‘Super frustrating’: Catalytic converter stolen from B.C. charity’s truck for a second time

A Vancouver-based charity is speaking up after the catalytic converter on its only vehicle was stolen for the second time this year.

The HomeStart Foundation relies on its truck to pick up donated furniture and deliver it to the homes of clients in need of a helping hand.

The theft puts a damper on its holiday schedule, said executive director Vikki Stevenson, and will force the non-profit to spend valuable time and money on a rental vehicle.

“It’s super frustrating. It sucks the wind out of your sails,” she told Global News. “This really puts us behind.”

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Staff at the furniture bank noticed the catalytic converter was missing on Dec. 7, as they started up the truck for a day of prescheduled pickups and deliveries.

“It sounded like a tank, and because it had happened to us before we knew exactly what was going on,” said Stevenson. “When it happens a second time you start to feel like someone’s got it in for you.”

The truck’s catalytic converter was stolen on the May long weekend as well, she said.

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Vancouver has seen a sharp uptick of catalytic converter thefts in recent months.

According to police, the number of reported thefts in the city more than doubled over the last year, surging from 204 in 2020 to 425 in the first 10 months of 2021 alone.

Catalytic converters are an exhaust emission control device made up of a variety of precious metals, including platinum, palladium and cadmium.

As a result of the thefts, the B.C. government has vowed to close a loophole in the law that makes it easier for stolen catalytic converters to be sold to scrap metal buyers.

The province’s current Metal Dealers and Recyclers Act requires purchasers of scrap metal to record those purchases as a theft prevention measure, but currently excludes catalytic converters from its definition of “regulated metal.”

Last month, B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said closing the loophole could mean a ban on the sale of catalytic converters to recycling depots altogether. No timeframe has been provided.

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Meanwhile, staff at the HomeStart Foundation, which works with more than 60 social service agencies in the Lower Mainland, will be filling out insurance forms, filing a police report, and scrambling to make its holiday deliveries on time.

However, Stevenson said she’s encouraged by the positive community response, and the CEO of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank has kindly offered to cover some of the costs associated with replacing and protecting their new catalytic converter.