Prepay at the pumps begins today
Calgary service station employee Rashidi was killed in 2015 by thief stealing gas
Friends of Maryam Rashidi, the Calgary service station employee fatally injured in a gas-and-dash nearly three years ago, say she would be proud prepay fuel legislation is finally implemented in Alberta.
Albertans will be paying before they pump at stations across the province starting Friday as Bill 19 comes into effect.
The legislation was introduced last year following the 2015 death of Rashidi, who worked at a Calgary Centex station, and the 2017 killing of Thorsby Fas Gas station owner Ki Yun Jo.
Both were the victims of gas thefts and both were killed by the drivers of stolen vehicles.
On May 15, Mounties in Cochrane arrested two women after a gas-and-dash at the Ghost Station campground ended in a twocar collision.
Prepay legislation has been in B.C. for around a decade, and Christina Gray, Alberta’s minister of labour, said there has been “virtually no gas theft in that province since 2008.”
“What we’ve put forward are reasonable and safety solutions that you will find implemented across the country,” Gray said.
Known as Grant’s Law, prepay rules in B.C. were introduced in 2008 following the 2005 death of Grant De Patie, 24, who was dragged seven kilometres underneath a car after trying to stop the driver from leaving without paying for $12 of gas.
“Our legislation allows for both paying at the pump if you have that technology, but also the ability to pay at the attendant before you fill up, preauthorizing on your credit or debit card or maybe leaving cash with the attendant,” she said, adding there are only a handful of older gas stations in rural areas that will allow customers to use a fuel tab instead of prepaying.
But Alberta’s Bill 19 isn’t just about preventing fuel thefts.
Gray said the new legislation was designed to keep employees safe on all Alberta workplaces through mandatory violence prevention programs, more secure late night cash handling procedures, and special consideration was made for employees that work alone at night.
“Everyone was united in wanting to keep workers safer,” Gray said of consultations with the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police, gas station owners and workers. “Everyone was united in making sure that all our workers come home safely at the end of the day.
“And certainly our government is committed to the health and safety of all Albertans in their workplace, and in the case of gas and convenience store workers, specific measures have been put forward.”
Nearly two years to the day of Rashidi’s death, her family was struck by another tragedy when her widower, Ahmad Shallo, was killed while travelling to Calgary to mark the anniversary of her death.
Gina Masnadi, a family friend, said Rashidi “will be always remembered as a hero.”
“So many people are still asking, ‘Why did she do that?’” Masnadi said.
“She did it because that was the right thing, because someone should stop the wrong people. She paid a way high price, but hopefully this law will avoid more tragedy like this.”
Rashidi had only worked at the gas station for two weeks before she tried to chase down a customer who fled a Centex station on 16th Avenue N.W. without paying.
She died two days later in hospital.
Joshua Mitchell, the 23-year-old who ran down Rashidi, was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Mitchell Robert Sydlowski, 27, has been charged with seconddegree murder for the death of Jo.