SASKATOON – A Saskatchewan farmer embroiled in a legal battle with Petro-Canada has rejected the latest settlement offer from the Calgary-based oil company.
Gordon Harasymchuk and his father Maurice are suing Petro-Canada for more than $80,000, a sum which includes more than $23,000 in alleged over billing or uncredited payments, $10,000 for losses arising from lost credit rating and $50,000 in punitive damages.
Petro-Canada says it doesn’t owe Harasymchuk any money and denies doing anything improper or illegal. The company has responded by suing Harasymchuk for $1,006, which it says is still owing on his account.
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In a recent interview, Harasymchuk said Petro-Canada lawyers offered him $5,000 in return for both sides dropping all legal action. But he said the offer was insulting and simply made him even more determined to continue the fight.
“They’re one digit away,” he said. “One more zero in that and it would be a done deal.”
Rocco Ciancio, manager of public affairs for Petro-Canada’s western region, said the company’s policy is not to comment publicly on cases before the courts.
“I won’t talk about any of the details, but I will say yes, we made an offer to him,” he said, adding it’s not the first time the company has proposed settling out of court.
The Harasymchuks went to court in August after the two sides couldn’t settle a dispute about the status of the Harasymchuks’ account.
They said they were astonished to be told in the spring of 1992 that their account with the local Petro-Canada dealer in Wakaw was $14,000 in arrears.
Their account was suspended in July and collection proceedings began. The Harasymchuks said they were harassed with abusive calls from the collection agency and their credit rating was ruined.
In December 1992, Petro-Canada fired its Wakaw agent George Hrapchak and in July 1994 sued Hrapchak Farm Products Ltd. for $221,608. That case is still before the courts.
In court documents, the oil company says that upon receiving complaints from the Harasymchuks, it halted the collection proceedings and reviewed their accounts. After it discovered that Gordon and Maurice had not been credited for payments of $4,600 and $3,545.15 respectively, it promptly did so.
However, the company says the account remained $1,006 in arrears after that. In its counter suit, Petro-Canada asks the court to order Harasymchuk to pay that amount, plus interest and court costs.
