After a fender-bender before Christmas, 85-year-old Ossie Gildart was told he’d have to take a driver’s test. But a surprise was waiting for him when he walked into Service New Brunswick in Bathurst.
“He said, ‘Mr. Gildart, I’m sorry you can’t take the test, your licence has been suspended.'”
Gildart was told his licence was suspended until he pays $4,661.91 because of an uninsured accident — an accident that happened in Toronto in 1960.
“I just couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t remember having an accident that I wasn’t insured with,” he said.
Ontario’s Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund allows people to reclaim damages from an accident with an uninsured driver. But Gildart doesn’t recall getting into an accident during his time in Toronto, let alone one where he was uninsured.
While living in Ontario, Gildart worked as a service technician so was required to have insurance and to renew his driver’s licence every year. When he left Ontario in 1971 to move home to New Brunswick, he received his Class 1 licence, driving trucks for CN Rail.
Ossie Gildart recently discovered that he owes more than $4,600 for a claim from an accident that happened two provinces away and 65 years ago.
And in the all the years he’s renewed his licence, in Ontario and New Brunswick, this old accident never appeared as an issue.
A spokesperson for New Brunswick’s Department of Public Safety told CBC News that Service New Brunswick performs a Canada-wide scan for licence suspensions in other jurisdictions.
“However, if our investigation proves the reason for suspension is a court-ordered [judgment] more than 10 years old, we have no obligation to another province to suspend or collect the outstanding amount,” Geoffery Downey said in an email.
Gildart’s licence has now been reinstated and his driver’s test rebooked but he’s still left with the hefty bill from the Ontario Ministry of Transport, although he’s being allowed to pay it back monthly.
“Two hundred dollars a month is a big slap in the face,” he said.
“I’ll have to do without something to get that.”
The Ontario Ministry of Public Business and Service Delivery said there are options for those who are facing claims through the program.
“If an individual is sued and disagrees, they may defend the action that has been commenced against them,” spokesperson Jeffery Stinson said in an email.
“If a judgment has been issued, they may seek legal advice to move to have the judgment set aside.”
Gildart’s family is still deciding on next steps, which may include hiring a lawyer to help them fight the charge.
“I was never notified by anybody, for anything. I was never suspended. I never had a problem,” he said.
“I just can’t believe they’d do this to a senior that’s 86 years old next week.”
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