The Asian Star July 30 2022

Happy BC Day

www.theasianstar.com Vol 21 - Issue 26

Metro Vancouver & parts of BC bake in heat-wave Temperature records are melting across British Columbia as prolonged heat spell grips the province but Emergency Management BC says it is not anticipating an extreme heat emergency. A statement from the agency says residents should monitor temperature forecasts and take advantage of cooling stations set up in many communities but it’s not expecting a repeat of last year’s deadly heat dome that killed more than 600 people. Environment Canada is maintaining heat warnings for most of B.C. and says 10 daily maximum

Pope Francis ‘deeply sorry,’ asks for forgiveness for residential schools atrocities Tears streamed down the faces of Indigenous elders and survivors of residential schools as Pope Francis stood before them and begged forgiveness for the “deplorable evil” committed by the Roman Catholic Church.

Francis, at his first public appearance in Canada in Maskwacis, Alta., said he was sorry the church took part in the cultural destruction and forced assimilation of Indigenous people.

“In the face of this deplorable evil, the church kneels before God and implores his forgiveness for the Continued on page 7

Saturday, July 30, 2022

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Canada’s debt level is sustainable over long term, parliamentary budget officer says The parliamentary budget officer says Canada’s current fiscal policy is sustainable over the long term.

The PBO’s latest fiscal sustainability report, released Thursday, finds that Canada’s overall debt level is projected to decline steadily over time.

At the federal level, the report says,

the government could permanently increase spending or reduce taxes by 1.8 per cent of GDP and remain fiscally viabl The report includes assessments of federal

BC police say they are committed to ensuring public safety after string of shootings The head of the British Columbia RCMP says police are focused on ensuring public safety and combating a rise in gang violence in the wake of a recent wave of shootings in the province over the past week.

“Our commitment to keep you safe remains,” Deputy Comm. Dwayne McDonald told a news conference Monday afternoon.

The news conference was

held just hours after a series of shootings overnight in Langley City and Langley Township that left two people dead and two more injured.

The suspect was later killed by police Monday morning.

That shooting came a day after two men were killed in a targeted shooting in Whistler on Sunday, which police say was connected to the wider Lower Mainland gang conflict.

and provincial budgets from the spring.

It cautions that the fiscal policies of some provincial governments are not sustainable.

The report says that over the long term, relative to the size of their economies, provinces will face rising health-care expenses due to the aging population.

First made-in-India aircraft carrier Vikrant launched The Indian Navy Thursday received the delivery of India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier— Vikrant — joining a list of select few countries to have this capability. The carrier is built with a 76 per cent indigenisation component.

Canada says Pope’s apology to indigenous people not enough The Canadian government made clear that Pope Francis’ apology to Indigenous peoples for abuses in the country’s churchrun residential schools didn’t go far enough, suggesting that reconciliation over the fraught history is still very much a work in progress.

The official government reaction came as Francis arrived in Quebec City for meetings with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Governor General Mary Simon at her Quebec residence, the hilltop Citadelle fortress, on the second leg of Francis’ week-long visit to Canada.

The government’s criticisms echo those of some survivors and concern Francis’ omission of any reference to the sexual abuse suffered

by Indigenous children in the schools, as well as his original reluctance to name the Catholic Church as an institution bearing responsibility.

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Saturday, July 30, 2022

IHIT releases photos of Langley shooter Jordan Goggin and his car in search for witnesses

Service Ontario employees among 28 people charged after police bust major auto-theft organizations

More than 200 stolen cars have been numbers (VINs) in order to sell them.

IHIT in an update on Tuesday. Police also Police say the thefts occurred mainly in Ontario. recovered and 28 people have been charged, released images of the Mazda and surveillance As a result of the investigation, police said including an unspecified number of images of Goggin from the Service Ontario employees, in connection they recovered 215 vehicles they say are early-morning hours of July 25. with the dismantling of three auto-theft worth more than $12 million. According He is white, six-foot-one and based criminal organizations that operated to investigators, about 37 per cent of the 150 pounds with light brown out of Ontario and Saskatchewan, police say. vehicles recovered were Acuras or Honda. hair and a slight goatee. He According to the Ontario Provincial Police, “A wide range of stolen vehicles have been was originally wearing a black a 22-month investigation, titled Project recovered, including high-end vehicles,” T-shirt and board shorts and later MYRA, began in September 2020 after police OPP Deputy Commissioner Chuck Cox told changed into brown overalls and a uncovered an auto theft network they allege reporters at a news conference on Thursday. camouflage-design short-sleeved was modifying stolen vehicles’ identification T-shirt. “We are trying to identify Feds propose $1,337 for AR-15 rifles under additional witnesses to aid in victimology and assessing motive,” said IHIT Sgt. David gun buyback program Lee in the update. “There may be people out Ottawa will seek input from gun The federal government is proposing there who remember seeing Goggin, his owners, businesses and industry Mazda, or may have even encountered him.” $1,337 in compensation for turning in an ARon the proposed compensation One such witness has come forward 15 rifle under a mandatory buyback program.

Public Safety Canada has released a price list amounts from now until Aug. 28. but investigators think there are likely The mandatory buyback program would detailing how much money owners of banned firearms can expect to get under the program. cover the more than 1,500 models and At the higher end of the scale, forfeiting a variants of what the government considers suspect found dead near Bridal Falls Swiss Arms SG550 could net an owner $6,209. assault-style firearms, banned two years ago.

Homicide investigators are hoping to track down more witnesses who saw a suspect travelling around Langley early Monday as he shot at people on the street and killed two of them. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is looking into the movements of Jordan Daniel Goggin, 28, who went to several locations in the city and township of Langley and shot a total of four people. Two died, a third remains in critical condition, and one man suffered non-lifethreatening injuries during the rampage.

“Homicide investigators have determined that Goggin was wearing two different outfits during the time of the shooting and was driving a white Mazda four-door sedan,” said

Chilliwack double murder

Police say the suspect in a triple shooting in Chilliwack, B.C., last week that left two women dead has been located deceased.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation team said Monday that it had located Eric Shestalo, 50, dead of a selfinflectedgunshotwoundintheBridalFallsarea.

Investigators had been searching for Shestalo since officers were called to reports of a shooting at a home in the 9700 block of McNaught Avenue in Chilliwack on Wednesday morning.

Police arrived to find one woman dead another woman with injuries that later proved fatal. A third person suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Investigators tracked Shestalo’s vehicle, a red 1990 Jeep YJ, to Bridal Falls on Saturday, and were seen searching a forested area near the entrance of the Bridal Falls Provincial Park.

IHIT said Monday it believes Shestalo had personal connections with both homicide victims, and that it believes the shootings were isolated with no wider risk to the public.

It was an honor to receive and listen to Ustad Sharanjit Singh Mand who visited our school on Wednesday July 27,2022. He met our Sikh Studies teachers. Ms Sharandeep Kaur and Mr. Inderpal Singh.

Thank you to Ms. Navneet Bains for organizing this visit.

Principal of Gobind Sarvar School Surrey Dr. Rishi Singh welcome to the dignitaries.

LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, July 30, 2022 Two South Asian men charged with 1st degree murder in Whistler double homicide Two Surrey men have been charged with first-degree murder in the July 24 double homicide in Whistler that claimed the lives of Satindera Gill and Meninder Dhaliwal.

The men charged are 24-year-old Gursimran Sahota and 20-year-old Tanvir Khakh.

“This act was outrageous and a shock to the visitors and community of Whistler,” said Sgt. David Lee, spokesman for the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.

Lee said three other people were arrested along with Khakh and Sahota and “the extent of their involvement is still being determined.

This investigation is still ongoing.”

The Sea-to-Sky Whistler RCMP, at about 12:19 p.m. on July 24, responded to shots fired at the Sundial Boutique Hotel in Whistler. Gill and Dhaliwal were found dead.

“Both men were known to police.

Meninder Dhaliwal was of several individuals identified by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEUBC) as posing a significant risk to public safety with connections to gangs,” Lee said.

Police ask anyone with information to contact the IHIT Information Line at 1-877-551-IHIT (4448) or by email at ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca

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Three people wanted on multiple warrants arrested in Surrey Surrey RCMP have arrested three people who were wanted on multiple warrants during two recent traffic stops in Surrey, where they seized firearms and body armour.

RCMP say assistance from the Air 1 Helicopter helped track down one the suspects, who fled from police and was later arrested.

On July 21, shortly before 6:30 p.m., officers conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle that had inactive insurance in the 9900-block of 154 Street.

A 40-year-old man, who is a prohibited driver, and 20-year-old woman were arrested on several outstanding warrants out of Surrey, Kamloops, Oliver and Kelowna, according to RCMP. RCMP say officers searched the vehicle and found a loaded rifle, a loaded handgun and body armour.

All three people remain in custody awaiting their next court appearance and additional firearms charges have been recommended.

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Saturday, July 30, 2022

OPINION Canadian health care at a crossroads

It has been a revealing week for Canadian health care and what we have witnessed is not good.

In Fredericton, NB, a senior passed away while waiting for care at a hospital emergency department. A witness noted that the man was “clearly in discomfort,”

yet it wasn’t enough to gain the attention of health-care workers. He eventually slumped over and died from a heart attack.

Premier Blaine Higgs responded to the resultant public outcry by firing both his Health Minister and the CEO of the health authority that oversees the hospital.

Things were no better in Ontario, where a 76-year-old cyclist with a broken leg was left languishing on a stretcher in the hallway of a small, local hospital for four days. The problem? He needed surgery at the London Health Sciences Centre, and it did not have any available beds.

Meanwhile, in Victoria, B.C., our country’s 13 premiers were meeting to discuss health care, but talks never went beyond the usual squabble over money.

The Premiers wanted the federal health transfer payments increased from 22 per cent of health care costs to 35 per cent. The federal government responded with a blatant “no” and said the province’s monetary calculations failed to consider the additional $2.85 billion to cover surgical backlogs and the roughly $70 billion allotted to health care over the past two years to battle the pandemic.

