The Asian Star August 15 2020 by The Asian Star Newspaper

Happy Independence Days Vol 19 - Issue 28

The sad details of how actor Sanjay Dutt learnt he has cancer It shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t happen to anybody, but life continues to throw up unpleasant surprises just when we think that allâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going well. And this is exactly what happened with Sanjay Dutt. Anxiously waiting for COVID-19 to get over, the Munnabhai star could not wait to get back on the sets of biggies like â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Bhujâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Prithvirajâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Shamsheraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;KGF 2â&#x20AC;&#x2122;. According to media reports, â&#x20AC;&#x153;On Saturday, August 8, Sanjay Dutt felt breathless and sought medical help. He was very anxious to know if he had contracted COVID-19 because he had found on his oximeter at home that his oxygen levels had dropped. Sanjay was then advised to come to Mumbaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lilavati Hospital (Bandra) where they could even check him for COVID-19. At this point, he informed the hospital authorities that he had already got himself tested for the virus in question and the result had come negative. However, it was still bothering him that what if he had been infected with COVID-19.â&#x20AC;? According to media reports it is confirmed that 61 years old actor is suffering from stage3 lung cancer. He will soon be going abroad for treatment.

Saturday, August 15, 2020

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Kamala Harrisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; selection makes history for Indians in North America Atlanta lawyer Amol Naik was surprised by his emotional reaction to Joe Bidenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s selection of Kamala Harris as his running mate. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not that Harris will be the first Black woman to be a major partyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vice presidential nominee; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s that she will be the first Indian American. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have just been moved by it in a way that I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t expect,â&#x20AC;? said Naik, whose parents immigrated from India to KAMALA HARRIS, (back row from left), with grandparents Rajam North Carolina. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just Gopalan, P.V. Gopalan and sister Maya Harris. In front are Mayaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daughter, really a remarkable thing Meena, left, and the Harrisesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; cousin Sharada Balachandran Orihuela. that this could happen. among Indian Americans, a growing force in It gives you a lot of faith in the country.â&#x20AC;? The Democratic politics. They could reward Biden California senatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ascent to the top tier of and Harris with crucial votes in the handful of American politics drew an outpouring of pride

Continued on page 4

The importance of Kamala Harrisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; South Asian heritage Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Bidenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s choice of Kamala Harris as his running mate has been rightly hailed as historic: If elected, she would be the first female vice president of the United States as well as the first Black woman to hold that office. But whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s getting less attention in global media is the fact that Harris will also be the first vice president of South Asian heritageâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; and to Indian Americans like myself that is inspiring but also instructive. How might Harrisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s South Asian identity shape a Biden

administrationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s foreign-policy agenda? To tackle global problems, the United States needs a leader with a global mindset. As the daughter of an immigrant from Chennai, in southern India, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s likely that Harris will share a perspective on foreign policy that looks at the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s two largest democracies as critical allies. And while that lens of partnership could play a role in U.S.-China relations, on matters related to immigration, technology, trade, and defense, it will perhaps be most

UK should form â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;global superpowerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; with New Zealand, Canada, and Australia - historian

BC announces 78 new cases of COVID-19 and a new outbreak at the Okanagan jail

A British historian has suggested the United Kingdom form a new â&#x20AC;&#x153;global superpowerâ&#x20AC;? with New Zealand, Australia and Canada. In an article for The Wall Street Journal, Andrew Roberts considers how the United Kingdom â&#x20AC;&#x153;survive[s] Brexitâ&#x20AC;? and prospers in â&#x20AC;&#x153;a world solidifying into the three empire blocs of the US, China and the European Unionâ&#x20AC;?. He suggests there is a â&#x20AC;&#x153;mounting caseâ&#x20AC;? that a form of federation among the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand â&#x20AC;&#x153;would create a global superpowerâ&#x20AC;? that could ally with the US. While the nations are already part of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, this proposed

bloc could have â&#x20AC;&#x153;free trade, free movement of people, a mutual defence organisation and combined military capabilitiesâ&#x20AC;?. The idea, Roberts says, has become worth considering due to the cooling relations between the nations and China. He notes Boris Johnsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decision to ban Huawei and Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recently aggressive stance towards Australia. The four countries have also recently suspended their extradition agreements with Hong Kong in light of Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decision to impose a new national security law on the city. Likewise, they are becoming increasingly vocal about the treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang.

Continued on page 8

The number of COVID-19 cases in B.C. continued to climb Thursday as health officials announced 78 new confirmed transmissions. There are now 578 active cases, up from 531 on Wednesday, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said. The death toll remains unchanged at 196. Nine people are in hospital, with four in intensive care. Henry confirmed a new community outbreak at the Okanagan Correctional Continued on page 6

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Vol 19 - Issue 28

he City of Surrey, which is transitioning from the RCMP to a municipal police force, has launched a nationwide search for its first police chief. According to a statement, the nine-member police board, which was formed in July, is seeking a “forward-thinking, innovative and contemporary leader” to be the first chief of the Surrey Police Service. The proposed operating

Saturday, August 15, 2020

Surrey launches national search for its first municipal police chief model for the Surrey Police Service is for 805 police officers, down from the 843 RCMP officers in the current Surrey detachment. It’s estimated the annual operating budget for the Surrey Police Department will be $192.5 million in 2021, which is 10.9 per cent more than the estimated RCMP policing budget for that year ($173.6 million).

