Canada’s housing minister says working people should be able to afford to live where they work as rental prices grow beyond reach of even high-income professionals. Sean Fraser says the federal government is looking at a number of ways to work with provinces and municipalities to speed up the construction of housing through subsidies and other incentives and drive prices down. He says people’s circumstances are varied, but couldn’t point to a number he thinks is reasonable for a one-bedroom apartment as the average in Vancouver was recently reported at around three-thousand dollars. Fraser says the federal government should have never got out of the housing game in the first place, and building rental housing for people across the income spectrum is a priority as more Canadians struggle to keep a roof over their heads.
Environment Canada reported at least a dozen temperature records have been broken in BC as of yesterday, surpassing the eight that fell on Sunday. Canada’s high was also recorded near Lytton yesterday, where temperatures reached 40.5 degrees Celsius. Bulletins from the weather office show much of the coastal regions are expected to return to seasonal temperatures by tomorrow, but central and southern regions of the province will endure the heat a day or two longer. It cautions people to be aware of heat illnesses and its symptoms – including swelling, rash, cramps, fainting, heat exhaustion, heat stroke and the worsening of some health conditions.
The Thompson-Nicola Regional District says residents should use local libraries for relief from sweltering heat persists across much of southern BC this week. It says there are 12 community libraries in its region, all of which are equipped with air conditioning and free Wi-Fi. This comes as a heat wave that began on the south coast on Sunday is crushing temperature records across the province – with temperatures in some parts pushing beyond 40 degrees Celsius. Officials are not expecting a repeat of the deadly heat dome, but Environment Canada says it expects heat warnings and special weather statements will be posted across the southern half of the province for most of this week.
Police in Vancouver say a 54 year old man is facing multiple charges after he allegedly chased a group of teenagers with a knife. They saya 16-year-old boy called 9-1-1 to report he and his friends were being threatened by an armed stranger. Sergeant Steve Addison says officers located the suspect near Kitsilano’s Seaforth Peace Park this weekend and deployed a bean bag gun during the arrest – though he said it was necessary as multiple people were nearby and public safety was at risk. Police say the man has been charged with assault with a weapon, assaulting a police officer and possession of a weapon.
Researchers at the University of British Columbia are looking for Vancouver residents who are willing to help them study the intelligence of local raccoons. The university’s Urban Wildlife Project says it is in search of people who will volunteer their backyards so researchers can set up humane traps and sedate then microchip the animals, as they place a variety of puzzles in the yard. It says researchers will set up cameras to record how the raccoons respond to five tests that assess cognitive skills including memory, learning and self-control. The UBC team says it is looking for between 20 and 25 volunteers for their backyard experiment, as well as a few hundred participants for an online survey about observed raccoon behaviour.
The BC SPCA says a kitten that was found badly injured in Quesnel is expected to make a full recovery. The organization says the 10-week-old animal, which it named Tilly, was found along the shore of Dragon Lake by a resident who spotted the kitten from her bedroom window, then used food to coax it out from under a boat dock before wrapping her in a blanket, and bringing her to the SPCA. It says Tilly was covered in insects and had an open wound on her chest and back, and had sustained serious damage to her tail. The SPCA says the kitten must will be spayed and her tail will still need be amputated, but it expects she will be ready for adoption early next month.