Allard is the co-inventor of the popular Xbox gaming system and was in Courtenay recently to teach Mounties how to use a new bike-tracking app he developed. “When you steal a $4,000 bike in Comox, it’s being stored in Nanaimo, two months later it’s being listed in Squamish and it’s going across on the ferry with 40 other bikes,” he said.
Category: British Columbia
North Vancouver mom got sick by drinking hot water from UBC’s taps
North Vancouver mom Jamie Baudru drank from the hot-water taps at the University of B.C. and got sick from a chemical that is suspected of causing cancer. The chemical, identified by UBC as Corrshield NT4206, is an anti-corrosive substance used in the hot-water heating system.
Proposed class action against B.C. argues foreign-buyers’ tax unconstitutional
A 15-per-cent tax on foreign homebuyers in Metro Vancouver is unconstitutional and unfairly discriminates against people from Asia, a proposed class-action lawsuit against the British Columbia government argues. An amended document filed in B.C. Supreme Court last week argues the so-called foreign-buyers’ tax is unconstitutional because it violates equality rights by making an “arbitrary” distinction between those who are citizens and permanent residents of Canada and those who are not.
Company that pays for blood donations eyes Kelowna for clinic
Canadian Plasma Resources, a for-profit, Ontario-based company, pays donors between $25 and $100 per donation in the form of Visa gift cards. “We have plans to come to B.C., but we don’t have a timeline yet for this,” said Barzin Bahardoust, CEO of Canadian Plasma Resources.
Most asylum seekers slip into B.C. through Peace Arch Park
Approximately 80 per cent of refugee claimants to B.C. cross the Canada-U.S. border through Peace Arch Park, in Surrey. The surge of asylum seekers walking across the Canada-U.S. border, in Surrey B.C., accounts for 80 per cent of the people who have made refugee claims in Vancouver, B.C., since April 2016.
North Vancouver mayor wants a public transit tunnel to Vancouver
It’s time to look at a fixed-link public transit option to connect Vancouver to the North Shore, says North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto. “The North Shore is under grid lock everyday and we’re going to need alternative connections,” said Mussatto.
MP Strahl supporting Chiliwack-Hope artists in his Ottawa office
Ryder Lake Cows is a photograph by local realtor, chicken farmer and Chilliwack city councillor Chris Kloot on display in MP Mark Strahl’s Ottawa office. To promote artists in Chilliwack and Hope, Member of Parliament Mark Strahl is showcasing local art and photographs in his Parliamentary office.
Justin Trudeau has gambled on the reelection of B.C.’s liberal government: Hebert
The vote on May 9 will be the first real test of the prime minister’s policies on climate change and energy development. B.C Premier Christy Clark speaks to a crowd attending an Erase Bullying in Sport event in Burnaby, B.C., on Wednesday, February 22, 2017.
k.d. lang to play two Calgary concerts in August
On the 25th anniversary of her platinum selling IngA nue album and the huge hit Constant Craving, which launched her into stardom around the world, k.d. lang is about to hit the road solo across Canada, coming to Calgary’s Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium August 23 & 24. Fans in 17 cities coast to coast, from Victoria, B.C. to St. John’s, NL, can experience lang live as she brings her singular singing style to classics from her 30 year repertoire. The tour runs from Aug. 12 to Sept.
B.C. unveils three-year mental health plan
The B.C. government has committed $140 million in its pre-election budget to increase mental health services for young people, to deal with an increase in cases. The three-year budget is to hire 120 mental health practitioners to work with young people, create “up to 28” specialized substance-use care beds for young people and provide an online counselling service for “youth who are struggling with mild to moderate mental health or substance abuse challenges,” according to a statement from the health and children and family development ministries.
Daphne Bramham: Rick Peterson believes policy matters in Tory leadership race
The Vancouver venture capitalist and former journalist is a fiscal conservative with an eye not only on the balance sheet, but a concern about rising levels of poverty and homelessness. Alberta-born and raised, Peterson speaks French.
Parks Canada honours black entrepreneur who was one of BC’s founders
Mifflin Gibbs in his later years, ca. 1902. Photograph By CrawfordKilian, Go Do Some Great Thing: The Black Pioneers of British Columbia[Vancouver: Douglas an Mifflin Gibbs wasn’t a father of confederation.
LETTERS: Tracking our political leadership
Hooray! Another big step taken toward the rail-relocation goal. Thanks to Todd Stone, B.C.’s transportation and infrastructure minister, for his letter of support to Marc Garneau, federal minister of transportation, for the next step of moving the railway line off our beautiful beaches on this peninsula.