Finally, the legal system in B.C. weighed in on health-care innovation by turning down a legal appeal to allow individuals the right to use their own money to buy insurance that would cover medical care outside of the government system. (Canada is the only country in the world to rely exclusively on a public health-care system.)

Both the B.C. Supreme Court and the B.C. Court of Appeal have now ruled against Dr. Brian Day and his attempts to modernize health-care delivery in Canada.

The legal decision allowed that the rights of some patients may be violated by waitlists that deny their access to timely health care, but it is more important that the government monopoly on health care be sustained so it can ensure the equitable provision of health care and prevent the creation of a two-tier system.

The families of patients daily denied care (as in the situations above) are likely unimpressed by the Court’s ideological attachment to the notion of equal access and its insistence that the system remain unchanged.

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LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, July 30, 2022

Alleged drug-dealing behind Surrey home not sufficient to reduce its assessed value, board rules ASurreyhomeownerwhoarguedthatillegal activity in the cul-de-sac behind his home should lead to a reduction in the property’s assessed value has had his appeal rejected.

Reetinderpal S. Bhangu appealed the 2021 assessment of the home on 68A Avenue in Surrey to B.C.’s Property Assessment Appeal Board, asking for a $40,000 reduction to the home’s assessed $1.35 million value.

In a decision posted online this week, board chair Steven Guthrie rejected Bhangu’s arguments, finding that there was no evidence that the market discounts the value of properties in the area because of the alleged illegal activities.

Bhangu told the appeal board that “partying and illegal activity occurs in the

cul-de-sac” from 6 p.m. to midnight every Thursday through Sunday, according to Guthrie’s decision. As evidence of this, he provided photos of the cul-de-sac taken both during those hours and outside of them.

Guthrie summarized the contents of the photos in his decision, and noted that they didn’t show clear evidence of the illegal activity Bhangu’s appeal alleged.

“While the pictures show increased parking activity in the evening, I find they do not demonstrate the appellant’s specific claims, including: ‘there is always some illegal activity going on in the cul-de-sac (cars coming and exchanging drugs). Police are always on patrol here,’” the board chair wrote.

Who are Tanner Fox & Jose Lopez, charged for killing Ripudaman Malik in Surrey?

In a major development in the probe into the murder of Canadian Sikh businessman Ripudaman Singh Malik, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on 27 July charged two individuals - Tanner Sithigarn Fox and Jose Lopez - with first degree murder.

Ripudaman Malik, 75, was gunned down on July 14 in Surrey, British Columbia Who Are Ripudaman Malik’s Alleged Killers?

Both the accused are in their 20s - Tanner Fox is 21 while Jose Lopez is 23 - and have a history of violent crimes. Fox hails from Abbotsford in British Columbia, a town which has a history of gang violence.

In November 2019, Tanner Fox was arrested by the Abbotsford Police in connection with a stabbing incident in a parking lot. Fox was just 19 then and stabbing victim was just 17.

According to the police, the incident was “not gang related” and was the result of “an altercation between 3-4 young men”.

Tanner Fox was charged with “assault with a weapon”, “assault causing bodily harm” and “failure to comply with a court order”.

Tanner Fox has been charged in the murder of Ripudaman Singh.

He was sentenced to 119 days in jail and two years probation. According to reports, Fox was out on bail in another offence at the time of Ripudaman Malik’s murder.

According to a report in the Vancouver Sun, Jose Lopez was also convicted in September 2019 of assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon for an incident in Abbotsford a year earlier. He got an 18-month conditional sentence and a 10-year firearms prohibition.

He is said to have been arrested from New Westminister.

The Big Unanswered Question Why Was Ripudaman Malik Killed?

It seems reasonably clear that Malik’s killing was a gangland killing. The method of killing points in that direction. But a few questions remain unanswered.

Which gang are are Tanner Fox and Jose Lopez associated with? There are several gangs active in the Lower Mainland area of British Columbia - Brothers’ Keepers, United Nations, Red Scorpions, several chapters of American biker gang Hells Angels, just to name a few.

Earlier this week, Meninder Dhaliwal of the Brothers’ Keepers gang was gunned down at Whistler in British Columbia - a testimony to the continuing gang violence in the province.

And if indeed Ripudaman Malik’s hit was carried out by a gang, what is the motive behind the killing? Malik did not have any known connections or enmity with any gang. At least the police hasn’t put forward any evidence pointing in that direction.

Then the possibility that emerges is that Malik’s was a contract killing carried out by a gang. The question then would be: who would order such a killing?

As The Quint had reported earlier, Malik had several sets of enemies due to his complex background. He was accused in the 1985 Kanishka Bombing case and later acquitted. He gradually grew close to the Indian establishment.

In 2019, he openly praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused one section of the Sikh community of carrying out propaganda against PM Modi. Was the killing linked to the 1985 bombing? Was it related to his increasing

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Lower Mainland Mountie who drove drunk with police dog in vehicle fined 30 days pay A Lower Mainland RCMP officer who drove drunk with his weapon and police dog in his vehicle will keep his job, but has been penalized 30 days pay and thrown out of the canine program.

The drunk driving incident began on April 9, 2020, when Const. Blaise Picketts, driving his unmarked RCMP Chevrolet Tahoe, met up with another officer and other dog handlers for a training session on their day off, according to an RCMP Conduct Board ruling made this spring, published on the RCMP website.

Afterwards, they drove to one of the other officers’ homes in Langley to socialize,

with Picketts stopping at a liquor store to pick up alcohol along the way.

Sometime after 4 p.m., Picketts left in his police vehicle to pick up more alcohol, returned to the home, and kept drinking.

He left the home at about 2 a.m. on April 10 and drove to Maple Ridge.

“While crossing the Golden Ears Bridge, Constable Picketts scraped his police vehicle on the concrete barrier on the side of the bridge, causing approximately $7,000 in damage to the rear and passenger side of the vehicle,” according to the Conduct Board ruling.

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Saturday, July 30, 2022

Two killed in crash after suspects flee Transit Police traffic stop in New West

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Two people have died in a fiery multivehicle crash after Metro Vancouver Transit Police tried unsuccessfully to stop a vehicle. Officers tried to stop a Nissan Altima at 10th Avenue and 6th Street in New Westminster around 11 p.m. Tuesday.

The car sped away, Const. Amanda Steed of Transit Police said in a news release. “A short time later, the vehicle was located on fire, after causing a multi-vehicle collision.”

B.C. Emergency Health Services said seven ambulances and a supervisor responded to the crash at the New WestminsterBurnaby border and a total of three people were taken to hospital, two in critical condition. Two of them died in hospital.

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dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and flight from police are being recommended. Steed said Transit Police are being assisted in the investigation by the Burnaby RCMP serious crimes unit. She noted it’s not uncommon for transit cops to stop vehicles as designated police officers in B.C. “In this particular incident, our members attempted to enter into a criminal investigation with the driver of the suspect vehicle,” before the driver fled, she said.

The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. (IIO) has been called in to look into the actions of officers in relation to an incident involving serious injury or death.

The IIO said its investigation involves the deaths of two people in a Toyota Yaris as well as injuries to two others, a male driver and female passenger in the Nissan.

Metro Vancouver & parts of BC bake in heat-wave

daily maximum temperature records were broken Wednesday as the province recorded the top dozen highest temperatures in Canada. At 42 C, Lytton was the hottest in the province and the country as the weather office says the village broke its previous record for the day of 40 C, set in 1939.

Records tumbled in all corners of B.C., from Vancouver to Bella Bella, Fort St. John and Nelson, and while Pemberton’s 39.5 C did not set a record, it tied for fourthhottest community in Canada, prompting a flood watch for the nearby Lillooet River.

The River Forecast Centre issued the watch for the Pemberton area and Lillooet River system as high elevation snow and glaciers melt, causing what the centre expects will be the highest recorded late-July flows

in that region since those measurements began in 1914. The centre also issued a high streamflow advisory for the Squamish and Elaho rivers and other glacially influenced rivers and creeks in the Sea to Sky region north of Vancouver. “Although rivers and creeks in the Sea to Sky are unlikely to reach peak flood levels experienced typically from rain and rain-on-snow events in the fall, the upcoming flows are expected to be the highest experienced in late July,” the River Forecast Centre said in a statement issued Wednesday. “Extreme caution should be taken for those travelling to the backcountry during the current heat event,” it said.

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth also warned residents to take care as heat is forecast to continue at least until Monday.

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Saturday, July 30, 2022

Victims of deadly Langley shooting spree identified The victims killed in a shooting spree in Langley, B.C., earlier this week have been identified by homicide investigators.

Police shared the update on Thursday morning, days after a suspect shot at several people throughout Langley.

One victim was identified as 60-year-old Paul David Wynn, who died outside Creek Stone Place.

“Paul was the poster child of the family he worked so hard for everything he had,” a statement from Wynn’s family shared by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said. The second was 43-year-old Steven Furness, who died at the Langley City bus loop.

“Hopefully Steven’s tragic death will put a spotlight on the plight of the homeless and vulnerable in society,” a statement from Furness’s family said. “Love from your family.”

A woman, who wasn’t identified, was taken to hospital with critical injuries Monday and another man was shot in the leg. Both are 26 and are still in hospital.

“We’ve learned that there are those in the community looking for their friends and loved ones wondering if they were victims,” said Sgt. David Lee in a news release.

“We hope that this identification helps the public awareness of who was involved and to assess if there are other unaccounted for.”

The shooting suspect, Jordan Daniel Goggin, was shot and killed by police.

Investigators said they’re still working to understand a possible motive.

Police previously said the shootings began at about midnight. The first was reported near 203A Street near

Fraser Highway. Another shooting was reported at 3 a.m., followed by one at 5 a.m. and a fourth at 5:45 a.m.

British Columbians were made aware of the unfolding incident when an emergency alert was sent to cellphones at about 6:20 a.m. The alert warned of multiple shooting scenes and asked people to stay out of the area. Later alerts advised the suspect was “no longer a threat” and, eventually, that the threat to the public had passed.

Paul Wynn (left) and Steven Furness (right) seen in these undated images shared by RCMP. Paul Wynn (left) and Steven Furness (right) seen in these undated images shared by RCMP.

