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TUESDAY
Tuesday, April 15, 2014 X Volume 27 No. 43
THIS WEEK
Annual Battle of the Books is here Page B1 Thompson River Publications Limited Partnership
Gaglardis’ trial resumes in Kamloops By Tim Petruk
STAFF REPORTER
tim@kamloopsthisweek.com
Tom Gaglardi took the witness stand to distance his father and his family’s company from legal wrongdoing in the case of 2010 renovations of a summer home in Savona that have resulted in environmental charges. Gaglardi, his father, Bob, and Northland Properties are standing trial in Kamloops provincial court on two counts each of harmful alteration of a fish habitat, allegedly the result of destruction of
riprap along the shore of Kamloops Lake. The parties are accused of altering the riprap along Kamloops Lake at the Gaglardis’ vacation property — described in court as “Tom’s Shack” — during renovations in 2010. The majority owner of the Kamloops Blazers and owner of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, Gaglardi took the stand in his own defence when the trial, which began in January, resumed on Monday, April 14. Gaglardi said his dad didn’t agree with the renovations to the fam-
ily’s property, work that began in early 2010. “His thought was, ‘Well, just for a summer place, that’s a lot of money,’” Gaglardi said. “I think that was the root of his objection. He’s a little more frugal than I am.” Gaglardi’s testimony distanced his father and Northland from any criminal wrongdoing. Under questioning from defence lawyer Rob Bruneau, Gaglardi said the company was not involved. “I don’t think that they were,” he said. X See GAGLARDI A7
Will ICBC send you a cheque?
EXPRESS YOURSELF! Jezzabel Krause, a student at Ecole Collines d’or, is deeply involved in her speech. Primary French students from Kamloops school district took part in the Kamloops Concours d’art oratoire 2014 French Speech Contest on April 10 at the Henry Grube Education Centre. The contest is organized by Canadian Parents for French-Kamloops, which is part of a national and provincial organization that can be contacted online at cpf.bc.ca. For more photos and a list of winners, turn to page A11. Dave Eagles/KTW
ICBC said it accidentally over- or under-charged nearly 600,000 of its optional auto-insurance customers and will issue refunds with interest averaging $162 to those who paid too much. Most motorists aren’t affected by the glitch, which happened because incorrect descriptions were assigned years ago to some vehicles. The error was uncovered last year with ICBC’s move to a new computer system. About 1.8 per cent of optionalinsurance customers paid an average of $21 too much per year as a result and 240,000 drivers are owed cumulative refunds stretching back as far as 2008, according to ICBC. The public auto insurer is updating vehicle descriptions for past years so it can accurately recalculate historic premiums and repay improper charges for the last six years — as far back as its legacy computer system permits.
Another 350,000 customers paid less than they should have by about $34 per year on average, but ICBC won’t bill them retroactively. Affected drivers are to be notified and receive refund cheques by July. ICBC expects to pay out $36 million in refunds plus interest of $3 million. It estimates it lost $71 million in underpayments since 2008. The faulty vehicle descriptions affect only optional insurance, not basic rates. ICBC’s board is also appointing an outside auditor to review the error. The error isn’t expected to happen again because ICBC’s modernized system will pull the correct description from the vehicle identification numbers, instead of being entered manually by Autoplan agents. Go online to checkmyvehicle.icbc. com to see if your vehicle is among those involved.
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