I-C-B-C says it’s aware that some customers have received fake text messages related to a rebate for drivers announced last week in response to record-high gas prices. I-C-B-C says it will not issue rebates through text messages or email and anyone who gets a text asking them to click a link to receive the funds should delete it….It says customers who had an eligible insurance policy during the month of February will receive the 110-dollar rebate through direct deposit starting in May, as a credit on their credit card, or as a cheque between May and June. Eligible commercial customers will receive 165 dollars, which I-C-B-C says reflects their higher insurance premiums.
R-C-M-P say a pedestrian was hospitalized with serious injuries after a collision on Highway 10 in Surrey overnight on Sunday. They say it happened around 12:20 a-m near the intersection with 124th Street. The Mounties are asking for anyone with dashcam footage or information about the crash to contact them.
The Academy Awards named the deaf family drama “CODA” as the year’s best picture Sunday night, handing Hollywood’s top award to a streaming service for the first time. The feel-good moment for the Apple T-V-Plus product came just minutes after one of the most shocking moments in Oscars history. It featured Will Smith slapping Chris Rock in the face onstage after the comic made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Rock had taken aim at her shaved head, joking he hoped to see her in G-I Jane 2. Pinkett Smith revealed in 2018 that she was diagnosed with the hair loss condition alopecia. The slap shocked the audience, viewers at home, and Rock himself. A tearful Smith returned to the stage later to collect his first best-actor Oscar for “King Richard” and apologized to the Academy and fellow nominees — but not to Rock.
Kids in B.C. will be returning to school this morning without the mask mandate, and parents are split on comfort levels. Although the mask mandate for public spaces was lifted on March 11, with Monday marking the end of spring break, it will be the first day since the most recent mandates were lifted of maskless classrooms. The Surrey Parent Advisory Council says with new variants and the unforeseeable future of COVID, many parents are proponents of keeping the mask mandate in effect. Vaccination rates among children aged five to 11 in B.C. remain low for first and second doses, are among the lowest in the country, and are below the national average.
As of Sunday, most single-use plastic items will be banned in Richmond in an effort to reduce waste. Items such as plastic checkout bags, plastic straws, and foam food ware will be prohibited in Richmond businesses as part of the ban. According to the city, about 35 million foam food service containers, plastic straws, and plastic checkout bags are collected from garbage in Richmond every year, nearly 660 tonnes of waste.
Pope Francis did not give a Metis delegation an apology for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in residential schools during a meeting today at the Vatican. But the Metis National Council president says he repeated the words truth, justice and healing, which she believes is a commitment to a journey of justice. The Metis delegation presented the pope with a pair of red, beaded moccasins as a sign of their willingness to forgive if there is meaningful action from the church.
It’s a sweet victory for Canadian soccer fans. Canada secured its first World Cup berth in 36 years with a 4-nil victory over Jamaica yesterday. Canada has been to the World Cup just once before, in 1986.
Will Smith has apologized to Chris Rock for slapping the comedian onstage at Sunday’s Oscars, writing in a statement that he was ”out of line” and ”wrong.” Smith sent the statement Monday on his Instagram page, saying he is embarrassed by his actions. Smith slapped Rock after the comedian made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Smith won the best actor award later in the ceremony. He also issued an apology Monday to the film academy, Oscar producers and viewers
Surrey RCMP is advising the public of a shooting that occurred in Whalley this afternoon and asking that anyone who sees the suspect vehicle – a Red Kia Optima British Columbia License Plate KE0 43M (reported stolen) to call police immediately. Investigators are actively working to identify the suspects and the intended target of this shooting; a motive has not yet been determined.
B-C’s health ministry says hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have increased slightly to 260 people, up from 255 on Thursday. There are currently 50 people in intensive care. The ministry says two more people had died, raising B-C’s death toll to two-thousand-983. There are three more health-care facility outbreaks, all at seniors care sites, bringing the total number of health centre outbreaks in B-C to seven.
Mounties in Surrey are investigating what they say appears to be a targeted shooting in the Whalley area Friday night. R-C-M-P say officers responded to a shots-fired report around 11:30 p-m and found evidence of a shooting at the scene not far from Surrey Central SkyTrain station. They say a man later arrived at a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Police say they believe the shooting is linked to a gang conflict in the Lower Mainland — and they’re asking anyone with information about the case to contact them.
The B-C Centre for Disease Control says the province is seeing a much milder flu season so far this year than in pre-pandemic years. In a recent weekly report, the centre says 290 cases of flu have been confirmed since early October — with a test positivity rate of 0.2 per cent. That’s well below the five-year average but up from last year when only 18 tests out of more than 75-thousand came back positive. Both the centre and Health Canada say there hasn’t been any evidence of community circulation during this year’s flu season, which is considered to last until May 1st.
R-C-M-P say foul play is suspected in a man’s death in Langley. They say officers responded to a report of an unresponsive man at the Highway Hotel on Friday night and found him suffering life-threatening injuries. The Mounties say he died while being treated by ambulance personnel. Anyone with information is asked to contact the R-C-M-P.
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is not letting the actions of Will Smith during last night’s Oscars go. It will launch a formal review of his slapping of presenter Chris Rock. Smith won the best actor award later in the ceremony for “King Richard.” Smith slapped Rock on stage after the comedian made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who has a hair-loss ailment.