Human remains were found yesterday in a wooded area on an empty lot in the Cloverdale suburb of Surrey, BC. Surrey RCMP say they are working to identify the individual found near the Fraser Highway. The BC Coroner Service has been advised. Police says it’s too early in the investigation to determine if a crime was committed.
Vancouver city council has decided it will be scrapping its single-use cup fee. A strong majority voted for the motion to remove the 25-cent fee, which came into effect in January of 2022. Councilor Rebecca Bligh put forward the motion to remove the fee, saying that it has done little to change consumer habits. The city says the fee will be abolished by June 1st, as all but two councilors voted to remove it, with Adriane Carr and Pete Fry abstaining from the vote.
BC’s attorney general is expected to deliver a report to the legislature on the Ministry of Health’s monitoring of COVID-19 vaccination coverage rates from 2020 to 2022. Michael Pickup will also provide an overview of the audit findings and recommendations to media. The Office of the Attorney General says the report will be published to its website before noon. Last week, the BC Centre for Disease Control reported 188 test-positive COVID-19 patients in provincial hospitals, the first time the count has been below 200 in more than a year.
The University of Victoria has reached a tentative contract deal with its educational workers’ union. The union represents 11-hundred teaching assistants, computer help desk workers, cultural assistants, lab instructors, community leaders and second language teachers at the university. If ratified, the three-year collective agreement will be in place retroactively from September 1st, 2022 to August 31st, 2025. More details about the deal won’t be released until they are presented to members for the ratification vote.
The Council of Forest Industries says policy measures around old growth in British Columbia will help build a sustainable industry that produces renewable products. Premier David Eby says his government is working with First Nations across BC to pause logging on millions of hectares of old growth. Council president Linda Coady called it a positive step towards putting the necessary investments, frameworks and relationships in place. The government says logging deferral of old-growth forests is now at 2.1 million hectares, up from last spring’s report of 1.7 million hectares.
North Vancouver RCMP have made an arrest after a dog walker was assaulted in late January. A woman reported she was assaulted by an unknown man while walking her dogs in McCartney Creek park. Police say the incident was captured on cellphone video, which spread online. A suspect identified himself to police and was arrested on February 11th, though charges have not been laid yet.