“The launch of a brand new police service at this time in our history presents one of the most exciting and challenging opportunities in Canadian policing in a generation,” said Mayor Doug McCallum, chairman of the inaugural police board. “The successful candidate will

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Tel:604-591-5423 work with the board and community to build a police service that will reflect Surrey’s growth and values.” Surrey’s inaugural police board says the job-listing will be posted on a number of police association websites including the Association of Chiefs of Police and the Canadian Association of Police Governance. The posting will close Aug. 28 at 4 p.m.

OPINION From page 1

Saturday, August 15, 2020 Kamala Harris’ selection makes history for Indians in North America

of states that will decide the election, along with a surge of campaign donations. “You’re going to see a lot of that being uncorked in the next few months,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, a UC Riverside public policy professor. Historic breakthroughs have been a constant in Harris’ 17 years in politics. She was the first Black woman to hold every office she

has won — San Francisco district attorney, state attorney general and U.S. senator from California. With the United States in the midst of a historic reckoning with systemic racism after George Floyd died when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck, her status as the first Black woman tapped as a major vice presidential nominee has generated enormous media attention. Less remarked upon has been Harris’ distinction as the first Indian

American to reach all of those positions. But Naik was one of many who saw Biden’s choice of Harris as a watershed cultural moment for the nation’s 4.5 million Indian Americans. “It wasn’t that long ago when Indian Americans were not at all part of the American mainstream,” said Naik, who has worked in Georgia Democratic politics. “That’s now happened. We have Sanjay Gupta on CNN. We have [comedian] Aziz Ansari — people everyone knows. That was not the case in the 1990s when I was growing up.” Television director Kabir Akhtar wrote Tuesday on Twitter that it was “incredible to see an Indian American on the ticket. A whole generation of us felt like outsiders in our country growing up. So happy for all the young women and POC in our country who can see someone who looks like them on the presidential ticket.” Harris is the daughter of two immigrants, a key aspect of her biography as she and Biden work to unseat President Trump. A core part of Trump’s political identity is his anti-immigrant agenda. Harris rarely speaks publicly about her father, Donald Harris, a Jamaican-born economistwho taught at Stanford University. But she often talks about her late mother, breast cancer researcher Shyamala Gopalan, who moved from India to California in the late 1950s to study at UC Berkeley. In an interview in June on a Los Angeles Times podcast, Asian Enough, Harris said her mother was “conscious of race” when raising her and her sister, Maya, in deeply segregated Berkeley in the 1960s and ’70s. “She knew that in America, her daughters would be treated, for better or worse, as Black women and Black children, and she raised us with a sense of pride about who we were,” Harris said. But it was “never to the exclusion of always being very proud and very active in terms of our Indian culture as well.” “We grew up in the Black community and learned that you could cook okra with mustard seeds — or with dried shrimp and spicy sausages,” Harris said with a laugh.During her campaign for president in the Democratic primaries, Harris released a video with Indian American actress Mindy Kaling showing the two cooking masala dosa, a savory crepe from south India. The Harris sisters visited their grandparents in Chennai, in southeastern India, a number of times when they were growing up. The media in India covered Biden’s selection of Harris widely on Wednesday.

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Saturday, August 15, 2020

Vancouver Canucks fans celebrate first real playoff win in years Vancouver Canucks fans had something to cheer about Wednesday as the team scored three goals in the third period to beat the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues 5-2 in the opening game of their first-round playoff series. Although the team won a qualifying series against the Minnesota Wild last week, game one against the Blues was the first real playoff action for the Canucks since 2015. Defenceman Troy Stetcher walked into a slapshot early in the third period to break a 2-2 deadlock. Stetcher’s first career playoff goal would stand up as the game winner and the Richmond product, whose father passed away earlier this year, pumped his fist in the air and looked skyward as he celebrated.

Due to COVID-19 protocols, Vancouver bars and restaurants were not as packed as they would normally be for a playoff game but the fans that did venture out were enthusiastic nonetheless.“The chance to be able to watch hockey in August is something that I never thought I’d be able to do so it’s pretty cool, for sure,” said Bobby Heath as we watched at The Score on Davie Street. Nearly half the players on the Canucks roster are playing their first career playoff games but the talented young team, written off by many pundits before the season even began, has fans believing they could make a deep run in pursuit of the Stanley Cup. “The city needs it. We’re ready, we’re buzzing.

Saturday, August 15, 2020 From page 1

BC pledges $36M to double addiction treatment beds The B.C. government is committing $36 million to create another 123 treatment beds for young people struggling with substance use, more than doubling the number of beds available by 2022. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Judy Darcy announced the new funding Thursday, pointing out that 60 people under the age of 24 died of suspected overdoses between January and June of this year. â&#x20AC;&#x153;[These] were young people with bright futures ahead of them that were snatched away because of fentanyl poisoning,â&#x20AC;? Darcy said. Until recently, there were just 104 beds available for young people seeking treatment for addiction in B.C., including detox and withdrawal services. Another 20 beds were made available last week at the new Traverse facility in Chilliwack. Province hits pause on controversial bill that would allow

involuntary hospitalization of youth who overdose The funding covers the next 2.5 years, Darcy said, noting some of the beds will be available by the end of the fiscal year in March. Darcy said the announcement comes after many discussions with parents who have lost children to overdoses during an overdose crisis that has lasted more than four years. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve â&#x20AC;Ś heard about how they knocked on one door after another after another trying to get help,â&#x20AC;? she said. Colin Tessier, executive director of Victoriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Threshold Housing Society, said that about 80 per cent of the young people who use the societyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s services have substance use problems. He said that youth addictions are often less entrenched than those of adults, and making treatment services more easily accessible can â&#x20AC;&#x153;change the life trajectory of someone who is looking down a very dark path.â&#x20AC;?