Pope Francis ‘deeply sorry,’ asks for forgiveness for residential schools atrocities From page 1

of her children. I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous Peoples,” Francis said Monday through a translator at the community’s powwow grounds.

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LOCAL / NATIONAL From page 1

Saturday, July 30, 2022

Canada says Pope’s apology to indigenous people not enough Francis has said he is on a “penitential pilgrimage” to atone for the church’s role in the residential school system, in which generations of Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their homes and forced to attend church-run, government-funded boarding schools t o assimilate them into Christian, Canadian society. The Canadian government has said physical and sexual abuse were rampant at the schools, with students beaten for speaking their native languages.

Francis on Monday apologized for the “evil” of church personnel who worked in the schools and the “catastrophic” effect of the school system on Indigenous families.

In a speech before government authorities Wednesday, Francis apologized anew and blasted the school system as “deplorable.”

Francis noted that the school system was “promoted by the governmental authorities at the time” as part of a policy of assimilation and enfranchisement. But responding to criticism, he added that “local Catholic institutions had a part” in implementing that policy.

Indigenous peoples have long demanded that the pope assume responsibility not just for abuses committed by individual Catholic priests and religious orders, but for the Catholic Church’s institutional support of the assimilation policy and the papacy’s 15th century religious justification for European colonial expansion to spread Christianity.

More than 150,000 Native children in Canada were taken from their homes from the 19th century until the 1970s and placed in the schools in an effort to isolate them from the influence of their families and culture.

Trudeau, a Catholic whose father, Pierre Trudeau, was prime minister while the last residential schools were in operation, insisted that the Catholic Church as an institution bore blame and needed to do more to atone.

Shots fired in Newton Mounties in Surrey say gunshots were fired at a home in the Surrey neighbourhood of Newton early Thursday. RCMP say it happened early in the morning around 3 a.m. at a residence near 83 Avenue and 142 A Street. When officers arrived, the homeowner had discovered several bullet holes in the outside of their home. Police say no one was injured. “Surrey RCMP General Investigation Unit has taken conduct of the investigation, which is in the early stages. The motive of this shooting has not yet been determined,” said a police statement.

Anyone with information or dash camera footage can contact Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502, or Crime Stoppers, if they wish to remain anonymous, at 1-800-222-8477 or www.solvecrime.ca

LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, July 30, 2022

Robert Riley Saunders, fraudster social worker gets 5 years jail A notorious Kelowna, B.C., fraudster who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Ministry of Children and Family Development in the names of youth in his care has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Robert Riley Saunders received the sentence on the charge of fraud over $5,000, breach of trust and using a forged degree. For the latter two charges he received a sentence of two years and one month, and they will be served concurrently.

“The sole motivating factor behind Mr. Saunders’s fraud was greed. He was able to enjoy a lavish lifestyle that he could not afford, solely as a result of the fraud,” BC

Supreme Court Justice Steven Wilson said in sentencing.

Wilson said he accepted that Saunders did not intentionally set out to harm anyone but didn’t seem to care if he did, either.

“I find that Mr. Saunders was indifferent to how his actions might impact upon the individuals he was obligated to help, because he did not think it was worthwhile to help them and that all efforts on their behalf would be pointless and futile,” Wilson said.

To highlight his point, he quoted a line from Saunders’ pre-sentence report.

“It appears that in his career with

BC to review ‘how and when’ emergency alert was used for Langley shootings A notorious Kelowna, B.C., fraudster who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Ministry of Children and Family Development in the names of youth in his care has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Robert Riley Saunders received the sentence on the charge of fraud over $5,000, breach of trust and using a forged degree. For the latter two charges he received a sentence of two years and one month, and they will be served concurrently.

“The sole motivating factor behind Mr. Saunders’s fraud was greed. He was able to enjoy a lavish lifestyle that he

American fugitive arrested in BC after 20 yrs on the run An American fugitive on the run since 2001 was arrested earlier this month in B.C.’s Southern Interior, say police.

On Tuesday, Creston RCMP announced the arrest and deportation of Louis Edward Flood, who was convicted in 1997 for lewd conduct with a child under 16 and sex abuse of a child under 16 in Idaho.

Police say Flood was out on parole in 2001 after serving three years of his 18-year sentence when he went missing. They added Flood was even featured on the TV show America’s Most Wanted in 2011. On July 13, Creston RCMP said they received information that Flood was in town. From there, police reached out to the U.S. Marshall Service, Idaho State Corrections and the Idaho State Police.

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could not afford, solely as a result of the fraud,” BC Supreme Court Justice Steven Wilson said in sentencing.

Wilson said he accepted that Saunders did not intentionally set out to harm anyone but didn’t seem to care if he did, either.

“I find that Mr. Saunders was indifferent to how his actions might impact upon the individuals he was obligated to help, because he did not think it was worthwhile to help them and that all efforts on their behalf would be pointless and futile,” Wilson said.

To highlight his point, he quoted a line from Saunders’ pre-sentence report.

Woman set on fire by stranger in Vancouver A woman is in hospital with serious burns after she was set on fire while sitting on a sidewalk on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside on Monday, police said Wednesday. “This was a shocking attack that targeted a vulnerable member of our community,” said Const. Tania Visintin of the Vancouver Police Department.

“We need witnesses and anyone with information to call police and help solve this crime.”

The victim, a woman in her 50s, was sitting on the west side of Dunlevy near Powell at around 1:30 a.m., according to Visintin.

Police allege a stranger came up to her, poured a flammable substance on her head, and lit it on fire. The woman immediately ran to a nearby business to get help.

She was taken to hospital for serious

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burns, according to police. The stranger, described as a white man in his 30s, fled the area before police were called.

Investigators are looking into a second incident later the same day. A man called police alleging his homemade structure was set on fire while he was asleep in the south lane of Columbia Street near West 5th Avenue between 12:30 and 1:30 a.m.

He put out the fire himself and escaped without any injuries, said Visintin.

“Investigatorsdon’tbelievethetwoincidents are connected,” said Visintin. “However, it is still very early in the investigation, so we are not ruling anything out.”

Both arsons remain under investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to call VPD’s major crime unit at 604-717-2541 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

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Saturday, July 30, 2022

Growing concern over ‘trend’ of young men involved in gang and gun violence On Wednesday, IHIT announced first degree murder charges laid against 21-year-old Tanner Fox and 23-yearold Jose Lopez in connection with the murder of Ripudaman Singh Malik.

Two men charged with first-degree murder in Ripudaman Singh Malik’s death On Monday, 24-year old Gursimran Sahota and 20-year old Tanvir Khakh were charged in connection with the shooting deaths of Satindera Gill and Meninder Dhaliwal in Whistler.

Police killed 28-year-old Jordan Goggin following a shooting rampage in Langley that left two others dead and one in critical condition.

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“This is a trend around the world, where you are seeing younger people getting involved in the gang and thug life,” KidsPlay Foundation founder Kal Dosanjh said.

“There is a sense of them feeling disenfranchised. They are looking for an anchor. And when they don’t find that anchor it is typical teenage angst.

It leads to this destructive behaviour.”

Of the five men involved in the shootings, only Goggin was was previously unknown to police.

All levels of government and community groups have invested millions of dollars over the past decade in an attempt to keep young people away from violence.

Criminal investigation launched into BC undercover police training program A

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A criminal investigation has been launched into alleged misconduct at an undercover training program for B.C. municipal police departments, Global News has learned.

The course happened at a downtown Vancouver hotel in May. About two dozen officers from various B.C. policing agencies took part in the training, which was apparently so disturbing, some officers reported it to their supervisors.

Now, that investigation has been superseded by a criminal probe, ordered in recent days by British Columbia Director of Police Services Wayne Rideout, sources told Global News.

During the undercover training course, officers were asked to role-play and show how they might convince those on the wrong side of the law that they weren’t police officers.

Global BC investigation uncovers disturbing allegations involving a number of police agencies in this province – May 30, 2022

Edmonton MLA Thomas Dang makes first court appearance on charge under Health Information Act Former NDP MLA Thomas Dang made his first court appearance Wednesday after being charged with hacking the Alberta vaccine passport system.

Dang was charged under the province’s Health Information Act and faces a maximum fine of $200,000 if convicted.

Appearing via Webex, the Edmonton-South MLA was not asked to enter a plea Wednesday, and the case was adjourned until Aug. 24.

Dang has sat as an independent in Alberta’s legislature since December when RCMP executed a search warrant at his home.

In March, Dang admitted that he hacked

into the province’s online COVID-19 vaccine record system using Premier Jason Kenney’s birthday and vaccine information to successfully access someone else’s vaccine details.

He has maintained he hacked the system to highlight vulnerabilities, arguing that companies often hire security experts to test their systems, and has advocated for changes related to the province’s cybersecurity.

Dang said last Thursday he will continue to serve as an independent MLA for the remainder of this term but he has withdrawn his request to rejoin the Alberta NDP caucus.

“Urgent” response required as Monkeypox cases rise in Canada: Tam With 745 confirmed cases of monkeypox in Canada, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam says that an “urgent” response is required to address the outbreak, and is encouraging those at highest risk to get vaccinated.

“Our understanding of this virus is still evolving, and this declaration makes clear that the situation requires urgent global response,” Tam said Wednesday, citing the World Health Organization’s recent declaration of monkeypox as a public health emergency of international concern.

As of Wednesday, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), there are 346 cases reported in Quebec,

326 cases in Ontario, 58 cases in British Columbia, 12 cases in Alberta, two cases in Saskatchewan and one case in Yukon.

“What we need right now is actually those in the highest risk groups, including gay, bisexual, and men who have sex with men, take up the vaccine in order to protect themselves and others,” Tam said. The viral disease— often presenting as a flu-like infection with a rash—spreads through close personal contact with those who have a symptomatic case. This can occur in a few ways: Contact with lesions or scabs found on the skin or mucosal surfaces such as eyes, mouth, genitalia, and

Soccer ‘mishandled’ sexual harassment allegations in 2008: Review An independent review has concluded that Canada Soccer “mishandled” sexual harassment allegations in 2008 against then under-20 women’s coach Bob Birarda.

