The province is urging people to be prepared for wildfires as temperatures remain high this week. It says the B-C Wildfire Service is closely monitoring changing conditions and making preparations as needed, including the placement of crews, in case of lightning. The Forests Ministry says 380 wildfires have burned more than 13-thousand hectares since the start of the wildfire season in April, with people causing more than half the blazes. If you break the rules you could be issued a fine of one-thousand-150 dollars or be required to pay an administrative penalty of up to 10-thousand dollars while those convicted in court could face a fine of up to 100-thousand dollars or a year in jail.
The BC Ministry of Transportation says that continued work will cause significant delays for long weekend road trippers heading to the interior. They say travelers should definitely expect some lane reductions in several places along the Coquihalla, expect higher than average traffic volumes and delays for travel times throughout the corridor. The busiest times will be this afternoon and between noon and 6 p.m. and on Monday, where delays could reach two hours.
Two men who were killed in an early-morning shooting rampage in Langley have been identified by police. 60 year old Paul David Wynn, and 43 year old Steven Furness, were the victims in the Monday attack. Community advocates have suggested the two victims did not have permanent homes. A woman is still in the hospital with critical injuries. A man was also in the hospital, and is expected to be okay. Both are 26 years old. The suspect, Jordan David Goggin, was shot by police. The 28-year-old Surrey man died at the scene. Goggin was known to police for “non-criminal contacts,” but police have not identified a motive.
Mounties in Surrey say gunshots were fired at a home in the Surrey neighbourhood of Newton early Thursday. RCMP say it happened early in the morning around 3 a.m. at a residence near 83 Avenue and 142 A Street. When officers arrived, the homeowner had discovered several bullet holes in the outside of their home. Police say no one was injured.
Statistics Canada says the Canadian economy held steady in May, with real gross domestic product remaining unchanged from April. According to the federal agency, growth in services-producing
industries was offset by a decline in goods-producing industries. The largest declines were experienced in construction and manufacturing, while the transportation and warehousing sector saw
the largest gains.
A fourth day of closing arguments is scheduled today in the B-C Supreme Court trial of a Dutch man accused of a three-year online sextortion campaign against teenager Amanda Todd. The 15-year-old from Port Coquitlam killed herself a decade ago after posting a silent video with messages like “I have nobody” written on cards she held up. Court has heard a device seized from Aydin Coban’s home showed a video titled with Todd’s name was played on it in late 2010, but the Crown does not know what the video depicted because it had been deleted. The jury has been shown a Facebook post by Todd in which she expressed fear that the person harassing her would continue for the rest of her life.
A woman has been killed in an Abbotsford home. Abbotsford Police responded to an assault in progress at a home near just before 5 p.m. According to police, when officers arrived they found a 45-year-old woman suffering from life-threatening injuries. She later died at the scene. A 48-year-old man known to the woman is in custody.
Pope Francis has told a gathering of residential school survivors in Quebec City that he came to Canada in a spirit of penance, to express his heartfelt pain at the wrong inflicted on them by not a
few Catholics who supported oppressive and unjust policies. He referred to his week-long visit as an intense pilgrimage and told the survivors he wants to take further steps so the processes
of healing and reconciliation may continue. Francis says he is returning home greatly enriched and that the lives and experiences, the Indigenous realities of the lands that have touched him will always be a part of him. He is flying to Iqaluit today for the last stop of his Canadian tour.