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BC announces 78 new cases of COVID-19 and a new outbreak at the Okanagan jail Correctional Centre. Three staff members at the centre have tested positive, and officials are implementing outbreak protocols, Henry said. On Wednesday, the province announced 85 new cases of COVID-19 in the province â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the third highest number of cases recorded in a single day since the start of the pandemic. The province said the majority of cases

are linked to young people in the Lower Mainland, with exposure coming from â&#x20AC;&#x153;events in the community.â&#x20AC;? The government also said it will temporarily hire 500 more health-care professionals to work as contact tracers for COVID-19. Dr. Henry said the new positions are an important part of preventing disease transmission.

Ontario doctor subject of complaints after COVID-19 tweets Ontario doctor Kulvinder Kaur Gill has been criticized by fellow physicians and others after a series of tweets that they say spread misinformation about COVID-19. CBC has reviewed two email complaints about Gillâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tweets, including one by a family doctor to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, which sets regulatory standards for doctors in the province. One of her tweets, from Aug. 6, stated: â&#x20AC;&#x153;#Humanityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s existing effective defences against #COVID19 to safely return to normal life now includes: -Truth, -T-cell Immunity, -Hydroxychloroquine.â&#x20AC;? That tweet has since been taken down for violating Twitterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rules. Twitter doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t confirm what rules a specific tweet may have violated when it has been taken down. Many doctors also replied critically to Gillâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

tweet. Hydroxychloroquine is a drug used to treat malaria and some autoimmune diseases, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. It has been touted by U.S. President Donald Trump as a potential fix for COVID-19. However, the drug has been shown to be ineffective in combating the virus, according to a major study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Medical bodies such as the Canadian Pediatric Society say hydroxychloroquine has no significant benefit in fighting COVID-19. Health Canada has not authorized hydroxychloroquine to treat or cure COVID-19 and has warned Canadians about products making false and misleading claims. It says hydroxychloroquine can have serious side effects. Only recently did Health Canada authorize, with conditions, remdesivir to treat severe cases of COVID-19.

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BC wants gym linked to alleged money launderer forfeited The B.C. government wants a Richmond building housing a large gym run by alleged money launderer Paul King Jin forfeited as a proceed of crime. The World Champion Club operates out of the 31,000 square foot commercial building at 12851 No. 5 Road on the banks of the Fraser River. The building, assessed at more than $7.7 million, is owned by a company called Warrior Fighting Dream Ltd. of which Jin’s wife Xiaoqi (Apple) Wei is secretary. Corporate records show that the company was registered in Victoria in May 2016, listing as its president Yonghong Zhou of Beijing.

But the director of civil forfeiture alleges in its latest lawsuit against Jin that “Warrior Fighting Dream acted as a nominee owner or owner of convenience on behalf of Mr. Jin with respect to the No. 5 Road property.” “Mr. Jin has been engaged in large-scale money laundering activities involving licensed casinos, illegal gaming houses and an unlicensed financial institution since in or about 2012,” the court documents state, repeating claims made in another, continuing civil forfeiture case against Jin and Wei.

Several children hospitalized after eating illegal cannabis edibles: Health Canada Health Canada is warning people to do more to keep edible pot products out of the hands of kids. The department says several children wound up in hospital after accidentally eating illegal edibles that looked like regular candy or other foods and were stored in places kids could easily access like refrigerators and freezers. It is warning people not to store cannabis products where children can find them, and only to buy legal products that are required to have child-resistant and plain packaging that does not appeal to youngsters. Canada legalized recreational use of cannabis in October 2018, but food and drinks containing it only became available late last year. Pot-infused gummies, chocolates and beverages are legal but must be sold by retailers authorized by provincial and territorial governments, bear proper labels and set a maximum THC content. Health Canada says even adults can be confused between regular candies and baked goods and those containing cannabis, and proper storage and labelling is critical to keeping people safe.

Mukesh Ambani is now the world’s fourth-richest man Reliance Industries Ltd’s chairman M u k e s h Ambani is now world’s fourth richest man worth U S $ 8 0 . 6 b i l l i o n , after amassing $22 billion this year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That gives him a bigger wealth pile than France’s Bernard Arnault, whose LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE has suffered from customers curbing high-end fashion purchases faster than the company can cut costs. India’s richest person has already surpassed some of the biggest tycoons in recent weeks -- a list that includes Silicon Valley titans such as Elon Musk and Alphabet Inc co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, as well as the so-called Oracle of Omaha himself, Warren Buffett. The three people that still come ahead of Ambani are centibillionaires Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. Jeff Bezos Pledges $10

Billion to Tackle Climate Change While Reliance, a conglomerate with a huge energy empire, was slammed by a slump in demand for oil amid Covid-19, its shares have more than doubled from low in March as its digital unit got billions

Saturday, August 15, 2020

The importance of Kamala Harris’s South Asian heritage From page 1

could play a role in U.S.-China relations, on matters related to immigration, technology, trade, and defense, it will perhaps be most important in confronting the urgent threat of climate change, a challenge that previous U.S. governments have not achieved enough on and that the United States has regressed on under the administration of President Donald Trump.There are more than 4 million people of Indian origin in the United States, and while they are not a monolith, they share a common heritage and many experiences that shape their perspective. Most are relatively new to the country and retain ties to family and loved ones in India. On the whole, they tend to be a highly educated and scientifically oriented demographic—many Indian immigrants arrived in the United States on H-1B visas for highly skilled tech workers. Indian Americans

comprise one of the highestearning demographics in the United States, with a median household income of around $100,000, according to the Pew Research Center. These immigrants have generally voted Democratic in recent elections: About 77 percent voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. But more importantly, they tend to care deeply about climate change, not only because they believe in science but because they hear the stories of the devastating effects of extreme weather from relatives in India and its neighboring countries. They also know that climate change was the biggest challenge confronting the planet before the coronavirus pandemic and that it will be the biggest challenge facing the world once COVID-19 is—eventually—behind us.