Symphony to play dance music
The Okanagan Symphony Orchestra is issuing an invitation to get up and dance during their weekend concerts in Kelowna, Penticton and Vernon. “Our musicians are going to step outside the classical zone and step into a sparkling concert full of Latin rhythms, fantastic cross-rhythms and lots of percussion onstage,” commented Rosemary Thomson, music director.
Universities moving away from allowing students to judge sex assaults
University of British Columbia student Stephanie Hale, 22, poses for photograph in Kamloops, B.C., on Thursday, October 20, 2016. When Stephanie Hale read the University of British Columbia’s new sexual misconduct policy, she had mixed emotions.
Addiction, Arctic and aerospace:how federal politics touched Canadians this week
Well, it’s been three weeks since Donald Trump was sworn in as U.S. president, and so far, nothing terrible has happened to Canada. That’s the nature of the strained attempt at optimism coursing through the national capital these days as policy makers muddle through the Trump-inspired confusion that is spilling around the world.
Researchers call this year’s flu vaccine effectiveness ‘decent’
This season’s influenza vaccine is estimated to have been more than 40 per cent effective in preventing illness with the dominant H3N2 viral strain in Canadians who got their shots, a national network of infectious diseases experts says. The Canadian Sentinel Practitioner Surveillance Network determines vaccine effectiveness by analyzing how many inoculated people tested positive for the flu virus compared to those who were unvaccinated.
Researchers call this year’s flu vaccine effectiveness ‘decent’
This season’s influenza vaccine is estimated to have been more than 40 per cent effective in preventing illness with the dominant H3N2 viral strain in Canadians who got their shots, a national network of infectious diseases experts says. The Canadian Sentinel Practitioner Surveillance Network determines vaccine effectiveness by analyzing how many inoculated people tested positive for the flu virus compared to those who were unvaccinated.
Winter wreaks havoc on B.C. roadways
The Ministry of Transportation is placing an advisory in effect for Highway 1 in both directions, between Craigalachie to the Alberta border. Accumulations of up to 30 cm are expected, followed by warming temperatures and rain in some areas, leading to slippery driving conditions.
Some sex workers choose industry due to benefits of occupation: study
Cecilia Benoit, professor and scientist with the University of Victoriaa s is shown in a handout photo. Cecilia Benoit, professor and scientist with the University of Victoriaa s is shown in a handout photo.
Census 2016: Canada’s big cities home to big share of 35 million Canadians
In some ways a victim of his own success, the mayor of Kelowna h as been struggling in recent years to rein in his city as it slowly spreads across the B.C. interior, testing his ability to provide core municipal services and build badly needed infrastructure. Nor is the city’s middle-aged spread at all unique, according to the 2016 census data released Wednesday: Canada’s population of 35.15 million is settling in the bigger cities, ensuring they and their suburban neighbours keep growing, while small cities get smaller.
The Tuesday news briefing: An at-a-glance survey of some top stories
The country posted back-to-back monthly trade surpluses for the first time since September 2014, boosted by higher prices for exports of oil and natural gas in December, Statistics Canada said Tuesday. A freight train rail yard is pictured near Pitt Meadows, B.C., in a November 25, 2016, file photo.
Event remembers avid skier
Eaman died in March 2012 in a vehicle collision on Highway 97 between Vernon and Kelowna. Within weeks, the Jessica Eaman Ski Scholarship was established, and JESS4KIDS was established to give a few youth the chance to experience the winter sport she loved.
Junior hockey class-action lawsuit lands for certification hearing in Calgary
Players from the Red Deer Rebels watch from the bench during a 2016 game against the Kelowna Rockets. A Calgary judge is presiding over a four-day hearing into whether a class-action lawsuit on behalf of junior hockey players in the CHL and affiliated leagues can proceed.
Junior hockey class-action lawsuit lands for certification hearing in Calgary
Players from the Red Deer Rebels watch from the bench during a 2016 game against the Kelowna Rockets. A Calgary judge is presiding over a four-day hearing into whether a class-action lawsuit on behalf of junior hockey players in the CHL and affiliated leagues can proceed.
Maui’s ‘top of the world’ sunrise view leads to overcrowding
Well before dawn each morning, throngs of tourists from around the world make their way to Maui’s tallest peak, a dormant volcano, to see what Mark Twain called the “sublimest spectacle” he ever witnessed. They drive up a long, winding road through the clouds to an otherworldly, lava-rock landscape at 10,000 feet.
RCMP officer featured in documentary
Penticton RCMP officer Dan Moskaluk is advocating for a non-animal protein diet in the latest documentary Eating You Alive. Eating You Alive is about the connection between dietary habits and chronic diseases, a large theme in Moskaluk’s life.