The independent review by McLaren

Global Sport Solution looked into Canada Soccer’s handling of Birarda, a former women’s Vancouver Whitecaps and Canadian national youth team coach.

Birarda is awaiting sentencing after

pleading guilty in February to three counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual touching while in a position of authority.

The charges, which involve four teenage

soccer players coached by Birarda, span 20 years between 1988 and 2008. Birarda was dismissed by both the Whitecaps and Canada Soccer in October 2008.

Saturday, July 30, 2022

Vancouver fire chief orders Downtown tent city to be cleared A growing tent city on the 100 block of East Hastings Street in Vancouver has been given the order to clear out.

Vancouver Fire Chief Karen Fry issued the order Friday, warning that the buildup of structures in the area constituted a major safety hazard.

“Should a fire occur in the area in its current condition, it would be catastrophic, putting lives at risk and jeopardizing hundreds of units of much-needed housing,” the City of Vancouver said in a media release.

Tents and other temporary structures have long been a fixture of East Hastings Street, but

number of permanent tents and the scale of the encampment have grown rapidly since the start of July. That’s when Vancouver police ceased supporting city engineering workers conducting daily so-called “street sweeps,” the controversial practice the city says is necessary to clean up trash and discarded items, but which some neighbourhood advocates say involves targeting the homeless and taking their belongings.

Since then, some neighbourhood residents have complained about difficulty accessing their buildings or even travelling down the sidewalk.

Indigenous people outraged over Pope receiving traditional headdress Pope Francis received a traditional headdress after his historic apology for the church’s hand in the residential school system in Canada, and Indigenous people are outraged.

The Pope delivered the long-awaited apology on Monday during a visit to the site of the former Ermineskin Residential School in Maskwacis, Alberta.

“I have come to your native lands to tell you in person of my sorrow, to implore god’s forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation,” said Pope Francis, addressing the crowd in Spanish. He received the traditional headdress from Chief Wilton Littlechild, a member of the Ermineskin Cree

Nation, former commissioner for Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and residential school survivor.

The pontiff donned the headdress for a brief moment and didn’t address the crowd. The image of Pope Francis wearing the traditional headdress elicited a strong reaction from the Indigenous community in Canada and around the world.

Many took to social media to share their anger and disappointment.

“Immediately felt sick seeing the Pope in a headdress,” tweeted @sharensworld.

“Seeing the pope in a headdress is one of the most f**ked up things I’ve ever seen in my life,” tweeted @cedarsageskoden.

Loblaw says ‘inflation has or will soon peak’ as it books $387M profit Loblaw Companies Ltd. (L.TO) says it is seeing signs that inflation “has or will soon peak”, as supply chain issues normalize and central banks take aggressive action to tame skyrocketing prices.

Canada’s largest grocery chain said following the release of second-quarter fiscal results on Wednesday that the company expects inflation to moderate in the second half of the year, as commodity prices decline from highs, freight costs shrink and

supply chain issues continue to normalize.

“Inflation remains a significant external force shaping business performance.

However... we are seeing some signs of stabilization,” Loblaw’s chairman and president Galen Weston said on a conference call with analysts.

“Having said that, supplier costs are still high, putting sustained pressure on retail prices. We continue to work hard to reduce their effect for our customers.”

$10.7 Million Surrey city budget shortfall just the tip of the police transition iceberg The transition is a year late, with no real transparency when it comes to costs, Councillor Linda Annis “Police transition has syphoned off every Surrey First Councillor Linda Annis available dollar at city hall, which means says the $10.7 million city budget parks, pools, rinks and community centres shortfall detailed at last night’s council have paid the price,” added Annis. “Having meeting is “just the tip of the iceberg” a referendum to decide the policing issue when it comes to the real costs of Doug makes sense and gives people the voice McCallum’s costly police transition. they have been missing since 2018.”

“My advice to Surrey taxpayers is hold Annis said Brenda Locke ran and won onto your wallets as police transition on Doug McCallum’s anti-RCMP platform, costs become more and more apparent,” then thought a referendum was a good idea, explained Annis. “The transition is at and now wants to bring the transition to least a year behind schedule, it lacks “a screeching halt” regardless of the cost. any sort of transparency, particularly Meanwhile, MLA Jinny Sims says she when it comes to expenses, and Surrey supports a referendum, even though she residents are still in the dark when it and her provincial government opposed comes to any details. The only solution is giving Surrey voters the chance to have their a referendum that gives Surrey taxpayers say.“One thing is clear, we need the facts their say on who polices our city, and how.” and all of the costs, then we need to give our Annis, who is the only councillor who ran citizens their say,” explained Annis. “Surrey on a policing referendum during the 2018 voters deserve to make an informed decision municipal election, says the complete lack about policing and public safety in our city.” of public input during the past four years Media contact: Councillor Linda Annis sums up Doug McCallum’s my-way-or604 345 0211 the-highway approach to running the city.

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BC Liberals call for audit of Urgent and Primary Care Centres As a shortage of doctors and nurses continues to plague the province’s healthcare system, the B.C. Liberals have called for an independent audit of what it calls the “worsening dysfunction” of understaffed Urgent and Primary Care Centres.

Health critic Shirley Bond said UPCCs — implemented by the provincial government to take pressure off emergency rooms and provide ongoing care — can’t keep staff, are falling short of their goals to attach patients to family doctors, and are too often at capacity hours after opening.

There are about 27 UPCCs in B.C., including six on the Island. The province hopes to almost double that number by 2025. They employ about 340 full-time equivalent positions.

Introduced in 2018, UPCCs were envisioned as a way to provide access to urgent team-based primary care, along with mental health and addictions services.

Open holidays, evenings and weekends, they would offer physicians the flexibility of alternate forms of payment with no overhead.

Health Minister Adrian Dix said in an interview that UPCCs proved critical during the pandemic, providing 1.3 million in-person visits.

“If those UPCCs had not been there during the pandemic, British Columbians would have been worse off, significantly worse off,” said Dix. “They’re part of the response. They

were never intended to be the whole response.”

A Health Ministry document for Feb. 4-March 3, 2022, released by the B.C. Liberals, showed James Bay UPCC at 43 per cent of its budgeted staff, West Shore at 37 per cent, North Quadra at 63 per cent, Nanaimo at 34 per cent, Esquimalt at 21 per cent and downtown Victoria at 47 per cent.

Dix said the information is either outdated, “entirely inaccurate” or doesn’t, in some instances, account for doctors who work on a fee-for-service basis — where doctors receive a basic fee of $32 for each patient visit.

As of the most recent report from May, 85 of 134 full-time-equivalent positions budgeted for UPCCs in Island Health are filled, said Dix. He acknowledged it has been difficult to fill positions in the south Island. “All other health authorities are substantially better than that.”

In Nanaimo, arguably the most successful UPCC on the Island, said Dix, the document doesn’t include 36 fee-forservice physicians contributing to the centre there. The West Shore UPCC has a staff complement of 17.8 out of 19.8 full-timeequivalent positions budgeted, said Dix. By contrast, North Quadra has 13 out of 21. “That’s the place in B.C. where we’ve had the most challenge with family doctors and that’s the place where we’re having the most challenge with UPCCs,” said Dix, who points to centres with full staffing

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Saturday, July 30, 2022

Titanic and Omen actor David Warner dies at 80 David Warner The Titanic star died on July 24 after battling a cancer-related illness for more than one year. “Over the past 18 months he approached his diagnosis with a characteristic grace and dignity,” his family

told the BBC in a statement one day after his death. “He will be missed hugely by us, his family and friends, and remembered as a kindhearted, generous and compassionate man, partner and father, whose legacy of extraordinary work has touched the lives of so many over the years. We are heartbroken.”

PICS Mega Job Fair Progressive Intercultural Community Services (PICS) Society as they host the PICS Mega Job Fair at the North Surrey Sport and Ice Complex. We are very excited to host an in-person job fair after three years that will feature over 100+ employers and exhibitors.

Please join us for the opening ceremonies as we celebrate this event for our community.

Date: July 28, 2022 Time: 9:15 am Location: North Surrey Sport and Ice Complex, 10950 126A Street, Surrey BC.

Community news New Game for Seniors - Bean Bag Toss or Corn Hole Game, Introducing at Shanti Niketan on July 31st 2022 (Sunday) from 2,00 pm to 3.30 pm.

Vedic Seniors Parivar Centre of Vedic Hindu Cultural Society of BC invites South Asian Adults & Seniors to come and play New Game which we have recently purchased, Bean Bag Toss or Corn Hole Game. This game is designed to engage Seniors in activities of sports and the exercise for arms & Shoulders.

A Board is placed which has a hole and a Toss Line is marked at 9 Feet distance,

where the player has to stand and throw the Bean Bag in the Hole on the Board. A Bean Bag must land in a target hole to earn 3 points, if it lands on the Board not in the hole then it is scored as 1 point and if it lands on the floor then the score is Zero. Each player is provided with 4 Bean Bags to throw and his/ her score is recorded, the player who scores the maximum ( 21 Points ) is awarded with a Package of Treat. The game will start at 2.00 pm to 3.30 pm at Shanti Niketan hall of Lakshmi Narayan Temple 8321 140th street Surrey V3W 5K9 BC.

Dharmendra news Dharmendra always his fans about his well-being. In a video, Dharmendra appears jovial and tells his fans to be positive and to ‘think positive’. He said that he was fine, and even quoted one of his songs.

He said, “Hello friends, be positive. Think positive. Life will be positive. Main chup hoon, bimar nahin.

Kuch na kuch chalti rehti hai.” He went on to quote his song, “Bura mat suno, bura mat dekho, bura mat socho. Take care, love each other. Life will be beautiful.” Earlier,

there were reports that Dharmendra had been admitted to hospital and was critical.

Speaking to India Today, Bobby Deol had said that his father is doing well and is recovering at his residence.

“He (Dharmendra) is absolutely fine. He is at home and he is recovering. He is doing well. Thank you so much for your love and affection,” Bobby told the publication.

