BC’s post-secondary education minister, Selina Robinson, says she is undergoing chemotherapy after a scan revealed cancer had reemerged. Robinson told the province’s legislature that she got the news on January 27th. The former finance minister says she is “confident” that she will be fine, but it was hard to tell her father and children that their mother has cancer again. Robinson has previously shared her 2006 diagnosis of a “rare form of intestinal cancer – GIST” in a post on social media.
BC’s Interior Health has responded to the conviction of its former top doctor on sexual assault and sexual interference charges involving a child in Alberta, saying someone found guilty of such charges is unable to fulfill the duties of the position. The health authority has previously said Doctor Albert de Villiers was placed on general paid leave in June 2021, then reassigned to administrative duties four months later. Its latest statement says a person convicted of such charges couldn’t continue in the position of chief medical health officer, which involves public-facing leadership. The 54-year-old appeared in court in Grande Prairie via video from his home in Kelowna, having moved from Alberta to BC in 2020.
Donations are pouring into a Vancouver warehouse for those affected by the devastating earthquake that rocked Turkey and Syria earlier this week. Cansoy Gurocak (JAN’-soy Gur-oh’-chack) was one of dozens of volunteers handling the donations of food, clothing, tents, diapers and other goods in a fundraising event that was quickly co-ordinated by the Canadian Turkish Educational and Cultural Foundation. Gurocak, who’s been in Canada for 13 years, says he called his aunt and uncle after the quake, and both told him their houses were destroyed. Meanwhile, members of the Burnaby Urban Search and Rescue Team were set to fly to Turkey last night and remain there for a week, helping efforts to find buried victims.
A woman in BC’s Shuswap region is calling for more safety measures on the Trans-Canada Highway after an out-of-control 18-wheeler truck crashed into her house. Hilda Freimuth says she was awoken from a nap by the truck veering into her garage in the community of Sorrento on January 31st. She says she was not injured and the driver suffered a few minor cuts, but one week later, the rig remains lodged in her home. Freimuth says she believes a barrier on that particular stretch of roadway could prevent future incidents, while the Ministry of Transportation did not confirm whether officials are considering that option.
Police in Abbotsford, BC, say a 47-year-old man has been charged with drug and dangerous driving offences that allegedly occurred in October 2021. They say patrol officers responded to a report of an erratic driver and followed for 90 minutes as the man sped through stop signs and failed to stop for police. When the vehicle finally stopped in the Chilliwack area, police say they arrested the man and found approximately 370 grams of fentanyl and methamphetamine. The BC Prosecution Service has now approved charges including dangerous driving and drug possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Environment Canada has issued winter storm warnings for several stretches of highway throughout the southern Interior, from the Fraser Valley to the Rockies. The weather office says up to 25 centimetres of snow were expected overnight along high-elevation sections of the Coquihalla Highway between Hope and Merritt. To the east, the same accumulation was expected along stretches of Highway 3, from Paulson Summit to Kootenay Pass. And in the Elk Valley, including the Fernie area, the weather office warns 15 to 20 centimetres of snow could fall before easing this morning.