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Saturday, August 15, 2020

Maple Ridge man faces charges following huge drug seizure A 34-year-old Maple Ridge man has been charged with nine weapons offences following a five-month investigation by the Ridge Meadows RCMP that yielded the detachment’s largest seizure of drugs, weapons and cash. Christopher Leigh Harmes was arrested after a July 15 police raid on two residences in Maple Ridge and Mission. The RCMP used a pair of search warrants and seized more than $100,000 in cash, 3.5 kilograms of what appeared to be fentanyl, 2.2 kg of what appeared to be methamphetamines, 1.6 kg of what appeared to be ketamine, 659 grams of what appeared to be suspected cocaine/crack, and 844 pills of what appeared to be codeine/ morphine. “To put this in perspective to the sheer volume of drugs that were seized, this

is the equivalent of one potentially lethal dose per person for an entire Vancouver Canucks sold-out home game crowd — four times over,” Ridge Meadows RCMP Insp. Aaron Paradis said in a statement. “No community should have this amount of drugs on their streets.” Weapons seized included a 9mm semiautomatic pistol and a 9mm fully automatic submachine gun, along with a makeshift silencer, body armour, several boxes of ammunition and assorted gun parts. Eleven drug-related charges are pending against Harmes, who police say had been convicted for drug trafficking offences in 2010, 2012, and 2015. Harmes is scheduled to appear in Port Coquitlam provincial court on Aug. 19.

LOCAL

LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, August 15, 2020

Ruling upholds firing of BC paramedics who allowed patient to crawl for treatment A labour arbitrator in B.C. says two longtime paramedics should be fired after they were accused of mistreating a patient who was in pain and allowed to crawl to an elevator. In a written statement issued last month, Paul Love says video from a building in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside where Alyson Banner and Michael Crawford were called on Oct. 14, 2019, “shockingly reveals” the paramedics leading a 56-year-old man who is crawling to the elevator. Love’s decision says Banner claimed a cot wouldn’t fit in the elevator and then told a mental health worker that the writhing man was not in pain and could walk. Had the mental health worker not spoken up or there was no video evidence, Love says the complaint may not have succeeded. CUPE Local 873, which represented Banner

and Crawford and opposed their discharge, did not respond to a request for comment. The ruling says the paramedics showed a lack of remorse by being dishonest throughout the investigation and the hearing, prompting what Love says is “most probably” a careerending decision by upholding their firings. “The lack of candour both during the interview and at the hearing, demonstrates that although (Banner and Crawford) are experienced and well trained, the bonds of trust have been broken,” Love says in the decision. “This is a tragic case in terms of the careers of the (paramedics), their treatment of the patient and their demonstrated lapse of service which reflects poorly on the employer.” Both Banner and Crawford said the man, who is not named, was aggressive, foul-mouthed and

Man wanted for ramming police car and almost hitting bystanders in Abbotsford The Abbotsford Police Department (APD) is asking for the public’s help to locate a man who they say “engages in high-risk criminal driving behaviour.” Lorne Joseph Guilbault, 38, has several warrants for his arrest. He is wanted for driving while prohibited, breach of probation, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, assault with a weapon, and failing to stop for police. Guilbault is described as five-foot-six, 150 pounds, with a slim build, brown hair and blue eyes. He is also missing all his fingers on both hands. APD Sgt. Judy Bird said that on July 28 patrol officers saw Guilbault get into the driver’s seat of a vehicle in a local townhouse complex. She said the officers were aware that Guilbault had outstanding warrants for his arrest, so they stopped his vehicle. Bird said that during the traffic stop, Guilbault

intentionally rammed the police vehicle and hit another parked car as he fled the complex at a high speed, narrowly missing several bystanders, including children. Guilbault had previously been released on bail for a similar incident, Bird said. According to the provincial court database, that incident occurred on May 5 of this year. “(He) engages in high-risk criminal driving behaviour demonstrating little regard for the safety of our citizens,” she said. Guilbault has multiple prior convictions for offences such as theft, possession of stolen property, break-and-enter, possession of stolen mail, mischief, impaired driving, driving while disqualified, possession for the purpose of trafficking, drug trafficking, unauthorized possession of a weapon, and more.

