A woman killed in an apparent murder-suicide in Prince Rupert has been identified as an employee of BC’s Ministry of Children and Family Development. Police say the shooting at the Ocean Centre Mall was an “isolated incident” and the gunman, aged 44, and his 52-year-old victim knew each other, but have not said how. A statement from Premier David Eby’s office says the shooting was a violent act committed against someone who worked to serve local children and families.
Vancouver City Council has approved up to 16-million dollars for 100 new police officers and 100 mental health nurses — a key election promise of Mayor Ken Sim. The decision leaves the door open for the provincial or federal governments to provide some of that money for nurses and police who respond to mental-health calls. It comes days after Premier David Eby announced a new public safety plan that includes expanding mental-health crisis response teams. Council agreed to ask that Vancouver be part of the provincial plan to create teams of trained peers and mental health professionals to respond to people in distress — with or without police.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says three more commercial poultry farms in the Fraser Valley have tested positive for avian flu. That brings the number of farms infected to 10 in Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Kent since last Friday. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham says they hope the spread of the highly infectious virus doesn’t reach the same heights as in 2004 when 17 million birds were culled. The farms have been quarantined and Popham says the inspection agency will make the decision on whether the birds need to be culled.
An 18-year-old man has died after being stabbed in a high school parking lot in Surrey. RCMP say they found the injured teen just after noon. He was transported to the hospital but could not be revived. Police say a 17-year-old suspect has been arrested.
A former Yukon health minister has been elected chief of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation in the small community of Old Crow. Pauline Frost was elected the Liberal M-L-A for the region in 2016 but lost her seat in the 2021 election when a tied vote meant the winner had to be chosen through a draw. Preliminary results of the election for chief show three out of four candidates landed within four votes of each other, with Frost squeaking out the preliminary win with 68 ballots in her favour. Officials with the First Nation say the results are close enough that there will be a recount within three days.
The BC legislature is now home to a nine-metre-tall Christmas tree. The festive Douglas fir arrived in the rotunda from the same tree farm that has been donating the building’s Christmas tree for more than 50 years. Joan Fleming, the owner of the Saanichton Christmas Tree Farm and Woodstock Evergreens, says the tradition was started by her brother Mike and is something she continues to do four years after his death. The Shawnigan Lake-area tree is believed to be between 30 and 40 years old and has been pruned to get that bushy Christmas tree look.