British Columbia's human rights commissioner says the devastating events in and around the Gaza Strip are causing a surge of discrimination and violence targeting Jewish and Muslim people.Kasari Govender says in a statement that she is deeply concerned about the rising number of hate incidents and she's calling for immediate and sustained action to address and prevent further proliferation.Govender says Vancouver police alone have reported 18 hate incidents aimed at the Jewish community, while the National Council of Canadian Muslims has said the last few weeks have been the worst in decades f

A Crown attorney says a driver who was drunk when he killed two University of British Columbia students should serve three years in jail and be prohibited from driving from five years.A sentencing hearing in provincial court in Richmond, B.C., has heard that Tim Goerner an international student at the university drank alcohol at a party the night of Sept. 25, 2021.The court heard Goerner was driving on campus early the next morning between 100 and 120 kilometres an hour in a 40-kilometre speed zone.The two victims, Evan Smith and Emily Selwood, both 18, were on a sidewalk when they were hit fr

The Government of Canada has announced new funding and other steps to support communities at risk of hate crime.Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Monday that the government will spend an additional $5 million to protect community centers, organizations and places of worship in Canadian communities that are at risk of hate-motivated crime.The funding is to be spent under the Security Infrastructure Programme, covering new sites that will include office space and daycare as well as the cost of security guards.The project will be completed by March 31, 2024.LeBlanc said more information

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed the appointment of Mary Moreau to the Supreme Court of Canada after nominating her for the post last month.Moreau, who was chief justice of the Court of King's Bench of Alberta, fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Russell Brown.Before her appointment to the Alberta court 29 years ago, the bilingual Moreau practised law in her native Edmonton, handling civil, criminal and constitutional cases.Moreau was also named a deputy judge of the Supreme Court of Yukon in 1996, and of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories in 2005.She has long bee

Vancouver police say high-risk sex offender Randall Hopley was likely worried about an upcoming court appearance and took "deliberate actions" to avoid it when he walked away from his Vancouver halfway house.Sgt. Steve Addison says at about 3 p.m. on Saturday Hopley told several people that he was going to a nearby thrift store, but removed his electronic monitoring bracelet a short time later and has not been seen since.Hopley has a history of convictions for assault, property and sexual crimes, including three sex offences against children.He was declared a long-term offender and handed a si

Members of Parliament will vote today on a motion from the federal Conservatives calling for the carbon price to be lifted from all forms of home heating and not just heating oil.Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says the temporary heating oil exemption Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced last month is divisive.Poilievre says Trudeau is engaging in regional favouritism in a bid to reverse the Liberals' sluggish poll numbers in Atlantic Canada.Trudeau says heating oil is much pricier to use than natural gas and that a disproportionate number of households in Atlantic Canada still use hea

Hundreds of thousands of Quebec public sector workers are off the job today in the first of a series of one-day strikes.Schools, health care facilities and social services will all be disrupted as four unions representing a "common front" of some 420,000 workers go on strike to protest the province's latest contract offer.The unions are promising a historic fight to preserve their purchasing power during a time of high inflation.The government's latest offer includes a 10.3 per cent salary increase over five years and a one-time payment of $1,000 to each worker, a proposal the unions have desc

A fire official in Nigeria's capital says there were deaths following a blaze at Canada's high commission in Abuja today.Sina Abioye, head of operations for the fire service in the capital area says the investigation is still ongoing but ``some''were fatally injured.He could not confirm how many people died or suffered injuries, nor when exactly the fire took place. Local media reported smoke appearing midday from the building, which is located in the diplomatic quarter of Abuja.Global Affairs Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Data the department filed with the Senate

Premier Danielle Smith says that by 2050, Alberta could have the second-largest population of any province in the country with close to 10-million people. Her speech yesterday to delegates at the United Conservative Party A-G-M said that the province is ''in the midst of Alberta's century.''With oil and gas prices returning billions of dollars to Alberta's coffers in recent years, Smith promised to continue to reduce taxes, balance budgets, pay off debt, deliver more money to savings, increase the housing stock, and reduce high power and auto insurance bills.She also promised to eventually bui