The British Columbia Coroners Service says it will hold an inquest into the death of a man who died in a hail of police gunfire after starting a shootout with RCMP officers in Kamloops. The service says the inquest will begin on May 6 at the Kamloops law courts to determine the facts related to the death of 35-year-old Eugene Marcano, who was shot and killed by Mounties on Sept. 14, 2018. A report from B.C.'s Independent Investigations Office in 2019 says Marcano initiated a shootout with Kamloops RCMP officers, who had responded to a call about a truck and trailer parked in a remote location

Senior leader of Punjab Congress and MLA from Kapurthala Rana Gurjit Singh has sought ticket for his son Rana Inder Pratap Singh from Anandpur Sahib seat. Rana Inder Pratap is currently an independent MLA from Sultanpur Lodhi. Rana Gurjit says that 4 Vidhan Sabha seats in Anandpur Sahib are from Doaba and he has his own network in this seat. So they want their son to fight the election from here. On the other hand, MLA from Jalandhar Pargat Singh has also expressed his desire to contest any seat from Anandpur Sahib and Ludhiana. It may be mentioned that Lok Sabha member Manish Tiwari from An

BJP may field former MLA Arvind Khanna in the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat of Punjab. From this seat, he has once contested the Lok Sabha election from the Congress. At present, Simranjit Singh Mann is the Member of Parliament from here who is again contesting the elections. There, Congress has given ticket to Sukhpal Singh Khaira, while Iqbal Singh Jhunda is the candidate from Shiromani Akali Dal. Cabinet Minister Gurmeet Singh Meethair is contesting from Aam Aadmi Party. This constituency is very important for Bhagwant Mann, he was the Member of Parliament of Aam Aadmi Party for two consecutive

British Columbia's Environment Ministry says a 2.5-million-litre effluent spill from a fibreboard factory in Quesnel doesn't pose any immediate risk to public safety. It says in a statement that Monday's spill from the WestPine Medium-Density Fibreboard plant into a gravel pit has been assessed and no waterways have been affected. Factory owner West Fraser says in a statement that a valve on a failed line between the factory and a pulp mill has been replaced, and the cleanup effort is complete. West Fraser spokeswoman Joyce Wagenaar says in the statement that the effluent is within B.C.'s wate

Canada's premiers are warning the federal government not to overreach into their jurisdictions when it comes to delivering the programs laid out in Ottawa's latest budget. In a letter responding to the Liberals' budget, the premiers say they worry new federal programs are eventually going to be downloaded onto provinces and territories. They also say the housing crisis cannot be solved by the federal government working with municipalities alone. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would go directly to mayors to provide housing funding after Ontario Premier Doug Ford refused to accept the mon

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is once again urging Israel and Iran to prevent their long-running conflict from spiralling into a broader Middle East crisis. She is calling for de-escalation and has co-signed a lengthy statement that touches on the Israel-Hamas war, the humanitarian plight in Gaza and attacks on ships off the coast of Yemen. The statement was issued in Italy by foreign ministers from the Group of Seven, which represents like-minded, wealthy countries such as the United States and France. The ministers condemn Iran for attacking Israel with missiles that were almost ent

Three men from British Columbia's Lower Mainland have been fined and banned from hunting for 10 years each for "unlawfully killing wildlife," including a deer pregnant with two fawns. On Thursday, a Kamloops provincial court judge fined one man $8,000 and his rifle and spotlights were seized, while the two others received $5,000 penalties, the BC Conservation Officer Service says in a social media post. The service says the men used spotlights while hunting at night in May 2020 to kill two deer, despite the hunting season being closed. The men were also caught with several grouse and a marmot.

Former state president of Punjab BJP and former Union Minister Vijay Sampla held a meeting with party workers at Hoshiarpur today at 4 pm. He said that at present he has no plans to join the Shiromani Akali Dal, he will take the future decision with the advice of the workers. Annoyed at not being given a ticket from Hoshiarpur, Sampla had a brief meeting with Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday, after which he also met BJP national president JP Nadda on being invited by the BJP high command for talks. done However, their full position is not clear but party state president S

Canadian banks that refuse to identify the carbon rebate by name when doing direct deposits are forcing the government to change the law to make them do it, says Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault. Guilbeault is taking the stand after Tuesday's federal budget promised to amend the Financial Administration Act so government payments accepted for deposit at Canadian banks will carry whatever title the government wants. "The fact that they haven't been doing it now for many years led us to take this position," Guilbeault said. His department has been battling with banks for almost two years o