Top

Former Vancouver Canuck sued by City of Vernon over unpaid parking tickets

Aaron Volpatti has been taken to small claims court over $650 in unpaid tickets

Brendan Shykora Feb 27, 2025 10:55 AM Original Article at HERE

Image: Former Vancouver Canuck Aaron Volpatti has been taken to small claims court over $650 in unpaid parking tickets, according to court documents filed Feb. 24, 2025. (Vernon Morning Star Contributed)

A former NHL player who played for the Vancouver Canucks has been taken to small claims court by the City of Vernon over more than a dozen unpaid parking tickets.

According to court documents filed on Feb. 24, Aaron Volpatti racked up 13 unpaid tickets between November 2023 and December 2024, and owes the city $650.

The documents show Volpatti parked at expired parking meters on downtown Vernon streets. Each ticket would have been $15 if paid on time but jumped up to $50 after the 28-day grace period.

Parking downtown used to cost $1 per hour before being raised to $1.25 in February 2024.

Volpatti, 39, is a former professional hockey player who started out playing for the Vernon Vipers of the BC Hockey League as a junior. He went on to play 114 games across five seasons in the NHL. He started his NHL career with the Vancouver Canucks, where he played 54 games before being claimed off waivers by the Washington Capitals in the 2012-13 regular season.

Volpatti made close to $3 million in earnings over his NHL career.

The Revelstoke native published his book, Fighter: Defying NHL Odds, in 2022. According to his website, he is now a keynote speaker and cognitive performance coach.
END OF ARTICLE

Note: Volpatti played four years at Brown University from 2006-2010 before signing as a free agent with the Vancouver Canucks on March 22, 2010. He played parts of two and a half seasons with the Canucks before being claimed off waivers by the Washington Capitals February 28th 2013. He played parts of five years in the NHL with Vancouver & Washington before retiring due to injury in 2015. He played two seasons with his hometown Revelstoke Grizzlies from 2001-2003. The Grizzlies retired He's jersey #19 February 17th 2018. He played three seasons in Vernon from 2003-2006. In 137 regular season games with the Vipers He collected (13-goals-24-assists-37-points).

Since his retirement, Volpatti released his own book in 2022. For more on his book, check out Aaron's personal website, Book | AARON VOLPATTI

---

Former NHLer settles tickets

Former NHL player donates to NOYFSS following Vernon parking ticket suit

Castanet.net: Chelsey Mutter - Mar 4, 2025 / 4:00 am | Story: 536420 Original Article at HERE

Photo: Instagram/NOYFSS

After former NHL player Anthony Aaron Volpatti was sued by the City of Vernon over $650 in unpaid parking fees, the athlete matched the (now paid) amount in a donation to the North Okanagan Youth & Family Services Society (NOYFSS).

In a post to his Instagram account, Volpatti explained the tickets were a low priority in a year where his father passed away, he moved and had new babies.

He's since paid the outstanding tickets after forgetting, and said there should be a better system for handling overdue parking tickets, and suggested demerits or refusing insurance to serve as a reminder.

To turn the situation into a positive one, Volpatti donated the same amount of funds originally owed in parking tickets to NOYFSS.

"We wanted to extend a huge thank you to a longtime supporter of NOYFSS, Aaron Volpatti. Aaron and his family have been tremendous contributors to this community for many years now," said NOYFSS on it's Instagram page.

"We can't say thank you enough for their generosity and kindness! Thank you Aaron for dropping off this amazing donation today in support of children, youth and families in the North Okanagan."

Volpatti presented a cheque for $775 to NOYFSS. The former Vancouver Canucks winger also thanked HUTO LifeStyle for chipping in to the donation.

Court documents show the city filed its suit for 13 parking tickets between Nov. 29, 2023, and Dec. 19, 2024. Each $35 ticket incurred a $15 late penalty resulting in the $650 total amount owed to the city.

An acknowledgment of payment was filed with the courts on Feb. 27. City spokesperson Jessica Hewitt said all unpaid parking tickets are considered a debt to the city which can be remedied through small claims court, commonly known as a payment hearing.

"Payment Hearings are a part of the city's progressive enforcement model, which includes education, warnings, penalties, and, when necessary, court action," said Hewitt in an email.

"This approach holds individuals accountable for their actions in order to ensure compliance with bylaw regulations in the future."

Hewitt did not say whether the city has an internal threshold for when debts are sent to court, but explained the process can be used for any amount of debt owed to the city.

Top