Saturday, August 15, 2020 Conservative MP’s push to suspend Trudeau’s pay shut down at finance committee A Conservative motion calling for the suspension of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s pay was swiftly ruled out of order at the House of Commons finance committee Wednesday. Veteran Tory MP Pierre Poilievre, his party’s finance critic, attempted to move the motion in the dying moments of a three-hour meeting. The committee is investigating the Liberal government’s since-scrapped deal with WE Charity to manage the Canada Student Service Grant, a program that had a budget of $912 million. Poilievre’s motion claimed Trudeau “shut down Parliament in March,” when MPs agreed to suspend House of Commons proceedings in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Though the House reconvened at different points over several weeks to pass emergency legislation, a special COVID-19 committee — limited in focus to the crisis — allowed MPs to meet virtually and in the House. Tories pushed

for the full resumption of Parliament instead. In May, Liberals, New Democrats, and Green MPs voted to suspend regular sittings until the fall, with four meetings of the COVID-19 committee in the summer. Though Trudeau attended two such meetings in July, he was on holiday and not in attendance when the committee met again Wednesday. “His absence meant he could not answer questions about his $500 million grant to a group that had paid his family more than $500,000 in fees and expenses,” Poilievre said, reading the text of his motion. He was referencing the speaking fees and expenses paid to members of the Trudeau family, chiefly Margaret Trudeau, for attending WE Charity events in recent years. The critic said Trudeau has “taken off 20 days in six weeks,” evidently based on the prime minister’s daily itinerary that notes when he has “personal days,” including on weekends.

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Saturday, August 15, 2020 Canada’s mortgage ‘stress test’ level falls for 3rd time since pandemic began The bar at which the finances of Canadian mortgage borrowers gets tested has just been lowered, making it easier for wouldbe home buyers to reach. Five-year posted mortgage rates at Canada’s big banks have inched lower in recent weeks, enough to compel the Bank of Canada to formally lower the average rate they base their calculations on to 4.79 per cent. That’s significant because that’s the level the so-called stress test is based on. Announced in 2017, the test was designed to cool the overheated housing market of the time by making sure borrowers would be able to pay back their loans if rates were to suddenly rise.

Even if a borrower could get a mortgage at, for example, three per cent, that person’s lender was obligated to crunch the numbers as though the rate was higher — at around five per cent, for example — to make sure the loan wouldn’t be too onerous for the borrower to pay back at their income level if rates were to suddenly rise. If the borrower failed the test at the higher rate, the lender wasn’t allowed to lend to them, even if they wanted to. That testing rate has already been lowered twice in this pandemic, first in mid-March when it dropped 15 points from 5.19 per cent to 5.04, and then again in May when it dropped another 10 points to 4.94 per cent.

Mortgage delinquencies rising in Vancouver residential market Mortgage delinquencies across Canada have been gradually falling, but in Vancouver and Toronto they are rising from record lows in 2018. That’s according to Better Dwelling, which tracks Canadian real estate market trends and was co-founded by analyst Stephen Punwasi. In Vancouver, mortgage delinquencies, which are measured by the rate of mortgages that are 90 days overdue, reached 0.13 per cent in the first quarter of 2020. That is 8.3 per cent higher than the same quarter in 2019 and has been steadily rising from 0.1 per cent in 2018. Similarly, in Toronto, there was a 10 per cent increase between the first quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020. The last couple of weeks of the first quarter were the start of pandemic lockdowns in Canada, but the trend to higher figures in Vancouver and Toronto were well established before then. Mortgage delinquencies are all about how quickly a home can be converted into it cash value.

In a hot market, with homes selling fast, an owner who can’t keep up with payments can list the home for sale, get an offer and close within 90 days. There is no effect on the delinquency rate and it stays low. However, as Better Dwelling explains, “when the market starts to stall, and sales take longer — that’s when delinquencies start to rise. High default rates reflect the inability to exit your real estate in a timely fashion.” The change in trend from falling to rising delinquencies “will be something to watch, but more of a 2021 story,” said Vancouver realtor Steve Saretsky. He thinks there will be a related steady increase of foreclosures over the next couple of years. However, the process in B.C. is very long and drawn out. “From the time you miss a mortgage payment to the time the house sells in court, it takes an average of between 12 to 15 months,” Saretsky wrote in a report released Friday.

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#125 32850 GEORGE FERGUSON WAY, ABBOTSFORD

W NE ING T LIS

Truly delightful fully renovated 6 bedroom basement entry home sits on rectangular 7920 sf flat lot in most demanding area Aldergrove Langley.Main floor features 3 bed ,2 bath with new kitchen /island ,new flooring,new tiles , new woodwork,new fixtures,splash back,granite counters,new tiles,new cabinet, new windows,new zebra drapes,4 new washrooms & much more .Newly built 3 bedroom unauthorized basement suite with rear separate entry.Excellent renovated covered 333 sf Patio & deck.Landscape front & fully fenced back yard.Storage shed.Walking distance to both schools,shopping,community center with pools,water Park,ice arena,playing fields& to all major routes.A must see to appreciate.

Hot deal! First Time Buyers or Investors, great investment property with reliable tenants, centrally located in a great neighbourhood. 2 bedroom and 1 bath spacious ground level apartment. Well maintained complex, with many updates on the complex over the last couple of years including, roof, windows, balconies, boilers, security cameras, fob access systems and landscaping. There is shared laundry on every floor. Wheelchair access, elevators secure underground parking. Close to Bus stop, walking distance to shopping, restaurants, banks and much more.

$920,000

$210,000

9444 126A STREET, SURREY

11372 87A AVE., N.DELTA

SOLD WITH IN SIX DAYS FOR

Truly delightful & renovated 2698 sf. bsmt. entryPRICE home sits on huge rectangular LUC ASKING 8165 sf. flat lot. in most demanding Queen Mary Park area in Surrey.House features main floor 3 bedrooms ,living room, family room,kitchen,dining room with 2 full bath.Basement has spacious 1 bedroom suite with full bath.Renovated kitchen,new bathrooms,new flooring,new paint,new electric fireplace.Roof is approx. 2 years old.Double garage & huge fully fenced flat back yard.Walking distance to Senator Reid Elementary & LA Matheson Secondary schools .All meas. are approximate

$998,000

Truly delightful 2616 sf basement entry home sits on huge 10382 sf rectangular lot in most demanding Annieville area in N. Delta.Main floor features spacious living room,family room,kitchen,& 3 bedroom with 2 full bath.House has spacious 2 bedroom basement suite with separate rear entry.Close to all amenities & major routes .plse check virtual tour.Easy to show.Call now.