Whistler Film Festival invites screenwriters and producers to apply for lab programs
This was demonstrated again in November 2016 when it screened La La Land on its opening night, well in advance of the movie’s general release. La La Land , starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, went on to receive 14 Oscar nominations , tying a record set by Titanic and All About Eve .
Video and Slideshow: Federal government signs letter of understanding with Tsilhqot’in Nation
The Tsilhqot’in Nation achieved a significant milestone Friday when leaders signed a letter of understanding with the Canadian government to negotiate in good faith and work toward reconciliation. In front of a crowded room at the Toosey Health Centre, the Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, and the Chiefs from all seven Tsilhqot’in communities signed the agreement.
Prof Ken Attafuah appointed NIA Boss
Prof. Kenneth Agyemang Attafua has been appointed the Executive Secretary for the National Identification Authority. His appointment comes on the back of recent reshuffling in major positions at the public sector by President Nana Akufo-Addo.
Canadians holding dual citizenship with countries targeted by immigration ban can’t enter U.S.
Zawenawedian Dawdian, 2, was one of a group of sponsored Syrian refugees who arrived in Toronto yesterday gathered at the Armenian Cultural Centre where they were paired up with their sponsored families on Wednesday December 16, 2015. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greets 16-month-old Madeleine Jamkossian, right, and her father Kevork Jamkossian, refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war, during their arrival at Pearson International airport, in Toronto, on Friday, Dec. 11, 2015.
Can goat meat hoof its way to the culinary forefront?
Goat is enviably healthy, rich in iron and protein, tender in a braise, and popular in the developing world. Why is it so hard to get in North America? Pop down to your local Loblaws, Sobeys or Metro and it will be easy to find some creamy fresh goat’s cheese from B.C.’s Salt Spring Island Cheese Company, or something better-aged from Ontario’s Monforte, or a brick of that lovely, black, wax-wrapped chA vre noir from La Fromagerie Hamel in Quebec.
A roadmap for bringing sanity back to housing markets
Where once the housing market was limited by the ability of the local labour market to pay, it is now a globalized commodity. Here’s how to address that.
Rad 5k Brings Color to 2017
Last year, 42,000 racers enjoyed the colorful 5K course and 2017 promises to be better than ever as event organizers challenge racers to “Run Rad.” “Color Me RadA is an excuse to let loose!” said Color Me RadA spokesman Maxwell Christen.
Client says many would be dead without medical heroin at Vancouver clinic
The smell of rubbing alcohol permeates a tiny room where chronic heroin users inject a pharmaceutical-grade version of the drug three times a day to just feel normal. Justin Hall, 48, exits the freshly cleaned injection room at the Crosstown Clinic in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside after his second visit of the day.
Vancouver director always knew Ryan Gosling was going to be a star
Premiere of Lionsgate’s ‘La La Land’ – Arrivals Featuring: Ryan Gosling Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 06 Dec 2016 Credit: FayesVision/WENN.com ORG XMIT: wenn30566562 Veteran Canadian actor/director/writer Rob Stewart has always known that London, Ont.’ s, Ryan Gosling was going to be a huge star.
McCarville, Mallett, MacPhee join Canadian women’s curling championship field
Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville, Prince Edward Island’s Robyn MacPhee and B.C.’s Marla Mallett have won their way into the Canadian women’s curling championship field. Mallett downed Diane Gushulak 6-3 in the B.C. provincial women’s final Sunday night in Duncan, B.C. MacPhee stole singles in the ninth and 10th ends to beat Veronica Smith 7-5 in the P.E.I. final in Summerside.
Homebuyers program could be boon for Chilliwack: MLA
As applicants begin to roll in to BC Housing from those looking to take advantage of the new first-time homebuyers program, one local MLA said the program could have a particular benefit to Chilliwack residents. That’s because it only applies to homes under $750,000, a high price locally but at the low end in places such as Metro Vancouver.
Building boom expected to ebb
New home construction in Kelowna surged an astounding 72 per cent in 2016, but it’s expected to fall back this year. “The pent-up demand has been satisfied to some extent, so 2017’s forecast definitely calls for a moderation from 2016,” said Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation market analyst Taylor Pardy.
ILWU members rail against proposed regulations changes
More than two dozen members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada rallied outside the Transport Canada offices on Second Avenue West on Thursday morning to send a strong message to the federal government: allowing the end of cabotage and privatizing Canada’s ports and airports would be a devastating mistake for hundreds of thousands of Canadian workers. Led by president of ILWU Local 400 marine section Terry Engler and president of ILWU Local 523 Regan Fletcher, union members from Prince Rupert to Vancouver rallied to tell the new Justin Trudeau Liberal government to bring in what they promised: change.