Category: British Columbia

Air Quality Advisories Issued for Several BC Regions Amid Heatwave

Air quality warnings have been issued for Metro Vancouver, Fraser Valley, and Fraser Canyon, and are expected to last until Sunday amid a heatwave covering most of B.C. and Alberta. A July 27 statement from Environment Canada said the warnings were issued due to “high concentrations of ground-level ozone” expected to persist through the week. “A plume of wildfire smoke…


BC RCMP Arrest American Sex Offender on the Run for 20 Years, Return Him to US

RCMP in Creston, B.C., has arrested a convicted American sex offender who was missing for over 20 years, and returned him to the United States, police say. Louis Edward Flood, a 77-year-old man from Boise, Idaho, was convicted in October 1997 of lewd conduct with a minor under age 16 and sex abuse of a minor…


Advocates for Private Health Care Decry BC Court Decision to Uphold Public Health-Care Monopoly

Advocates for private health care say they’re disappointed in the B.C. Court of Appeal’s ruling against a constitutional challenge brought forward by a Vancouver surgical clinic, as they say patients are dying on wait-lists. Cambie Surgeries Corporation issued a constitutional challenge against two sections of B.C.’s Medical Protection Act that prevent doctors from billing patients…


BC Premier Will Not Seek Re-election After NDP’s Fall Leadership Review

British Columbia Premier John Horgan says he will not seek re-election following the New Democratic Party leadership review set to be held this fall. Horgan made the decision in part due to concerns for his health, which has taken a toll from fighting cancer, he said in a statement on June 28. “As we reach the mid-point…


BC Commission Says Politicians Didn’t Do Enough to Fight Money Laundering

Politicians could have done more to combat money laundering in British Columbia, says a much anticipated report from a wide-ranging inquiry into the issue released on June 15. It also recommends that the province set up its own money laundering intelligence and investigation unit rather than relying mostly on the federal agencies dedicated to the issue….


BC Commission’s Report Finds Politicians Didn’t Do Enough to Fight Money Laundering

Politicians could have done more to combat money laundering in British Columbia, says a much-anticipated report from a wide-ranging inquiry into the issue released on June 15. It also recommends that the province set up its own money laundering intelligence and investigation unit rather than relying mostly on the federal agencies dedicated to the issue. “Money…


No Countrywide Decriminalization to Follow as BC Exempts Possession of Small Amounts of Illegal Drugs: Justice Minister

Following British Columbia’s announcement to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs for personal use, federal Justice Minister David Lametti said currently there won’t be a “larger discussion” on decriminalization across the country. Lametti made the remarks just before Parliament is expected to vote on an NDP private member’s bill on a nationwide decriminalization…


Theodore Dalrymple: BC Drug Decriminalization: The ‘If You Can’t Beat ’Em, Join ’Em’ Approach Is No Solution to Drug Abuse

Commentary In the face of bad behaviour, our societies have increasingly one response: retreat, appeasement, and surrender. In California, for example, shoplifting has been all but legalized. Think of the advantages: the police time saved, the young people unstigmatized by a criminal record, the economic redistribution in an unequal society, the racial justice furthered (insofar…


BC Exempts Small Amounts of Illicit Drug Possession From Criminal Charges for 3 Years Amid Overdose Crisis

British Columbians will not be arrested or charged for possession of small amounts of illicit drugs for personal use for three years, as the government seeks to address an overdose crisis in the province. B.C. has been struggling with a public health crisis in relation to overdose deaths and related harms since 2016, with close…


Local BC Township Ordered to Pay Man for Selling Property Without Telling Him

A British Columbia resident has been awarded about $350,000 in compensation from the township of Spallumcheen. Anthony Brent Morgan, a 57-year-old carpenter, had lost his home when the local government sold it in September 2017 for “pennies on the dollar” without telling him. According to the summary given in court documents, Morgan had become the registered…