Dharmendra was hospitalised in April after a “big muscle pull at the back”. After he recovered, the actor shared a video, in which he spoke about how he has ‘learnt his lesson’ about not pushing himself too hard.

Police arrested Ranveer Singh over nude pics A note released by the Mumbai police said that by posting his nude photographs, Ranveer Singh, with a purpose to ‘earn big money’, had ended up being a poor influence on young children and society at large. The Mumbai police Tuesday registered an FIR against actor Ranveer Singh for allegedly posting his photographs from his nude photoshoot on his Instagram account.

The action came after a Mumbai-based lawyer and an NGO lodged a complaint with the police on Monday, added officials.

A note released by the Mumbai police said that by posting his nude photographs from

his photoshoot done by Paper magazine, the actor with a purpose to ‘earn big money’ had ended up being a poor influence on young children and society at large. Due to this act, it has also attempted to outrage the modesty of women, the note read.

Also read |‘The best cover shot this country has seen’: Ranveer Singh’s risque photoshoot draws reactions The Gully Boy actor was booked under sections 292 (sale of obscene books), 293 (sale of obscene objects to young persons) and 509 (act intending to outrage modesty of women) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with Section 67A of the IT Act, which deals with publication of any material that

Sunny Leone teaming up with Anurag Kashyap It is a big day for Sunny Leone! The actress, who has an array of projects in the pipeline, is over the moon as she’s bagged an Anurag Kashyap film. Taking to social media, Sunny posted a fun photo with Anurag and

never in a million years thought someone as amazing like @anuragkashyap10 would take a chance on me. My journey has been amazing but by no means “easy” (sic).”

She further added, “After so many years of being in India and in Bollywood I received a

penned a heartfelt note to go with it.

Sunny Leone, who is often seen in special numbers, has bagged her first film with Anurag Kashyap. Taking to Instagram, she posted a cute photo with the filmmaker. Sharing the same, Sunny wrote, “Yes my smile is “ear to ear” because dreams do come true! I

call asking if I would audition for a Anurag film. There are moments in life where everything changesthis is my moment in my head and heart. No matter how things turn out you took a chance on me Anurag Sir and I will never forget that in my life.

Thank you for letting me be a part of your amazing film. @dirrty99 & @sunnyrajani my steady rocks guiding me love you! (sic).”

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Priyanka has a blast at Diljit Dosanjh’s concert in LA

Manoj Kumar Actor Manoj Kumar was born as Harikrishan Giri Goswami on July 24, 1937 in Abbotabad, Pakistan. He is known by his screen name Manoj Kumar, He is an actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, lyricist and editor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is known for acting and making films with patriotic themes, and has been given the nickname Bharat Kumar.

He is the recipient of a National Film Award and seven Filmfare Awards, in varied categories.

Harikrishan Giri Goswami was born into a Hindu Brahmin family in Abbottabad, a North-Western Frontier town in Pakistan).

His original birth name was Harikrishan Giri Goswami. When he was 10, his family had to migrate from Pakistan to India, during that time his family was living in Jandiala Sher Khan, Punjab, Pakistan. His family lived as refugees in Vijay Nagar, Kingsway Camp and later moved to Old Rajendra Nagar area of New Delhi.

After graduating from Hindu College, University of Delhi, he decided to enter the film industry.

In the mid-1970s Manoj Kumar starred in three hit films; Roti Kapda Aur Makaan (1974) which was a social commentary, featuring an all-star cast including Zeenat Aman, Shashi

Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan. He won his second Filmfare Award for Best Director for the film Roti Kapda Makan. His another hit was Sanyasi, a religious-themed comedy, starring Kumar and Hema Malini, was hugely successful. Dus Numbri (1976) also gave Kumar, Pran, Prem Nath and Hema top slot.

In 1981, Manoj Kumar reached at peak of his career when he got an opportunity to direct his idol, Dilip Kumar, as well as to star in superhit Kranti, a story about the struggle for Indian independence in the 19th century.

Kranti was the last notable successful Hindi film in his career. He also starred in the hit Punjabi film Jat Punjabi. Like many other Bollywood stars, Kumar decided to enter politics following his retirement. Before the 2004 general election in India, he officially joined Bharatiya Janta Party. Manoj Kumar is married to Shashi Goswami (originally from Jodhkan, Sirsa district, Haryana).

He has two sons, Vishal and Kunal.

Vishal attempted a career as a singer and Kunal, an actor. His brother, Rajiv Goswami, also entered the film industry, but none were able to gain a footing in Bollywood.

Man who sent death threat to Katrina Kaif & Vicky arrested A day after Bollywood actor Vicky Kaushal filed an official complaint at the Santacruz police station in Mumbai, the man - who sent death threats to him and his actresswife Katrina Kaif on Instagram - was arrested.

Identified as Manvinder Singh, the man in question is a struggling actor, who is Kaif ’s fan. He wanted to reportedly marry the ‘Bang Bang’ star and often posted super-imposed videos and morphed pictures of the actress with him on the photo-sharing platform. Things took a wild turn when Singh started allegedly stalking and harassing Kaif for the past few months on social media.

His lawyer Sandeep Sherkhane has denied all allegations and called them ‘baseless’.

“My client is a struggling actor. He is falsely implicated and made a scapegoat.

The messages sent by actor Katrina and her sister are deleted from Instagram.

A one-sided story is being portrayed. They are from the same industry and acquainted since 2019. Now suddenly these allegations are surfacing,” Singh’s lawyer was quoted as saying to the media.

When Rakhi Sawant accused Tanushree Dutta TV & Film Actress Rakhi Sawant and media controversies share quite a close-knitted bond. Most of her antics during media interactions are pretty hilarious to watch, but at times the Main Hoon Na actress also managed to spark major uproar with her bold statement.

One such time was when she accused Bollywood actress Tanushree Dutta of r*ping her and also claimed that Dutta was a lesbian and she consumes drugs.

Read on to know the whole story.

Back in 2019, Rakhi had arranged a press conference in which she made some shocking claims about actress Tanushree Dutta and also expressed her anger about the Dhol actress’ s*xual harassment case

with Bollywood actor Nana Patekar sexual harassment case. For the unversed, in 2008 Tanushree had slammed a case on Nana claiming that he had s*xually harassed her on the sets of ‘Horn ok pleasss’. The actress was supposed to do a special number for the film but later on walked out from the sets. Since then Rakhi usually took digs at Tanushree Dutta and has also many times called her out too. However, this specific press conference that she had organized left many shocked with her claims. Rakhi extended her support towards Nana Patekar and alleged that Tanushree can blame a man but won’t reveal how many times she herself harassed a woman . Rakhi said, “Aap (Tanushree) lesbian hain or aapne mera baar baar balatkaar kiya hai. Vo toh media ko istemaal kar rahi hai.

Priyanka Chopra just had a blast with her close friend and influencer Lilly Singh at Diljit Dosanjh concert that took place at Los Angeles. While Diljit rocked the stage and made the divas proud, Lilly posted videos of herself with Priyanka as the singer sang all of his hit songs.

Diljit Dosanjh is currently ‘tearing up LA’.

Well, influencer Lilly Singh said so. She posted several videos of a houseful concert in LA with Punjabi music taking over the mood. Lilly’s video also had a glimpse

of Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who was seen jamming onto some Punjabi music. Priyanka looked stunning in a black crop top, shrug and paired it with lowers. She wore glasses and let her hair loose as she enjoyed the concert.

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Saturday, July 30, 2022

Controversial social housing development in Kitsilano approved by Vancouver council A controversial social housing development is moving forward in Kitsilano after Vancouver city council voted to approve the project Tuesday.

The vote came a day after a marathon public hearing that heard from speakers for over nine hours, many of whom said they were opposed to the proposed location of the 13-storey building that will include 129 studio apartments for low-income people and people experiencing homelessness.

Overall, council heard from 292 speakers while considering the project, which were spread over a number of previous hearings that began last month.

The City of Vancouver has offered the land for the project, with funding for the building coming from BC Housing.

BC Housing says the proposal is part

of a memorandum of understanding with the City of Vancouver and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to deliver about 350 supportive housing units across five sites throughout the city.

Mayor Kennedy Stewart suggested during Monday’s public hearing that BC Housing would revoke its funding for the Kitsilano project if the proposal was altered in any way from the current plans, amid debate over shrinking its size.

BC Housing did not dispute Stewart’s comments in a statement to Global News on Tuesday.

“BC Housing will deliver on our commitments made in the (memorandum of understanding),” the agency said.

“However, we are always mindful that the need to build more supportive housing across the province is immediate and there are projects in other communities that are waiting for funding.”

Realtors oppose province’s new ‘cooling off period’ The 2,500-member Association of Interior Realtors is all for consumer protection.

But it’s against the BC government’s new mandatory three-day Homebuyer Protection Period (previously known as the ‘cooling off period’) that comes into effect Jan. 1.

“This policy severely misses the mark,” said Lyndi Cruikshank, president of the Association of Interior Realtors and the managing broker of Engels & Volkers South Okanagan.

“Instead of protecting all consumers, this policy favours buyers and may now put sellers in a compromising position. If the government was really concerned about protecting consumers, then they should include policies that protect both sellers and buyers equally.”

Lyndi Cruikshank is the president of the 2,500-member Association of Interior Realtors and managing borker at Engels & Volkers South Okanagan.

The Homebuyer Protection Period allows potential buyers three days to back out of any real estate transaction for any reason.If a potential buyer does collapse a deal they will have to pay a ‘recission fee’ of 0.25% of the purchase price of the home to the seller.

On a benchmark selling price of a typical single-family home in Kelowna of $1.1 million, that 0.25% fee would be $2,750,

on a townhouse worth the benchmark $763,800 it’s $1,910 and for a benchmark condominium of $537,200 it’s $1,343.

Initially, the ‘cooling off period’ was intended to protect potential buyers who felt pressured to put in an unconditional offer or offer more money than they wanted to in a multiple offer situation.

Both scenarios were common when the market was red-hot last year and earlier this year.

But now that the market has slowed, unconditional offers and offers over asking price are less common because buyers have more time to look around, negotiate, get advice and have a home inspection done.

“Ultimately, these regulations will be inconsequential and fail to improve consumer protection,” said Cruikshank.

