A local Edmonton non-profit daycare is undergoing a major setback in its operations and finances after its catalytic converter was stolen and it has been unable to receive a replacement.
“This is having a huge impact on our finances to have to shell out that much money,” Brad West, executive director of the Glengarry Child Care Society, said.
The Glengarry Child Care Society bought a 22-passenger bus in May to transport children to and from school to keep up with a recent increase in demand for school-aged care.
However, a couple of weeks ago, the bus’s catalytic converter was stolen in, what is suspected to be, broad daylight.
“The staff went to start it to go to school and it was just incredibly loud. So we shut it off, did some digging, and found out they cut out the catalytic converter,” West said.
“A couple of parents saw it happening (during morning drop-off) but didn’t think anything of it.”
The bus is now sitting in the lot at Denny Andrews Ford Fleet Services as it waits for a replacement. West has been told it could be weeks or even months before a replacement is found.
“They can’t get a part and Ford can’t even give them an estimated availability date,” West said.
“There are so many being stolen, they are on back order… so it could be days, it could be weeks, it could be months before we get a part.”
West said the cost to eventually replace the converter will be $6,000. In the meantime, the daycare is renting a smaller bus for $2,600 a month.
“We’re cutting back on expenses… just seeing where we can cut back,” West said.
In Alberta last year, 4,797 catalytic converter thefts were reported. Of those, 2,647 — or 55 per cent — took place in Edmonton, according to the Edmonton Police Service.
“It’s happening every day, everywhere,” Desmond Ross, with Fix Auto downtown, said regarding catalytic converter thefts. “We probably see three to five a week that we’re repairing.”
Ross said replacements on personal vehicles can be done fairly quickly at Fix Auto downtown, but added converters for commercial vehicles seem more difficult to find.
“From what I’ve heard, they’re very costly and they’re very difficult to get,” Ross said. “So there could be a downtime of that vehicle and we all know in business, time is money.”
In an email, Jon Proskurniak, fleet manager with Denny Andrews Ford Sales said “the supply chain is under tremendous strain, and the catalytic converter problem is not immune to that supply problem.”
A gofundme page has been set up to help cover the costs of the replacement.
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