$898,000

LOCAL

Saturday, August 15, 2020

BC’s new COVID-19 numbers surge to levels not seen since March British Columbia’s control over the spread of COVID-19 is slipping as the province’s new case count hit levels that haven’t been seen since March. Meanwhile, the provincial government also announced that it will boost the number of contact tracers in the province. The B.C. Education Ministry also announced a phased-in approach to schools starting in September. In a joint statement, Henry and Dix announced that there are 85 new cases in B.C. (which includes two epidemiologically linked cases). That’s almost double the amount of yesterday’s number at 46 cases. “The majority of these cases are young people in the Lower Mainland and their exposures have been at events in the

community,” Henry and Dix stated. “The cases we are seeing today reflect exposures from a week to 10 days ago.” They also stated that a “significant number of cases” are also connected to travel from outside B.C. It is the third highest number of new cases since the pandemic began. The second highest amount was on March 23 with 88 cases and the peak was on March 25 with 91 cases. The only other dates that came close to today’s number was on March 30 with 82 cases and on April 24 with 72 cases. At a news conference today with Premier John Horgan about increasing the number of contact tracers (see below), Henry said that public health teams have been able to reach about 98 percent of contacts of all confirmed cases and there are very few unlinked cases (or cases in which they remain uncertain of how the virus was transmitted).

Bank of Canada expected to cut mortgage rate to near record low Mortgage rates could near a record low as experts expect the Bank of Canada to cut its five-year mark as soon as this week. CIBC and BMO both cut their fiveyear mortgage rates by 15 basis points earlier this week to 4.79 per cent. The Canadian Mortgage Brokers’ Association expects an imminent cut to the benchmark five-year rate, as well. The Bank of Canada is expected to reduce the benchmark qualifying rate from 4.94 per cent to 4.79 this week “This specific rate cut, if it happens, if it goes down to 4.79 — which, again, we are expecting — this would essentially be the closest to the all-time low that we’ve seen,” Reza Sabour, with the Canadian Mortgage Brokers Association of B.C., says of the potential rate cut. “The all-time low was 4.64. That was in July of 2017. So this is just 15 basis points above that. So we are getting very close to the all-time low.” Low rates until 2023’ Tiff Macklem, the new governor of the Bank of Canada, indicated about a month ago the intention is to purposely keep rates low until at least 2023. “I think that announcement, in and of itself, was rather unprecedented, Sabour added. “We never saw the previous governor, Stephen Poloz, make forecasts that long ahead.” “It can make the difference if you are on the fence between a property that you may just not qualify for versus this helping you just over the edge to qualify,” he added. However, he doesn’t expect home prices to fall much. Lower mortgage rates should push housing demand higher and protect prices, he said. “Sometimes it can make a difference, even if it is just a few thousand dollars and you have a seller who’s not budging on their price,” Sabour added. “Four to five-thousand dollars can still make a deal happen or fall apart, depending on the transaction.” But with first-time buyers, he added, the question remains, how far are they willing to drive to qualify for a mortgage? “And that’s always been the case, firsttime buyers especially it seems they have to drive further and further out into the suburbs to be able to qualify for the space that they are wanting to get,” Sabour said. “So often that creates a lot of disparity between where you have to actually work compared to where you have to actually live.”

LOCAL

Saturday, August 15, 2020 Education Minister Rob Fleming says the start of the school year will be pushed back from Sept. 8 for students but work is still being done to determine when kids will be in class. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Fleming says there needs to be time before students return for teachers, staff, and administrators to prepare together for the start of school. 1:08 B.C. education minister says

School year start date to be pushed back for BC students the start of schools to be pushed back Education minister says the start of schools to be pushed back “The idea is to get staff back together, whether it’s support staff, teachers and administrators, to finalize how the school operations are going to work, [undergo] a thorough review of the CDC health and safety guidelines and then start to

BC woman charged for failing to self-isolate after visiting Cape Breton brewery A woman from British Columbia has been charged for failing to selfisolate after she visited a brewery in Cape Breton, prompting the business to close. Inverness District RCMP received a complaint Monday evening that a woman was not complying with Nova Scotia’s Health Protection Act. Officers responded and charged the 38-year-old woman for violating the act, which carries a fine of $1,000. Route 19 Brewing in Inverness, N.S., says it learned someone from outside the Atlantic provinces, who had failed to selfisolate for 14 days, visited the taproom

around noon on Sunday. The facility has been closed since Monday and will remain closed until further notice as a precaution. Route 19 says the facility was thoroughly cleaned and sanitized on Monday and staff are working with public health authorities to determine when the facility can reopen. The brewery says public health officials have informed them that customers who visited the taproom on Sunday, or might have been in contact with the woman, are not required to self-isolate, but they should monitor for symptoms and call 811 if they experience any symptoms of COVID-19.

