The sale of a condominium apartment previously owned by Premier David Eby has become embroiled in the ongoing debate over the New Democrat government’s proposed legislation to restrict short-term rental accommodations to increase the numbers of long-term rental properties. The Opposition BC United accused Eby of profiting from the province’s previous rules that did not restrict rentals when he sold his Victoria apartment, but the premier rejects the concern. Eby called the dispute a “manufactured scandal,” saying he sold the condo where he was living with his family to buyers who bought the property for one of their children attending post-secondary education in Victoria. This came as the government voted against a bid by BC United to reduce the definition period of a short-term rental to 30 days from the NDP’s proposed 90 days.
A commercial helicopter with 14 people on board landed safely in Victoria after it was struck by lightning. The vice-president of Helijet says aircraft was at about 12-hundred metres when it was hit, and the two pilots on board took the chopper down to below the clouds and landed without trouble in Victoria. Rick Hill says such an event – which happened yesterday around 9:30 am – is rare, and while there were no injuries, he’s sure such an incident would certainly shake up those on board. He says the company is working with federal investigators to determine what happened and assess the damage to the helicopter.
The New Car Dealers Association of BC is encouraging the province to take a more flexible approach to its zero emission vehicles timeline after the government announced legislation to amend the Zero-Emission Vehicles Act. If the legislation passes, the government would require 100 per cent of new light-duty vehicles, passenger cars and trucks sold in the province to be emission-free by 2035 – five years sooner than the initial goal of 2040. Energy Minister Josie Osborne says the province is the “first in the world” to put EV sales target into law, and the proposed amendments would make it an easy choice for residents purchasing their next vehicle. But association president Blair Qualey says post-pandemic supply issues are still impacting the industry, the province lacks an adequate charging network, – particularly in BC’s Interior and the north – and zero-emission vehicles remain unaffordable for residents, even with incentives.
Some much needed rain, cooler weather and snow has arrived in parts of British Columbia, but experts say drought is dragging on in much of the province. Oliver Brandes (BRAND’-iss), co-director of a University of Victoria project on ecological governance, says drought in B-C was once considered short-term and unexpected, but it’s now lasting longer and becoming more severe. Climate geoscientist Joseph Shea says it’s been an exceptionally hot and dry year, noting he was still picking raspberries in his garden in Prince George in central BC last week. Shea says the drought in the central and northeast of BC remains a critical situation, with rivers almost at record lows.
Global accounting firm KPMG says cybercrime targeting businesses in Metro Vancouver and on Vancouver Island is rampant. The firm says a survey of 700 Canadian businesses conducted last month revealed that more than half of those in Vancouver and on the island had been hit by cyber attacks in the last year, and nearly the same number had paid ransoms to unlock computers in the last three years. The firm surveyed 73 small and mid-sized firms in the region, all with annual revenues exceeding than 10-million-dollars. Erik Berg, a Vancouver based partner with KPMG, says businesses need to be proactive, identify their most crucial data and systems, then focus on securing them.
Police in New Westminster are looking for witnesses and dash-cam video after a hit and run left an 84 year-old man with serious injuries. Police say officers found the man who had been hit by a driver in the parking lot of a gas station at the intersection of Sixth Avenue and Eighth Street around 8 pm Monday night. They say the senior was brought to the hospital. Police say witnesses described the suspect as an Asian man who was driving a white pickup truck, with construction equipment in the box of the truck.