Russia’s war on Ukraine is now in its sixth day, with a miles-long convoy of Russian tanks and armored vehicles inching closer to the Ukrainian capital and fighting intensifying on the ground. Russia on Tuesday stepped up shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, pounding civilian targets there. Casualties mounted and reports emerged that more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russians hit a military base. There are increasing fears that as Russia becomes more isolated under an avalanche of Western sanctions, Vladimir Putin could become even more reckless and set off a world-altering war.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is calling Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine a “grave miscalculation,” Yesterday he outlined how Canada is helping the defence effort in Ukraine while punishing Russia financially, As of yesterday morning, Trudeau said all Canadian financial institutions are barred from any transactions with the Russian Central bank. Trudeau also said Canada will move to ban all imports of crude oil from Russia.
One person has died after being struck by a vehicle in Abbotsford last night It happened on Highway 1 westbound near the Sumas exit around 8:45. The driver remained on the scene, and impaired driving has been ruled out as a cause. Investigators are asking witnesses or anyone with dashcam footage to come forward.
Following a violent incident on Sunday morning at Cambie and Broadway in Vancouver police now say they’ve arrested and charged an alleged carjacker. VPD said that the robbery took place around 8:40 am. A 58-year-old woman was forced out of her vehicle near Cambie Street and West Broadway as she was stopped at the red light. This is the second violent incident in as many days to happen in the Fairview neighbourhood, following a crime spree where a man allegedly assaulted women.
Ontario has officially stepped into the next phase of reopening, lifting most COVID-19 restrictions in the province. Beginning today, vaccine certificates will no longer be mandatory in indoor public settings. Businesses can keep a vaccine certificate program in place, but it is no longer mandated by the province. Here in BC the offical end date for the vaccine passport is June 30th however, officials say they will re exam the issue in mid March .
British Columbia health officials announced today that there have been 466 new positive COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the province to 348,771. In a written statement, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said that 523 (-26) COVID-positive people are currently hospitalized, and 83 (-2) are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
New cases are broken down by health region as follows:
- Fraser Health: 101 new cases
- Vancouver Coastal Health: 31 new cases
- Interior Health: 193 new cases
- Northern Health: 45 new cases
- Island Health: 95 new cases
- Outside of Canada: One new case
There have been no new COVID-19-related deaths in British Columbia, leaving a total of 2,873 deaths in the province.
Surrey RCMP is updating the public that all roads surrounding the Pacific Border Crossing are open and accessible to all members of the public. As of February 27, 2022, all police check points that were set up in the area of the Pacific Border Crossing have been removed. Surrey RCMP remains actively engaged with business owners in the area who have been impacted by the protests. Throughout the past three weeks of protests, police made a total of 18 arrests. There are also multiple on-going investigations into unlawful activity that occurred. Police will continue to maintain some presence in the area, and we can assure the public that Surrey RCMP continue to monitor the situation and will deploy resources as required.
The economy grew 4.6 per cent last year, getting a boost from household spending and residential construction. The result is substantially higher than 2020’s decline of 5.2 per cent. Statistics Canada is reporting fourth-quarter growth of 6.7 per cent and is estimating the economy grew by 0.2 per cent in January. That surprised economists who expected a pullback due to the Omicron (OH’-mih-kron) wave that led to a loss of 200-thousand jobs in January.
Surrey RCMP say a man is dead from self-inflicted injuries. On Monday (Feb. 28), police were called to the intersection of 143 Street and 104 Avenue around 7:20 p.m. for a report of a “person slumped over in a vehicle bleeding,” according to a release from Surrey RCMP Const. Sarbjit Sangha. Sangha said when police arrived they found a 31-year-old man “suffering from an apparent gunshot wound.” She said the detachment’s general investigation unit has taken over the investigation and “initial indications are that it was a self-inflicted injury.”