Hotel workers begin hunger strike at BC legislature Laid-off hotel workers started a hunger strike on the front lawn of the B.C. legislature on Monday, trying desperately to get the government’s attention. As many as 50,000 hotel workers in the provincehavebeenlaidoffduringthepandemic. Some worry they may not get their jobs back, even when the economy recovers, and that their positions will go to newer, cheaper replacement workers. “These jobs are there waiting for the people who have worked them for years and decades,” said Zailda Chan, president of the hotel worker’s Local 40 chapter. On Monday, B.C. Labour Minister Harry Bains called the hotel industry the hardest hit of any, and said no

measures are being ruled out, including writing new legislation to protect jobs. For the moment, the government has hired a labour lawyer to look for solutions and report back. Meanwhile, the hotel industry continues to face a bleak landscape. Although occupancy rates in Victoria have increased since last month, they remain dramatically lower than usual, according to Bill Lewis, the head of the Greater Victoria Hotel Association. “[We have] an occupancy of 20 to 30 per cent – we’d normally be dealing with occupancies in the 90 per cent range – so we are 60 per cent down.

Isaacs reintroduces legislation to increase seniors’ access to influenza vaccine

Press release

Following a tragic number of deaths at long-term care (LTC) homes throughout the country due to COVID-19, Coquitlam-Burke Mountain MLA Joan Isaacs is reintroducing legislation ahead of the upcoming flu season that would provide access to the high-dose flu vaccine for seniors and eliminate the cost of those shots for seniors who currently pay for them out of pocket. “Seniors have been the hardest hit by COVID-19, and as we approach flu season it’s frightening to remember that they also experience 70 per cent of influenza-related hospitalization cases,” said Isaacs. “Without greater access to the high-dose flu shot, many seniors will be facing a war on two fronts. If seniors are forced to keep paying such high prices for the extra protection these vaccines offer, we’ll continue to see alarming rates of influenza-related illnesses and deaths among seniors. This bill will ensure that vulnerable seniors will see less time in our hospitals and more time enjoying happier and healthier lives.” The bill was first introduced by MLA Isaacs in October of 2018 and again in November of 2019 but John Horgan and the NDP government never called it before the legislature for debate. Since then, the federal government has moved the issue forward by introducing a program that would help supply influenza vaccines to seniors living in LTC homes in the for the 2020/21 flu season. “COVID-19 showed us just how seriously at-risk seniors in LTC are and how we must do more to protect and support them. I was excited to see the federal government step up after John Horgan and the NDP have ignored the issue for years, but more still needs to be done at the provincial level,” added Isaacs.

“This legislation is a helping-hand for seniors across the province. In the middle of this pandemic, it’s vital that the NDP call this bill for debate to ensure the health and wellbeing of seniors throughout the province as they prepare to face flu season and a possible second wave of COVID-19.”

accept students back later in the first week of school. Discussions are ongoing,” Fleming said. When pressed Fleming was less clear on how long the start to school for students may last. There is work being done right now within the province’s working group to determine those details. The BC Teachers Federation and B.C. Principals and Vice-Principals Association have been asking for the province to consider pushing back the start of the school year.

Historicallystudentsinelementaryschoolshave returned to their previous year’s class for the first few days and that will not be happening this year. Fleming says there is an advantage for staff to work in their learning groups to get familiar with new procedures including hand hygiene and other health and safety measures. Schools will also be working on improving ventilation and removing desks in some places to ensure physical distancing in the classroom.

Saturday, August 15, 2020

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INDIA

Saturday, August 15, 2020

PM Modi unveils ‘fearless’ tax scrutiny Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched a platform to provide faceless assessment and appeal in income tax cases, which he said was part of the process to overhaul colonial-era tax laws. “The previous system, instead of expanding the taxpayer base, was harassing honest businessmen, workers and those providing employment,’’ observed the PM while also launching the taxpayers’ charter, first announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her Budget speech. The Prime Minister said after Independence,

the coercive and colonial system of tax collection was only tinkered with. “But largely the system and the character remained the same. As a result, the taxpayer, who is a strong pillar of national development, was put in the dock.” “Soch and approach dono badal gayi (Both the thinking and approach have changed). Reforms should be policy-based, holistic and one reform should form the basis for further reforms,’’ the PM observed while pointing out that earlier regimes would label changes made under pressure as reforms and they would become an end to themselves.

India’s population will be 1.52 Billion by 2036 ndia’s population is expected to grow by 25%, with reference to 2011, to 1.52 billion by 2036, according to the final report of the technical group on population projections dated July 2020. The group was constituted by the National Commission on Population (NCP) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with the mandate to provide population projections for the period 2011 to 2036. India’s population growth rate is

expected to decline to its lowest since the Independence in the 2011-2021 decade, with a decadal growth rate of 12.5%. It will decline further to 8.4% in the 2021-2031 decade, as per the report, which The Wire has seen. According to these projections, India will overtake China as the world’s most populous country around 2031 – almost a decade later than the United Nations projection of 2022.

Fiji First mayor of Ba town Kishore Govind dies The former mayor of Ba, judge, politician and football executive, Kishore Nand Govind, passed away in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday after a short illness. Mr Nand was mayor of Ba Town from 1969 to 1975. He also served as judge of the High Court and Supreme Court of Fiji. He was the last chair of the Ba Township

Board and first mayor of Ba Town. A close friend and Minister for Employment, Productivity, Industrial Relations, Youth and Sports, Parveen Kumar Bala said: “His passing away is a personal loss for me. I have countless, fond memories with him.” Mr Govind was awarded the Order of British Emperor (OBE) for his services in local govt.