“That’s a real shame because consumers in the Interior and across the province really deserve better.”

Earlier this year, the BC Real Estate Association, along with the Association of Interior Realtors and other real estate boards in the province offered more than 30 alternatives to the threeday Homebuyer Protection Period in a report called ‘A Better Way Home.’

Many of the recommendations were echoed in the BC Financial Services’ Authority paper ‘Enhancing Consumer Protection in BC’s Real Estate Market.’

Mortgage stress test has gone up here’s what that means The mortgage stress test in Canada has gone up after a recent interest rate hike, which means buying a house just got even more difficult.

According to a new report by Ratehub, the annual income needed to buy a home across Canada has increased, even in places where housing prices have gone down.

From March to June 2022, Canadian home buyers had to earn anywhere from $8,660 and $35,760 more, per year, to afford a home depending on their location because of interest rate and stress test increases.

The city that saw the biggest jump was Victoria, B.C., which had a 23% increase.

This means someone hoping to buy a home in Victoria will need an additional $35,760 a year — making the total income required $187,980.

Other cities that saw a doubledigit increase in the required income to buy a home included Vancouver, which saw people needing 16% more, Halifax at 21%, and Calgary at 18%.

This is because recent hikes to Canada’s prime interest rate have meant that mortgage rates, and therefore stress test rates, have gone up.

The stress test is a risk assessment that a mortgage lender will do where they add hypothetical additional percentage points to your mortgage rate to see how much volatility in the market you could afford.

Typically the stress test rate will be the mortgage rate given to you by your lender of either plus 2% or a flat 5.25% — whichever one is higher.

This means that as interest rates rise, so does that stress test minimum.

And, according to this study, the stress test rate could be as high as 7.21% right now.

This affects homeowners because how much money your lender gives you is dependent on how well you can afford the additional percentage that might come your way if mortgage rates got that high.

This is why residents in so

Project cancellations during Canada’s housing downturn will worsen affordability The decision by builders and developers to put their new housing development projects on hold due to the historic housing correction, currently well underway across Canada, could have long-term ramifications on affordability.

This is especially the case in the heated housing markets of Metro Vancouver and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), where structural issues with housing affordability and supply were only exacerbated by the pandemic.

According to a new market bulletin

by CIBC, the Canadian housing market is currently “in the midst of a project delay/cancellation way, with developers choosing to sit on their hands, rather than engaging in a money-losing proposition.”

Developers are putting their projects on hold due to the perfect storm of conditions, including demand dampened by the significant and rapid increase in the Bank of Canada’s interest rates — which is still expected to see further increases before the end of 2022 — and surging costs for construction materials and labour, with no end in sight to the labour shortage in trades. These projects looked promising

early this year, but they are now totalling uneconomical, especially when factoring in the high land acquisition costs in the markets of Vancouver and Toronto.

There will be fewer new home ownership opportunities entering the market for the foreseeable future, even though these new homes are needed to help accommodate Canada’s high immigration targets, sustained economic growth, and the workforce shortage.

But with fewer homes to buy in the market, especially when the downturn is over and demand normalizes sometime in 2023, this means more prospective homeowners will be settling for the rental market instead.

“So when the fog clears, the units that were supposed to be built now will not be available — making a tight rental market even tighter. And that’s the opposite direction of where we should be heading,” continues the CIBC bulletin.

“The trajectory of the Canadian housing market following the current adjustment is not written in stone. It’s largely a function of policy. Purpose-built rentals could be the difference between an affordable and an unaffordable housing market in Canada. So far, it appears that we are marching in the wrong direction.”

Saturday, July 30, 2022

Historic correction underway” in Canada’s housing market: RBC “historic” housing correction is now underway in Canada and costlier markets in Ontario and British Columbia are likely to be the “epicentre” of the downturn, a new report from RBC suggests.

Greater Toronto Area housing prices soared during the pandemic and were up nearly 36 per cent year-overyear as recently as February.

But the Bank of Canada’s aggressive interest rate hiking campaign has weighed on the market since then, which has now seen four consecutive months of price declines. In its report, released last week, RBC said that it

now expects the average home prices across Canada to decline by approximately 12 per cent from the February peak by early 2023.

It says that if that does indeed materialize it would “rank as the steepest correction of the past five national downturns.”

The bank, however, says that the correction will play out differently depending on your market.

It says that housing could be “more resilient,” in markets that are already relatively affordable, with prices only projected to

Real Estate

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House prices saw “steady rise” across Canada in the first half of 2022 Despite persistent interest rate hikes and a post-COVID cooling of some markets, house prices in Canada continued to rise steadily throughout the first six months of the year.

According to Century 21 Canada’s annual Price Per Square Foot survey, the national real estate market remained “strong,” and long-term growth continued.

Prices were up particularly in the suburbs and small communities outside cities as condo dwellers abandoned the

Greater Toronto Area and Vancouver in search of affordability.

“We recognize the concerns that some might have because of interest rates, but the first half of 2022 showed growth in nearly every regional market in the country,” says Brian Rushton, chief operating officer of Century 21 Canada.

“The highest point of the boom may have passed, but the trend is still towards higher prices, especially in suburbs

Canada’s most expensive home is in Whistler The Bohlin Cywinski Jacksondesigned house in British Columbia has garnered much attention for being not only the highest-priced house listed for sale in Whistler, but in all of Canada, according to Point2Homes.

Priced at $39 million, the 8,700-squarefoot modern house overlooking Whistler and Blackcomb mountains has piqued the interest of wealthy buyers.

“Properties like this, there’s very much a possibility that the owner comes from out of the country,” said Max Thornhill, listing advisor with Engel & Völkers, the property’s listing agency.

Whistler has seen a rise in Canadian residents purchasing property in the

mountain resort area about two hours north of Vancouver since the beginning of the pandemic.

Overall, around 16 per cent of properties are owned by foreign buyers.

But that changes at the extreme luxury end of the market, where foreign ownership spikes to approximately 50 per cent, the listing agent noted. Stonebridge Drive, the exclusive area in Whistler where the property is located, has a number of foreign nationals living there, from France, the United States and Hong Kong.

The property has been on the market for a few weeks and in that time, a handful

of “wealthy” people have viewed it, said Thornhill.

“There’s no doubt, when you get to the higher-end properties, what you have with people buying houses like this, there’s a freedom of travel and they can pick whatever place really grabs them,” said the listing agent.

On the lower-end — relative to Whistler prices — properties are predominantly owned by Vancouverites.

Whistler saw a 29 per cent increase in the median assessed value of single-family homes, from $2.033 million in 2021 to

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“Some of this probably is a little bit of recovery” from the slowdown brought on by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, B.C. Assessment’s Bryan Murao, told Pique News.

As interest rates put downward pressure on real estate markets in many parts of the country, high-end luxury properties are not seeing the same impact.

“Any economic downturn will impact everything,” Thornhill said, “but these are not the types of properties that people generally put too much debt on.”

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Saturday, July 30, 2022

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Saturday, July 30, 2022

Bangladesh’s garments exporters brace for slowdown after Walmart warning After recovering swiftly from the havoc causedbytheCovid-19pandemic,Bangladeshi garment manufacturers are now anticipating a slowdown as sales at key customers such as Walmart are hit by a spike in inflation.

The garments industry accounts for more than 80 percent of total exports for Bangladesh, which on Sunday became the third South Asian country after Pakistan and Sri Lanka to seek a loan from the International Monetary Fund as its foreign exchange reserves shrank and the trade deficit jumped.

Bangladesh’s $416 billion economy has been one of the fastest-growing in the world for years, but rising energy and food prices becauseoftheRussia-Ukrainewarhaveinflated its import bill and the current account deficit.

Walmart, a US bellwether for the retail sector that caters to cost-conscious shoppers, cut its full-year profit forecast on Monday and pledged to reduce prices of clothing and general merchandise more aggressively than it did in May to reduce a spring backlog.

“Orders have slowed down,” said

Bangladesh’s forex reserves dwindle, economic woes mount

Faruque Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

“Western countries are raising bank interest rates. That’s why people are giving priority to food and mortgages. Demand for clothing is less. This will hamper our export.”

Bangladesh’s garments exports last shrank in July 2021 when Covid-19 cases were high around the world. Since then, sales have surged, growing by a multi-month high of 60 percent year-on-year in March this year and 41 percent in June, according to BGMEA data.

Two Bangladeshi garments suppliers to Walmart said other Western customers were also sitting on huge inventories.

“If Walmart’s cut-price sales do not help, we are going to have a tough time,” said Siddiqur Rahman, owner of Laila Styles that supplies to Walmart, H&M and Zara.

“Our orders could look up from October onwards for Christmas demand.

But if retailers’ inventory is full, they will refrain from placing orders.”

A fall in forex reserves in Bangladesh below USD 40 billion, enough to cover only about five months of imports, has forced the government to seek a USD 4.5 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, the Daily Star newspaper said.

Bangladesh’s finance ministry and the IMF did not respond to requests for comment, but a senior finance ministry official who asked not to be named said the matter was indeed “being discussed” but declined to give details.

Without naming Bangladesh, IMF chief economist Pierre Olivier Gourinchas told reporters in Washington in a virtual conference on Tuesday that many countries had approached the bank for financial aid, and it was looking at options to provide aid to members.

Economists at the IMF and other agencies have previously said countries which fail to absorb external shocks, driven by rising global commodity imports and slowing global demand for exports, should take strong measures including curbs on capital flows.

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Here are key factors that are raising concerns for Bangladesh’s economy: Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves fell to USD 39.67 billion as of 20 July sufficient for 5.3 months worth of imports - from USD 45.5 billion a year earlier.

Reserves had fallen nearly 10 per cent to USD 41.82 billion at the end of June from over USD 46 billion a year earlier.

Bangladesh’s central bank has said a decline in the inflow of remittances by Bangladeshi workers and a rise in import payments have put pressure on the foreign reserves, leading to a depreciation of the country’s taka currency.

The central bank spent nearly USD 5.7 billion in 11 months through May of the 2021/22 fiscal year trying to support the taka.

