A procession and funeral service will be held today for RCMP Constable Rick O’Brien, who was shot and killed while executing a warrant in Coquitlam last month. The 51-year-old Ridge Meadows officer had joined the Mounties in 2016 after previously working with at-risk youth, and he’s been remembered by friends and community members as humble and genuine. O’Brien is survived by his wife and six children. A 25-year-old man from Coquitlam has been charged with first-degree murder.
Surrey RCMP say three men are facing charges in connection with the murder of 24 year old Pawandeep Chopra in November last year. The Mounties say Chopra died two days after officers were first called about a patient suffering from gunshot injuries at the local hospital. Charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder were laid yesterday against three men, one from Abbotsford and two from Ontario. The suspects are 22, 24 and 25 years old.
The commissioner for BC Ferries has released a report underscoring the many demands and rising costs facing the ferry service in coming years. In her report setting out the cap for fare increases over the next four years, Eva Hage points to ongoing labour shortages, rising fuel prices and the escalating expenses associated with maintaining an aging fleet. She also raises concerns over BC Ferries’ steep projected increase in operating costs, which are forecast to be 40 per cent higher in 2025 than in 2022. BC Ferries President Nicolas Jimenez issued a statement saying he understands those concerns and designing a ferry system for the future will require collaboration with all levels of government, communities and First Nations.
The BC Prosecution Service says a man has been charged with eight counts of mischief related to vandalism in Vancouver’s Chinatown neighbourhood. The service says seven counts are related to graffiti, including three incidents on cultural property, and one is related to the defacing of a war memorial. The incidents took place between January and earlier February this year. Police in Vancouver have previously reported a 455 per cent increase in graffiti in the historic neighbourhood since 2019.
One of the leaders of the Business Council of British Columbia is jumping to a newly created post with Canada’s largest construction association. Jock Finlayson has been named the first chief economist of the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association. Finlayson was the executive vice president of the Business Council of BC, handling its work on economic, fiscal, tax, environmental, and human resources issues. The Independent Contractors and Businesses Association is the single largest sponsor of trades apprentices in B-C and provides health and retirement benefits to more than 150-thousand people in western Canada.
The Yukon government say the first 100 per cent Indigenous-owned wind energy project in northern Canada has been unveiled in Whitehorse. The Haeckel Hill Wind Farm Project utilizes advanced de-icing technology, including a blade-heating system to help production in the cold. The territory says the four wind turbines will power up to 650 homes a year. The project was developed by a subsidiary of the Kwanlin Dun First Nation’s development corporation.