Veteran politician, soldier Apisai Tora dies at 86 eteran politician, Malayan Campaign soldier and powerful trade unionist, Mohammed Apisai Tora has died at the age of 86. Mr Tora a tribal chief who hails from Natalau Village in Sabeto in Ba. He held the traditional title of Taukei Waruta, Turaga ni Yavusa o Waruta. He passed away at the Lautoka

Hospital on Thursday after a short-illness. Mr Tora was one of the last surviving politicians from the colonial era to postindependence, having represented in both sides of Parliament. First as an Opposition Member of Parliament with the National Federation Party (NFP) in 1972 and then as a Government MP with the Alliance Party in 1982.

Former flight attendant did law assignments during flights For three years, 25-year-old Yovin Naidu has been completing his law assignments in between serving passengers on board Fiji Link domestic flights. And if you think the work of a cabin crew is easy, think again. Mr Naidu’s determination helped him

overcame all obstacles to be admitted to the bar yesterday with 36 other University of the South Pacific law graduates. Joined by his best friend at the ceremony, the Nadi man admitted that learning at Law School was quite a ride.

PM Modi to roll out scheme that rewards top income taxpayers PrimeMinisterNarendraModiwillonThursday roll out a programme to honour honest taxpayers whom he has thanked in the past for helping the government finance its welfare programmes. Modi will launch a “platform for transparent taxation—honouring the honest” by videoconference, an initiative that will carry forward direct tax reforms, according to an official statement. The programme will include schemes to honour honest taxpayers, explained a government official.

The Prime Minister has in the past acknowledged the role played by taxpayers on several occasions even as he tried to make tax administration and delivery of benefits more transparent with the idea that taxpayers can have the sense of satisfaction that they have contributed to meeting the needs of the poor. After his electoral victory in 2019 that gave him a second term in office, Modi said that, according to him, only two castes existed in the 21st century India.

Pakistan No loan, oil supply for Pakistan, says Saudi Arabia With Saudi Arabia ending loan and oil supply to Pakistan, the decades-long friendship between the two countries has ended, reported Middle East Monitor. Pakistan was also made to pay back 1 billion USD to Saudi Arabia, which was part of a $6.2 billion package announced by Saudi Arabia in November 2018, which included a total of $3 billion in loans and an oil credit facility amounting to $3.2 billion.

The deals were then signed when Crown Prince Muhammed Bin Salman made visit to Pakistan in February, the Middle East Monitor reported. This development came after Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi gave blunt warning to Saudi Arabia -led Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for not taking stance against India over Kashmir issue.

UN praises Pakistan’s efforts to curb COVID-19 Volkan Bozkir, presidentelect of the UN General Assembly, met with PM Imran Khan and foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad. “Pakistan has been a good example to the world with its policies related to the global pandemic. It has performed better than any other country in dealing with the global pandemic and I

am happy to observe it also with my own eyes,” Bozkir. Pakistan has reported 2,85,016 COVID-19 cases and 6,107 deaths from the pandemic. The govt claims that it has slowed down the spread of the pandemic and has begun reopening economic and travel activities in the country.

Court allows Sikh girl to go with her Muslim husband Lahore hight court ruled that Sikh girl, who married a Muslim man against her family’s will, was not a ‘minor’ and allowed her to go with her husband or any place of her choice, sparking tension between the two communities. The Lahore High Court on Wednesday allowed Jagjit Kaur of Nankana Sahib who

married Mohammad Hassan of her locality in September last against the will of her family to go with her husband or any place of her choice. Since September 2019, Kaur has been living in Lahore Darul Aman (shelter-house) following her family’s allegation that she was kidnapped by man who forcibly married her.

Saturday, August 15, 2020 Punjab Chief Minister launches Rs 92 crore Smart Connect Scheme Punjab Govt took digital leap with the statewide launch of its Rs 92 crore Punjab Smart Connect Scheme. Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh personally handed over smartphones to six Class XII students in a symbolic gesture. Simultaneous distribution of phones was done at 26 places by various ministers, MLAs and others across the state. Each minister today handed over 20 phones each in various districts, which marked the fulfilment of a poll promise of the Congress. The scheme, for which Rs 100 crore was allocated in the Budget for 2017-18, proposes to benefit 1,74,015 Class XII students of government schools in the first phase, which would be completed by November. The beneficiaries comprise 87,395 boys and 86,620 girls, with majority in the OBC and SC/ST categories.

DSP honoured with medal for excellence Bikramjit Singh Brar, the lone decorated cop from Punjab, has been awarded the Union Home Minister’s Medal for Excellence in Investigation for 2020. The award comes following the DSP’s role in investigations leading to the arrest of gangster Sukhpreet Budha, busting illegal nexus of gun house owners and gangsters in which more than 150 weapons were recovered, arrest of Harman Bhullar and six others from Rajasthan, accused of being involved in sensational crimes in Punjab, and recovery of sophisticated automatic arms from terrorist Billa.

Only small-time players caught by police in illegal alcolo sale Instead of going after the big fish responsible for the spurious liquor deaths in Majha, the police and the Excise and Taxation Department have launched a drive against those manufacturing ‘desi’ alcohol, seizing drums of ‘lahan’. To date, the Batala police have arrested eight persons, all small-time players. “We are still investigating. We have been told to arrest the big players too,” a key investigator told The Tribune. Sources said local leaders worked in close liaison with the area SHO because of vote bank politics. The SHOs were well aware of the bootleggers operating in their area, most of whom held a sway over the voters, who were their clients. Significantly, the SHO of the Batala (City) police station was among the first to be suspended after the liquor deaths. Sources

PUNJAB

Saturday, August 15, 2020