Police are investigating after a shooting in Fraser Heights last night Police two people were injured in a shooting near 168 Street and 104 Avenue, adding they’re in “serious” condition. Police also say the shooting is believed to be connected to the Lower Mainland gang conflict. Footage from the scene shows a car with a tarp over part of it as investigators canvass the area. Police have traffic along 168th Street blocked north of 104th Avenue.
Premier John Horgan says B-C health officials want to be cautious when lifting COVID-19 restrictions and won’t be pressured by a small minority of people who are honking horns, referring to trucker protests. The premier made the comments as Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec announced plans to lift restrictions, saying it will increasingly be up to citizens to assess the risks they face from the virus. Health Minister Adrian Dix and Doctor Bonnie Henry are to provide an update on COVID-19 at 3 p-m today.
Frustrations are boiling over due to reported noise and disturbance caused by a group of anti-vaccine mandate protesters at the Pac Highway Border Crossing. Protesters started to gather in the Creative Kids Learning Centre parking lot on 175a St. Monday morning and have remained since. Protesters are using the parking lot – which accommodates a plaza of several other businesses – to park their vehicles while they stand on a sidewalk adjacent to the highway. The owner of Creative Kids says she’s frustrated by not only the protesters, but the inaction from Surrey RCMP and City of Surrey bylaw.
Ottawa police say 23 people have been arrested in the ongoing COVID-mandates protest in the nation’s capital. They’ve also handed out more than 13-hundred tickets to protesters for various offences during the 12-day demonstration. Police are also very concerned that about 100 of the 418 large vehicles still blockading Ottawa’s streets are occupied by families with children. The Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa has now been called in to check things out. Illegal blockades continue this morning at two Canada-U-S border crossings at Windsor, Ontario’s Ambassador Bridge and Coutts in southern Alberta.
A new survey suggests Canadians are less trusting of governments and politicians as the pandemic drags on. The latest poll shows almost half of the more than 15-hundred people asked are still feeling anxious or stressed about the virus and governments’ handling of the Omicron variant. A pattern of contradictory decisions or reversing course on advice or health measures has shaken confidence. Only one in five people surveyed say they trust governments or politicians, compared with two in five who said they had such trust in May 2020.
A driver has been fired after a video capturing a tense moment between a truck and a bicycle went viral online following Saturday’s protests in Vancouver. In the footage, a group of cyclists appears to be blocking the road as a truck continues to roll towards them. One cyclist appears to get out of the way just in time as the driver does not come to a stop. The Chilliwack based company confirms that the driver has been fired and says “We do not stand behind the actions of this driver. His actions were his alone,” The video sparked a major online response and the company has since taken down its website and social media sites.
The World Health Organization says coronavirus case counts have fallen 17 per cent worldwide over the last week compared to the previous week. The new figures include a 50 per cent drop in the United States. The weekly report from the U-N health agency shows the Omicron variant is increasingly dominant and makes up 97 per cent of all cases
Drug user advocacy groups in Vancouver say 2,224 people died from illicit toxic drugs in B.C. last year — an announcement that comes two days ahead of the official one set for tomorrow. Deaths have increased every year since B.C. declared a public health emergency in 2016. Advocates say the crisis isn’t being addressed with the urgency it demands, and the stigma attached to drug use is one of the reasons why.
A pair of retirees in Burnaby say they were pleased when they thought they won 500-dollars in the lottery. But Inderjit Purewal and her husband Balbinder say they were “happy” and felt “good” when they realized they missed a few zeros. The couple won 500-thousand dollars with a June 15th Lotto Max ticket. They say they are planning to put the money toward their mortgage and a future trip.
British Columbia health officials announced today that there have been 1,187 new COVID-19 cases reported over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the province to 336,229. In a written statement, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said that there are 21,974 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. Of the active cases, 893 (-93) COVID-positive people are currently hospitalized, and 143 (-3) are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
New cases and total active cases are broken down by health region as follows:
- Fraser Health: 316 new cases, 8,623 total active cases
- Vancouver Coastal Health: 147 new cases, 3,688 total active cases
- Interior Health: 370 new cases, 7,191 total active cases
- Northern Health: 191 new cases, 1,119 total active cases
- Island Health: 163 new cases, 1,336 total active cases
- Outside of Canada: No new cases, 17 total active cases
There have been 18 new COVID-19-related deaths in British Columbia, for a total of 2,725 deaths in the province.
After about two weeks of an intrusive truck protest in Ottawa, police have given notice they are moving in. They’ve issued notice to demonstrators to clear the streets or risk being charged and arrested without a warrant. The warning comes amid the anti-vaccine mandate protest that has gridlocked Ottawa’s downtown. Police say demonstrators must stop blocking streets or face the possibility of being charged with mischief to property and other property may be seized and possibly forfeited.
The B-C government has announced an additional 8.3-million dollars in funding to help recovery efforts in the Village of Lytton following last summer’s devastating wildfire. More than six-million dollars will be provided immediately to help manage costs that include fixing the water and wastewater system, debris removal and environmental and archeological remediation. An additional 2.1-million dollars will be provided over three years to bolster Lytton’s severely reduced property tax revenues as 66 per cent of business and residential properties were damaged or destroyed. The provincial government says that will give Lytton time to focus on planning, recovery and rebuilding, without having to worry about revenue generation.
A Surrey city councillor says blaming public swimming pools closures on COVID-19 won’t hold water. Surrey First issued a press release yesterday protesting that only three of Surrey’s five indoor aquatic centres are open. She also wants to know when the City of Surrey will reopen the others. Currently the Grandview Heights Aquatics Centre, Surrey Sport & Leisure Complex and the Guildford Recreation Centre are open for public swimming, each with a 50-metre pool, smaller pools and diving boards. The South Surrey Indoor Pool is currently closed, as is the Newton Recreation Centre Wave Pool, which is expected to open on March 29. She said the city is not hiring enough aquatic staff and is pointed her finger at “the out-of-control costs of the mayor’s police transition, and the fact that every available dollar at city hall is going to cover those costs.
R-C-M-P say a man is critically injured and woman has serious wounds after they were shot late last night while inside a car in Surrey. Police say the attack appears related to the ongoing Lower Mainland gang conflict. The Integrated Homicide Investigation team has been called because the man’s injuries are considered life threatening. No arrests have been made, but a statement from police says everything is being done to gather intelligence and target those posing the highest risk to the community.
A 17-year-old country music singer who was a finalist on “American Idol” last year is now being charged as an adult with driving under the influence resulting in death. Police in South Carolina say Caleb Kennedy drove his pickup truck onto a private driveway and hit a building yesterday, killing a 54-year-old man inside. Kennedy advanced into the Top 5 of the reality T-V show but dropped out after a video circulated of him sitting next to someone with an offensive logo on their hoodie.