SGI (file photo/CKOM)

By Glenn Hicks

giving back

SGI to issue rebates of around $285 per vehicle

Feb 26, 2021 | 12:26 PM

The Saskatchewan Government has announced crown corporation, SGI, will offer a one-time rebate of about $285 per vehicle. The government said it was because of SGI’s strong financial position. The opposition NDP welcomed the move but called it ‘a cynical U-turn.’

In a media release Friday, the government said it will pass on roughly $350 million in earnings to the people of Saskatchewan by issuing one-time rebates to all registered vehicle owners. It said it will also improve injury benefits for its most seriously injured customers.

The full media release can be seen here.

“The Saskatchewan Auto Fund Rate Stabilization Reserve is in a very strong financial position due to very strong investment returns and—to a smaller degree—fewer collision claims due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Minister Responsible for SGI Don Morgan said, in part, in the release.

The one-time rebate will total $285 million and the amount each customer receives will vary. The rebate will be calculated based on a proportion of vehicle premiums paid in the previous three years.

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The rebate cheques will be issued in May and sent through the mail to customers who have paid Auto Fund premiums in the past three years and are residents of Saskatchewan.

NDP response

Meanwhile, the opposition NDP, which has been calling for the rebates for many months, welcomed the move but criticized the government’s initial attitude towards giving some of the Auto Fund’s surplus back to residents.

Last month, it was reported SGI’s reserves stood at over $1.1 billion at a time when claims dwindled by around 20 per cent.

“… it is hard to give the Sask. Party government any credit for their cynical U-turn on this issue just months after referring to the Saskatchewan New Democrats campaign pledge [to give rebates to residents] as a ‘vote-buying scheme’,” Opposition Critic for SGI Aleana Young said in a statement.

“In the lead up to the last election campaign, the then Minister Responsible for SGI Joe Hargrave responded to Saskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan’s Meili’s SGI rebate pledge by saying that it would drive up the provincial debt. Hargrave said at the time: ‘It’s unfortunate that the NDP plan to use SGI as sort of a slush fund’.”

Last month, Young called the lack of action by SGI on giving rebates ‘suspicious’.

In addition to the rebates, SGI said it would enhance benefits in two significant areas for the most seriously injured customers. These will include customers requiring assistance with daily tasks such as dressing and bathing. Also, those who receive benefits from SGI and Canada Pension Plan (CPP) will no longer have benefits from SGI reduced by their CPP payment.

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow