The Asian Star November 27 2022

Announcements come after public security became a focal point of recent municipal elections. Premier David Eby presented a range of new measures aimed at boosting public safety in communities across B.C. Sunday, one of his first major policy announcements since taking office.

Eby spoke at Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Park, two days after being sworn in as B.C.’s 37th premier on Friday. He was accompanied by officials such as Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim and the Vancouver Police Department’s Chief Constable Adam Palmer.

Dubbed the “Safer Communities Action Plan”, one of the more significant promises is to expand emergency mental health response teams to more communities — after criticism over police handling of mental health calls.

The public safety measures come after a summer of heightened concern about alleged “repeat offenders” in B.C.’s cities, and what the government has described as an increase in addiction and mental health challenges brought on by the pandemic and the toxic drug crisis.

Why is Canada inviting 1.5 million immigrants in next three years?

Canada has dramatically increased the immigrants’ entry to boost its economy amid the labour shortage crisis. Last year, the country took in 405,000 permanent residents, the highest-ever count. And, this is to increase further in the next couple of years.  According to the Immigration Levels Plan 2023-2025 released

last month, Canada aims to welcome 465,000 new immigrants in 2023. Then in 2024, the target is to invite 485,000 new immigrants and 500,000 new immigrants in 2025. That is, almost 1.5 million new immigrants coming to the country over the next three years. As per a BBC report, Canada’s immigration inflow is about eight times the number

Continued on page 7

Proposed BC law would end age restrictions, rental bans in strata housing

New legislation from the B.C. NDP govt this week to revoke strata bylaws restricting rentals is ultimately intended to lower housing costs but may actually

have the opposite effect, among other unintended consequences, critics say.

The Condominium Home Owners Association of BC says its research shows

Lifting pandemic stimulus sooner would’ve limited inflation: Bank of Canada’s Macklem

The Bank of Canada and the federal govt could have taken their foot off the gas sooner when stimulating the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Tiff Macklem said Wednesday, but he added that knowledge is only clear now with the benefit of hindsight.

Macklem and Senior Deputy

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residential stratas with rental restrictions do not have many empty units, whereas stratas without such restrictions have higher vacancy rates.

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A B.C. mother is facing charges of driving while impaired and driving while over the legal limit after a woman was found passed out drunk behind the wheel of her truck on Nov. 17.

Her infant child was strapped into their car seat in the back, and her dog was also in the backseat.

She had also previously been involved in a hit-and-run collision in Oceanside earlier that same day, police said.

Nanaimo RCMP said officers were first called on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 10:30 a.m. to the

Continued on page 6

Governor Carolyn Rogers spoke to the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Finance Wednesday evening, where they were grilled by members of Parliament about the impact of higher interest rates on Canadians’ finances and on the central bank’s monetary

Premier Eby tackles public safety in sweeping set of new measures

Nanaimo mother found passed out drunk behind the wheel with her baby & dog in the back

Two slain in Coquitlam gangland shooting Wednesday

Two people are dead and one wounded after another targeted shooting — this time in Coquitlam Wednesday night. Residents near Dawes Hill Road and Mundy Street captured the aftermath of the fatal shooting on video and in photos posted online. Coquitlam RCMP Cpl. Alexa Hodgins said gunshots rang out at about 7:45 p.m. in the area.

Frontline officers responded after receiving multiple 911 calls.

“Officers located multiple shell casings and two unresponsive victims inside a vehicle suffering from gunshot wounds,” Hodgins said. “One victim was pronounced deceased on scene while another was transported to hospital and later succumbed to their injuries.”

The third victim was also taken to hospital with a non-lifethreatening gunshot wound, she said.

“The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has been called and will be working in partnership with the Coquitlam RCMP,” Hodgins said.

The dust is still settling following a leaked report earlier this week that outlined severe accountability and structural issues with the organization of Atira Women’s Society, the non-profit entity tasked by BC Housing to deliver and operate a significant number of provincially funded social housing and supportive housing projects.

The report was independently conducted by BDO, and commissioned by BC Housing, which had become increasingly concerned by Atira’s “series of annual

night

“Police are seeking any witnesses or persons who may have video footage, including dashcam, surveillance or cellphone video to contact investigators.” Sources said later Wednesday that the victims have links to groups involved in the Lower Mainland gang conflict – which has seen dozens of tit-for-tat murders in recent years.

The double murder comes the same week that Statistics Canada reported an increased homicide rate nationally in 2021, largely due to an increase in fatal gang shootings in B.C. and Ontario.

“Police reported 184 gang-related homicides in 2021 (out of 788), accounting for nearly one-quarter (23%) of all homicides,” the report said. “In 2021, there were 33 additional gang-related homicides compared with 2020, resulting in the highest rate recorded in Canada since comparable data were first collected in 2005.”

In B.C., almost a third of 2021 murders were gang-related, which is considerably higher than the national average, the report also said.

Search for two suspects continues after ‘brazen and violent’ Lower Mainland ‘crime spree’

Police are still looking for two suspects connected with the armed robbery in Port Coquitlam Tuesday that snarled traffic from Burnaby to Surrey and beyond.

According to the RCMP, two other people were arrested hours in. However, no charges have yet been laid.

“This is a significant investigation, multiple crimescenes,multipleavenuesofinvestigation, and it will be some time while we continue with our investigation,” explained Coquitlam RCMP Insp. Darren Carr Wednesday.

“What I can say is that we are communicating with other agencies to determine if or what other offences they may have been engaged in, and that’s certainly part of our investigation.”