Foreign direct investment flows declined 18.65 per cent to USD 888.5 million during the Jan-March period from a year earlier.

The trade deficit widened to USD 27.2 billion in the July 2021-May 2022 period as imports surged to nearly USD 59 billion while exports rose

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Saturday, July 30, 2022

Man arrested who jabbed 39 people with same syringe A vaccinator allegedly used a single syringe to administer anti-coronavirus vaccine doses to 39 children at a private school in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar city, leading to his arrest and suspension of the district vaccination officer, officials said on Thursday. \The incident took place on Wednesday at the Jain Higher Secondary School in the city during a mega vaccination drive, after which a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against the vaccinator, identified as Jitendra Ahirwar, a district official said.

Ahirwar is a student of a private nursing college and had been trained for carrying out vaccination programme by the health department, Sagar district’s Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Dr DK Goswami said.

However, in a viral video, the vaccinator

alleged his head of the department (HoD), who had dropped him at the school in a car, asked him to inoculate everyone present at the centre with one syringe that was provided to him.

“There is no fault of mine,” he claimed in the video.

When CMHO Dr Goswami was asked about the allegations of Ahirwar, he said it was a matter of investigation and maintained the district vaccination officer, who was held responsible for the incident, has already been suspended.

In a related development, cops arrested Ahirwar from Sagar city on Thursday evening and sent him to jail, said Kamal Singh Thakur, in-charge of the Gopalganj police station, where the FIR was filed.

Pakistan boycotts Chess Olympiad in Chennai India says decision ‘highly unfortunate’ A team from Pakistan pulled out of the Chess Olympiad being held in Tamil Nadu after landing here, leading to both New Delhi and Islamabad accusing each other of politicising the sporting event.

“Surprising that Pakistan suddenly took the decision not to participate in the Chess Olympiad, particularly after its team reached India. It is highly unfortunate that Pakistan politicised a prestigious international event,’’ said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Pakistan’s sudden announcement earlier in the day over a torch relay for the Olympiad that took place a week back in Srinagar. A Pakistan Foreign Office

statement regretted that India has chosen to politicise the Olympiad by passing the event’s torch relay of this event through Srinagar on June 21. Besides boycotting the Olympiad, the statement said the matter will be raised with the International Chess Federation at the “highest level’’.

Bagchi also reiterated that the UTs of J&K and Ladakh “have been, are and will remain an integral part of India.’’

Pakistan said, “by passing the torch relay through J&K K, in utter disregard of the globally acknowledged ‘disputed’ status of the territory, India has committed a travesty that the international community cannot accept under any circumstances.’’

India says it will protect its interests as Chinese boat heads to Sri Lanka India, which is trying to expand its influence in crisis-hit Sri Lanka after China made deep inroads there, said on Thursday it was aware of reports about the planned visit of a Chinese vessel to a Sri Lankan port built with money from Beijing.

“The government carefully monitors any developments having a bearing on India’s security and economic interests, and takes all necessary measures to safeguard them,” India’s foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told a weekly media briefing.

“I think that should be a clear message.”

He did not say what measures India was taking and who the message was addressed to.

China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for

comment. Sri Lankan officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Shipping data from Refinitiv Eikon showed research and survey vessel Yuan Wang 5 was en route to the southern Sri Lankan port of Hambantota and was expected to arrive on Aug. 11.

“The government carefully monitors any developments having a bearing on India’s security and economic interests, and takes all necessary measures to safeguard them,” foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told a weekly media briefing.

“I think that should be a clear message.”

He did not say what measures India was taking and who the message was addressed to.

Climate change made UK heatwave 10 times more likely Climate change caused by human activity made this month’s recordshattering heatwave in Britain at least 10 times more likely to occur, according to research released on Friday.

Eastern England recorded an alltime high temperature of 40.3 degrees Celsius (104.5 degrees Farenheit) and the hot spell sparked fires that destroyed dozens of homes in London.

Overall, at least 34 locations in Britain registered record highs on July 20, when the heatwave peaked over western Europe.

An international team of researchers modelled how likely such an extreme hot weather event would have been before the industrial era began in the mid 19th century.

They then compared this likelihood with that of a heatwave occurring in the current

climate -- that is, with the planet nearly 1.2C hotter on average than in pre-industrial times.

They focused on maximum temperatures in Britain’s most affected region -central England and east Wales -- and found that the record-breaking heat was made at least 10 times more likely due to the human-generated greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

The study found that extreme heat events across Europe had increased even more than had been estimated by climate models.

Computer-generated models estimated that greenhouse gas emissions increased temperatures in the July heatwave by 2C. But in actual fact, the heatwave was 4C hotter than it would have been without manmade warming.

Saturday, July 30, 2022

I am the first President born in independent India: Droupadi Murmu After taking oath as the 15th President of India in the Parliament, Droupadi Murmu on Monday proudly said that she is the first President of the country who was born in independent India. Murmu was born on June 20, 1958 in Odisha. She is also the second woman President of India, and the first-ever tribal woman to hold the highest Constitutional post.

In her first address as the President of India at the Central Hall of the Parliament, Droupadi Murmu said, “I am the first President of the country who was born in independent India. We will have to speed up our efforts to meet the expectations that our freedom fighters had with the citizens of independent India,” “Standing in the Parliament - the symbol of expectations, aspirations and rights of all Indians - I humbly express my gratitude to all of you. Your trust and support will

be a major strength for me to carry out this new responsibility,” she stated while take oath. She said that reaching the Presidential post is not her personal achievement, rather the achievement of every poor in India. “My nomination is evidence that the poor in India can not only dream but also fulfill those dreams,” Murmu added.

Further, she asserted, “Satisfying to me that the people who were devoid of development for years -the poor, Dalits, backward, the tribals- can see me as their reflection. My nomination has blessings of the poor behind it, it’s a reflection of the dreams and capabilities of crores of women.”

After her address as the President of India, Murmu greeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi and other dignitaries who attended her swearing-in ceremony today.

INDIA

19

‘Rashtrapatni’ remark row A major political row broke out on Thursday over Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s ‘rashtrapatni’ remark with the BJP launching an allout offensive against the opposition party, accusing Chowdhury of hurling a “deliberate sexist insult” at President Droupadi Murmu and demanding an apology from Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

In his defence, Chowdhury, who is the leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, said he never intended to disrespect the President and his ‘rashtrapatni’ remark was a “slip of the tongue”.

Accusing the BJP of making a “mountain out of a molehill” over the issue, he said

he will apologise to President Murmu but not to “these pakhandis” (hypocrites).

The Congress leader said he has sought time from the President the day after tomorrow and will apologise to her if she has been offended by his inadvertent comments.

Taking on the Congress, both inside and outside Parliament, Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Smriti Irani said Chowdhury used the term knowing well that it demeans Murmu and her office and is against India’s values. Both houses also witnessed frequent adjournments due to protests by BJP members on the issue.

“Chowdhury’s comments were not a slip of tongue. It was a deliberate sexist insult

Give us a break, there is a limit to targeting judges’: Justice Chandrachud Supreme Court justice DY Chandrachud on Thursday expressed anguish over criticism in media for not taking up a case. Give us a break, there’s a limit to targetting us, he said on Thursday.

Justice Chandrachud’s remarks came during an oral mentioning seeking listing of a case regarding attacks on the Christian community. The counsel said

the matter had to be listed but wasn’t.

“Give us judges a break. I was down with Covid and hence, the matter was deferred.

There is a limit to targeting us,” he said.

“List it. Otherwise there will be another news item,” he added, pointing out that there was criticism in media about judges not taking up the case.

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29 crore in cash found at another house of TMC minister’s aide Arpita Mukherjee The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday morning left the Belgharia residence of Arpita Mukherjee, a close aide of West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee after filling 10 trunks with cash amounting to approximately Rs 29 crore that was found there.

ED sleuths on Wednesday began its searches at the premises linked to aide Arpita Mukherjee. The ED raided Arpita Mukerjee’s house in connection with an alleged teacher recruitment scam in West Bengal.

MP Mahua Moitra comes out in support of Sonia Gandhi TMC MP Mahua Moitra came out in support of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who was involved in a face-off with Union minister Smriti Irani in the Lok Sabha, and said the 75-year-old leader was “encircled and heckled pack-wolf style”.

As the Lok Sabha adjourned soon after 12 noon, Gandhi walked across to the

Treasury benches and sought to know from BJP member Rama Devi why she was dragged into the issue—the BJP has demanded an apology from Gandhi over Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury referring to President Droupadi Murmu as ‘rashtrapatni’. Irani stepped in and was seen gesturing towards Gandhi and

Arrested Bengal minister sacked from the Cabinet In a massive development, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has sacked Trinamool Congress leader Partha Chatterjee as state minister days after he was arrested in the SSC recruitment scam.

Chatterjee, the secretarygeneral of TMC, held the portfolios of Commerce & Industry, Parliamentary Affairs, Information Technology and Electronics, and Public Enterprises & Industrial Reconstruction in the state cabinet.

According to officials, Bengal Chief

Minister and TMC president Mamata Banerjee will look after industry, other portfolios held by sacked minister Chatterjee for the time being. Nearly Rs 50 crore in cash, and gold, believed to be in kilograms, were recovered from apartments linked to Chatterjee’s close associate Arpita Mukherjee, besides documents of properties and foreign exchange, as per officials of the Enforcement Directorate, which arrested them.

“Shri Partha Chatterjee, Minister in Charge, Department of Industry,

Ratna Pathak finds modern Indian women observing ‘Karwa Chauth’ ‘appalling’; sets Known for being an actor par excellence, Ratna Pathak has won many accolades for her exceptional craft and stellar acting skills.

In a recent interaction with Pinkvilla, the actor did not shy away from speaking her mind on women observing Hindu traditions in India.

The portal published a video interview of the veteran actor on July 26.

Talking about society and drawing parallels with Saudi Arabia, Pathak pointed out that India was moving towards becoming an extremely conservative society.

India receives $18 billion bids for 5G auction, expects rollout in September India received bids worth $18 billion on the first day of an auction for the 5G airwaves from tycoons including Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani as the race begins for faster data in the world’s second largest internet market.

Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters on Tuesday evening that bids went “far

beyond our expectations” and “it looks like [the bidding level] will be at the same level” on Wednesday.

India expects the rollout of 5G networks to begin from September, he said. “By the end of the year, residents of several Indian cities will be able to experience 5G,” he said.

What is Dubai’s golden visa and why are Indians making a beeline?

What does Shah Rukh Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Sonu Sood, Ranveer Singh, Sania Mirza, and Mouni Roy have in common? They have all secured the Dubai Golden Visa – which now allows them to freely reside

in Dubai. A Golden Visa is a residential permit in a foreign country secured upon purchase of high-end property or investment. Business Today spoke to experts on the increasing popularity of Dubai as a destination of choice for Indian migrants.

Hindustan Aeronautics awards $100M engine contract to Honeywell Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has awarded a $100 million contract to American firm Honeywell for the supply and manufacture of 88 TPE331-12B engines for the HTT-40 trainer aircraft, the Indian state-run company announced Wednesday.

HAL plans to offer the HTT-40, which comes in at about $7 million per unit, to the Indian Air Force and other overseas customers. A senior HAL executive told Defense News that the company is hoping to secure a $490 million deal in October with the Air Force for 70 of the basic trainers.

21

Saturday, July 30, 2022

FIJI

Punjab SGPC begins installing display boards with photos Days after Akal Takht Jathedar Harpreet Singh directed all gurdwara managements to start a movement from gurdwaras to sensitise the ‘sangat’ over the incarceration of Bandi Sikhs, the SGPC has started the process of installing photographs and details of those who have been languishing in jails for decades outside historic gurdwaras.

Sulakhan Singh Bhangali, manager of the Golden Temple, said the display boards would be installed at nearly 700 gurdwaras and educational institutes being run by the SGPC. A display board with photographs of Sikh political prisoners erected at the Golden Temple says it amounted to

Goldy Brar told Sidhu Moosewala shooters to surrender The kingpin in the Sidhu Moosewala murder case Goldy Brar has reportedly posted from a Facebook account operational in his name in which he has stated that on the day of encounter when police surrounded Jagroop Roopa and Manpreet Manna, Roopa had called him and he told them to do surrender and will make a plan to take them out of jail.

But they both refused to do so, stating that “they will not surrender and will show him their last performance”.

Further, Goldy Brar has stated that they fought bravely as they kept police engaged in firing for six hours. “Those who say eight people killed Sidhu Moosewala, I want to tell them that they were eight.

No dispute over choice of new Advocate-General Advocate General Anmol Rattan Sidhu and the appointment of Vinod Ghai as the next AG, the corridors of power were rife with speculations that there was dispute over the choice of the new AG.

Amid rumours of dispute over “territorial control” in administration between Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and a senior functionary of the party, the former denied any such misgivings.

Since the resignation of

Junior boxer Kuldeep Singh dies of ‘drug overdose’ Kuldeep Singh, a 22-year-old junior national-level boxer found dead in a field in Talwandi Sabo, Distt Bathinda.

As per the reports and witnesses, a syringe was found near his body and it is suspected that he died due to a drug overdose.

However, his family has denied the

claims saying their son was not a drug addict and has suspected foul play.

“On Wednesday, Kuldeep went out of his house at around 11 am. When till late evening, he did not return and could not be contacted, the family started looking for him. His body was found lying in field.

Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif accuses ‘judiciary of having ‘double standards’ Interim govt’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif criticised the superior judiciary and accused it of having “double standards” with regard to the treatment of different political parties.

“I am an elected representative and that’s why question when the truth would be spoken, if not today,” he said.

Addressing a session of the National Assembly on Wednesday, Sharif reiterated that he greatly respected the judiciary and was only talking about “double standards”,

adding that it was his right to do so as an elected representative of the people.

The prime minister went on to say: “I ask that there was a time when a former chief justice took suo moto [notices] day and night … when the courts summon then I think we should go with great respect … but if you have to decide then it should be on the basis of truth and justice. It can’t happen that you treat me one way and treat someone else differently.”

Supreme Court hands power to Imran Khan’s ally in key Punjab state Islamabad: Supreme Court in much-anticipated order turned down Punjab Assembly’s deputy speaker’s ruling and declared Hamza Shehbaz no more chief minister of Punjab.

According to the court’s order Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi is new chief minister of the province.

The three three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mr Umar Atta Bandial in 11-page order also set aside the cabinet division’s notification of Hamza Shehbaz as Chief Minister and all the provincial ministers who took oath of the office a day earlier.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Mr Umar Atta Bandial read out the decision and directed

governor Punjab to administer oath to Pervaiz Elahi as CM of the province.

In case, Governor Punjab fails to administer oath, President of Pakistan, Arif Alvi is directed to take the oath, the court further directed.

All the appointments and steps taken by form CM Hamza Shehbaz have also been termed null and void.

Earlier, the apex court on Tuesday held proceedings and deliberations before announcing the verdict on the petition of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader and a candidate for the office of Punjab’s Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi who had challenged Punjab’s deputy speaker Dost Mazari’s ruling on July 22 elections.

Currency plunges to all-time low The Pakistani rupee hit an all-time low against the U.S. dollar on Monday during the intraday trade in the interbank market, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). During the intraday trading, the rupee fell to as low as 232, but it closed at 229.88, losing 0.66 percent against the U.S. dollar, according to the figures released by the SBP, adding that the

rupee closed at 228.37 on Friday last week.

According to the country’s economic experts, political impacts, low forex reserves, high import bill, and the delay in the release of a crucial over 1 billion U.S. dollar payment from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to Islamabad and other global factors are mainly responsible for the rupee slump.

Lautoka lawyer convicted of contempt of court Lautoka lawyer Aman Ravindra Singh has been found guilty of contempt of court by the Civil High Court in Suva.

This is in relation to a committal proceeding filed against him by Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.

The committal proceedings was filed after Singh failed to comply with the orders of the High Court as he was ordered to pay the Prime Minister and Attorney-

General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum more than $149,000 in damages for defamation in 2020.

In 2020, the court found that Singh posted an unsubstantiated article titled “Regime Dirty Politics” on his Facebook page. Singh made unsubstantiated allegations on social media about them and the May 2000 coup.

In his ruling today the High Court Judge stated Singh was ordered to render in writing a public retraction and apology in a prominent print to Bainimarama and Sayed-Khaiyum.

Flour prices to increase The price of flour will increase by twelve percent from tomorrow.

The new price of a 1kg flour-pack will increase to $1.95 from $1.75, 2kg flourpack to retail at $3.86 from $3.45, a 4kg flour-pack will sell at $7.70 from $6.89, and a 10kg flour-pack to $18.97 from $16.95.

The Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission says these changes

have been made after the review of conversion costs following submissions by manufacturers, which was part of the last price review for wheat products, which was conducted in April this year.

It says wheat manufacturers in the country had requested an increase in the cost of wheat productsduetothesurgeinglobalwheatprices.

Calls for inquiry into Fiji govt’s ties to South Korea’s Grace Road Church Fiji’s opposition parties have called for an immediate inquiry into a South Korean religious sect accused of abuse and ritual beatings after a report from investigative journalists alleged it had received millions in Fijian government-backed loans. The Grace

Road Church — which is often described as a “doomsday cult” — has been in the spotlight since its founder was sentenced in 2018 to six years in prison in South Korea for child abuse, false imprisonment and assaulting church followers in Fiji.

Memphis woman cremated in Fiji, husband charged with murder The family of a Tennessee pharmacist who died on her honeymoon in Fiji decided to cremate her in the South Pacific nation rather than bring her home because her body was badly damaged, a lawyer representing the family said Thursday.

Christe Chen, 36, died earlier this month at the exclusive Turtle Island resort. Her husband Bradley Robert Dawson, 38, has been charged with her murder and made his first appearance Wednesday at Fiji’s Lautoka High Court.

22

Saturday, July 30, 2022

Asa Singh Johal Memorial Cup at the Nations Cup Tournament was held in Richmond on July 17,2022

NDP calls on Liberals to extend program to bring Afghans to safety Press release

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NDP Critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Jenny Kwan, issued the following statement: “Following the withdrawal of American and NATO forces after 20 years of military intervention, we witnessed in horror the Taliban take over Afghanistan in August 2021. Many have fled the country and are seeking asylum, while others have been left behind in an evacuation that started too late and ended too early.

A year ago, the Canadian government announced the Special Immigration Measures for Afghans so that they could get to safety.

Instead of expeditious processing, the application process is opaque, confusing and mired in bureaucratic red tape. The NDP exposed that 2,900 applications referred by the Department of National Defence (DND) are ‘lost’ between departments. Additional files referred by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) also cannot be found. To date, there has been no explanation from IRCC on what

happened to those applications, while people continue to be hunted down by the Taliaban.

Despite this sad reality, the Special Immigration Measure for Afghans is coming to an end. Automatic response indicate that ‘…this mailbox is no longer receiving applications.’ That means many who assisted Canada on missions, and their families may never make it to safety.

A former interpreter who also provided training to other interpreters was forced to flee to Pakistan, leaving his family behind when the Taliban came searching for him. The Taliban took his son in for interrogation. Canada owes this interpreter and countless others like him a great debt of gratitude. Yet, his emails to DND, GAC and IRCC eight months ago went unanswered. He received nothing more than an automatic reply from this government.

In addition, women’s organizations that were funded by the Canadian government and worked on advancing women’s rights and democratic rights are also being left behind.

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1, 2 & 3 Bedrooms & Townhomes Available

9908 King George Blvd, Surrey, BC Open Daily 11:00 am - 5:00 pm | 604.583.9866

All renderings reflect the artists’ interpretation of the project only and do not take into account the neighbourhood buildings, physical structures, streets, and landscapes. The developer reserves the right to make modifications, substitutions, changes brands, sizes, colours, layouts, materials, ceiling heights, features, finishes, and other specifications without prior notification.

This is not an offering for sale. Any such offer may only be made with the applicable disclosure statement and agreement of purchase and sale. The Piano Limited Partnership. E & O.E.