BCOct 28, 2020
Meng lawyer accuses RCMP officer of dishonesty in explanation about her arrest
A lawyer representing Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou has accused an RCMP officer of lying about Meng's arrest nearly two years ago at Vancouver International Airport. Richard Peck made the accusation in BC Supreme Court this morning as proceedings continue at Meng's extradition trial. Peck says he does not believe Constable Winston Yep was being honest when he testified why Meng was not immediately arrested and instead was questioned by border services officials for three hours before being taken into custody. Meng is seeking to have her case thrown out, arguing she was a victim of abuse of pr
BCOct 28, 2020
Security hired to watch B.C. parents angered by COVID rules at youth soccer games
Parents of a youth soccer club in Chilliwack are being warned they face expulsion from the club or their children could be banned from practices or games if families violate COVID-19 rules. The warning is posted on the Chilliwack FC website after what the club's chair describes as borderline violent confrontations between some parents, volunteers and club officials. Andrea Laycock says the club must enforce provincial regulations on the number of spectators and players at a game but some parents are so upset that they have created potential ``violence in the workplace'' issues. Laycock says a
WorldOct 28, 2020
'No excuse for looting or violence': Biden, Trump respond to Philadelphia protests
Joe Biden is denouncing violence that occurred in some protests in response to the police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. in Philadelphia and promising to study ways to prevent such shootings if elected president. Speaking to reporters in Wilmington, Delaware after voting on Wednesday, Biden said that ``there is no excuse whatsoever for the looting and the violence'' that's broken out in Philadelphia in response to the shooting, but he said protesting overall is ``totally legitimate.'' President Donald Trump is weighing in on two nights of clashes with Philadelphia police and store break-ins
BCOct 28, 2020
Apartment fire in Penticton, B.C., leaves two people dead
Two people died in an early morning apartment fire in Penticton yesterday. RCMP spokesman Sergeant Jason Bayda says the bodies were found after a structural engineer deemed it safe for emergency personnel to enter the ruined building and begin a search. Penticton fire Chief Larry Watkinson says early indications suggest the blaze started on the building's exterior and travelled up to the roof, although he cautioned the investigation is still in its infancy and has been turned over to the police due to the two deaths. He says the wood-framed building was built in 1981 and didn't have a sprinkl
BCOct 28, 2020
Gearbox issue prevents BC Ferry from docking Tuesday, stranding passengers for hours
Nearly 200 BC Ferries passengers finally disembarked from a broken-down ferry Tuesday night after being stuck aboard for hours. A problem with a gearbox on the Queen of Alberni prevented the ferry from docking at the Tsawwassen terminal in the mid-afternoon. Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall says passengers were provided with snacks and drinks while waiting. A tug arrived after dark to safely nudge the vessel into a berth so travellers could finally disembark. All the Queen of Alberni's remaining sailings Tuesday between Tsawwassen and Duke Point in Nanaimo were cancelled, along with the f
CanadaOct 28, 2020
Quebec gym owners back down on threat to defy COVID-19 orders, call for protests
A group of Quebec fitness centre owners says its members are no longer planning to open Thursday in defiance of the government's lockdown orders. The owners released a statement today calling on their clients to instead join them in a series of protests outside their gyms and fitness studios on Thursday. On Monday, a coalition of more than 250 gym owners threatened to open their doors this week, prompting a warning from Premier Francois Legault that they and their clients would be fined. This week Legault extended lockdown orders across regions under the government's highest pandemic-alert le
CanadaOct 28, 2020
Near-zero interest rates likely until 2023: Bank of Canada
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says it will take quite some time for the economy to fully recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.In its latest economic outlook, the bank says a rapid expansion as the Canadian and global economies re-opened has given way to slower growth.It says Canada's economy won't fully recover what was lost to COVID-19 until 2022 and Macklem says the the path will be uneven over time and across sectors.The economy is forecast to contract by 5.7 per cent this year but grow by 4.2 per cent next year and 3.7 per cent in 2022.The outlook was issued as the bank kept its over
CanadaOct 28, 2020
Blanchet demands apology from Trudeau for War Measures Act, passed 50 years ago
Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet is calling on the government to apologize for legislation that remains controversial 50 years after its passage during the October Crisis in Quebec. In October 1970, the Liberal government under then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau decided to suspend civil liberties by invoking the War Measures Act in response to the kidnapping of a Quebec cabinet minister and a British diplomat by members of the militant FLQ separatist group.The legislation, passed at the request of the Quebec premier and Montreal's mayor, saw soldiers patrolling the streets as auth
BCOct 28, 2020
B.C. reports more than 200 COVID-19 cases for seventh day in a row
The province reported 217 new COVID-19 cases today for a total of 13,588, but no new deaths. With Halloween around the corner, officials in the Fraser Health region are urging people not to hold private parties this weekend to help curb the spread of COVID-19. Doctor Elizabeth Brodkin, chief medical health officer for the region, says it's fine to take children trick-or-treating in a safe way but people shouldn't be gathering in homes. Fraser Health has reported 7,674 cases since the start of the pandemic with most of the infections in people aged 20 to 29.