLAs. “Is the deadline Dec. 31 even if the breakdown occurred before Dec. 31?” asked Pond Inlet MLA Jobie Nutarak.

Ng confirmed that the same deadline applies to all Nunavummiut and that they have two months to have their machines checked for damage if they haven’t already done so.

“The intent is to compensate individuals who did have damage,” he said. “If it is shown that person made an effort [to submit a claim before the deadline] they will be compensated.”