A BC coroner’s jury has been told that a man who held his partner hostage before being fatally wounded by police, was a loving father who didn’t have the chance to “get clean” from drug addictions. The written statement from Jamie Perrin was read at the opening of an inquest into the deaths of his father, Randy Crosson, and his girlfriend in Surrey five years ago. BC’s police watchdog has cleared police of any wrongdoing, as a report says Crosson was shot and killed, but notes his girlfriend was also hit. More than two dozen witnesses are expected to testify at the inquest, which continues today.
Vancouver Police say a 32-year-old man has been arrested and charged in connection with a shooting that injured an innocent bystander downtown. Police say the man has been charged with several offences, including discharging a firearm, after a 46-year-old was seriously injured in the April 3rd incident. Police say the male victim is still recovering in hospital. Court records show the accused is due in court again on Friday.
Western Forest Products says it’s indefinitely curtailing operations at its Alberni Pacific Division facility. The Vancouver-based company says the facility has been temporarily curtailed since the fall of 2022, and in January 2023, it confirmed the mill would not restart in its existing configuration. The company says it’s offering voluntary severance for the facility’s remaining 60 employees.
The BC government has approved a business plan for a new cancer centre at the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. Health Minister Adrian Dix says Vancouver Island’s second-most populous city is growing rapidly and aging, and the approval is a step towards opening a state of the art cancer care facility. A statement from the Ministry of Health says construction of the three-story facility is expected to begin next year and wrap up in 2028.
The Business Council of British Columbia says the latest federal budget lacks the fiscal discipline and policy agenda to reverse what an official with the Bank of Canada recently called a productivity “emergency.” A statement from the council’s vice president of policy, David Williams, says the budget does little to show that the federal government grasps the nature and severity of the country’s declining productivity. Williams says Ottawa should be focused on reducing tax burdens, streamlining regulations and improving competition. The business council says while there are some “laudable” measures in the budget, it lacks discipline in addressing the nearly 40-billion dollar deficit.
The BC government is working to remove invasive smallmouth bass from a Vancouver Island lake, protecting native species and restoring the ecosystem. A statement from the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship says the fish were introduced illegally into Echo Lake near Campbell River. It says they threaten native fish populations, including salmon and trout, and the ministry has been using gill netting and electrofishing to eradicate the bass.