The “crime spree,” described by Carr as “extremely brazen and violent,” began at a car dealership in the area of Lougheed Highway and Dominion Avenue around 3:30 p.m.

The suspects and police are said to have shot at each other as a high-speed pursuit unfolded. Shots were fired outside the dealership, and then “onto the roadway.” No officers were hurt in the exchange, though police say it’s unclear if any of the suspects were injured.

suspects then tried to run, with police arresting one man before he could get away.

A second suspect is said to have then carjacked a nearby vehicle, driving to Surrey where they were eventually taken into custody.

Hodgins says the carjacked victim “suffered minor injuries.”

Carr admits it’s always risky for officers to shoot at suspects when they are in a heavily populated area.

“Our members conduct a constant risk assessment in terms of the situation that they encounter, and their action are always measured and appropriate to the circumstances, ultimately, from the perspective of protecting the public and not harming the public,” he explained.

He says the suspects were masked at the time. Police are working to provide a better description of the two remaining suspects who have yet to be arrested.

deficits, a pattern of late financial reporting, and repeated correspondence and meetings regarding cash flow deficiencies.”

Although the analysis was completed in November 2018, four years ago, the report’s findings are still relevant as it is widely believed Atira’s operational issues have not only been largely unaddressed if addressed at all, but they have further greatly deteriorated. All the while, BC Housing has since provided more contracts to the controversial operator.

Police incidentLeft: Coquitlam RCMP on Highway 1 westbound before the King Edward overpass.

“Multiple victims at the car dealership were injured during the armed robbery. Luckily, none of the victims suffered any gunshot wounds or seriously, life-threatening injuries,” explained Corp. Alexa Hodgins.

She says the suspects then left the scene in a stolen vehicle, crashing it on Highway 1 near the King Edward overpass. The

“As far as we know at this point, the two individuals that are not in custody, they were part of a collective, highly violent event and they’re still out in the community, they’re not in custody. So, certainly, we’re concerned that they’re out,” Carr said of the suspects who remain at large.

The hours-long ordeal snarled traffic through multiple communities and forced several SkyTrain stations and bus stops to close during the evening rush. Hodgins says many of the decisions were made as police were “actively seeking the suspects.”

“This was done as there was immediate risk at that time to public safety and we wanted to ensure that we could locate any suspects immediately,” she added.

Scathing report on BC Housing partner Atira prompts calls for full audit

3 aarrested after Coquihalla Highway police chase, hunt for suspects in Metro Vancouver carjacking: RCMP

Merritt RCMP have arrested three people in connection with a Metro Vancouver carjacking after an attempted traffic stop led to the closure of the Coquihalla Highway on Wednesday.

Sgt. Josh Roda said officers from several units attempted to stop a black Dodge Ram on the mountain highway, believing the vehicle had previously been stolen in Coquitlam, B.C., around 130 kilometres to the west.

But police said the vehicle tried to evade officers by taking a side road off the highway between Hope and Merritt.

When the vehicle became stuck, Roda says three people ran from the vehicle. Witness reports said one of the suspects was carrying a firearm, according to police.

Officers from Merritt RCMP and the South-East District Emergency Response Team began a ground search, and soon found and arrested a woman.

Several hours later, two male suspects were found and arrested without incident.

Coquihalla Highway closed for 4 hours due to ‘police incident’

During the search, a nearby Trans Mountain pipeline worksite was evacuated for workers’ safety and the highway was closed for several hours, police said.

“Without knowing [the suspects’]

identities or their intentions, and reports indicating they were armed, we felt it was best to keep all members of the public from the scene,” said Roda.

A still taken from video shot during a closure of the Coquihalla Highway on Nov. 23, 2022, shows a line of emergency vehicles rushing to deal with an undisclosed incident.

A still taken from video shot during the closure of the Coquihalla Highway on Nov. 23 shows a line of emergency vehicles driving toward the scene of an attempted traffic stop and escape of three suspects. (Kevin Cage)

BC’s top court turfs convicted child killer Andrew Berry’s appeal

The British Columbia man who killed his two young daughters on Christmas Day in 2017 has been denied an appeal of his conviction by the province’s highest court.

Andrew Berry claimed the lower court made numerous errors, including that the judge allowed the jury to hear evidence of incriminating statements he made to first responders, hospital staff and his sister.

He was convicted in 2019 of seconddegree murder for the deaths of fouryear-old Aubrey Berry and six-yearold Chloe Berry, who were found stabbed to death in their beds in the Victoria-area community of Oak Bay.

The trial heard Berry claim he was

attacked by a man connected to a loan shark and his two daughters killed, but the Crown claimed his “long-simmering animosity’’ toward his estranged partner led him to kill the girls.

Andrew Berry was convicted in 2019 of killing his daughters Chloe and Aubrey on Christmas Day 2017.

In a unanimous ruling by three members of the B.C. Court of Appeal, the judges dismissed Berry’s appeal, saying the trial judge didn’t commit any errors that would prompt them to change the verdict.

Berry was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 22 years.

Temperatures across most of British Columbia are expected to shift into cooler and colder-than-normal territory through most of next week, according to meteorologists.

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) said a “switch in the weather pattern” beginning late this weekend will start bringing “much colder temperatures” to the province.

“Recently, we’ve been in a westerlysouthwesterly flow for the last few days and we’re going to start to see more of a northerly flow over the province and a ridge of high pressure building from the north, particularly into the northern part of British Columbia,” said ECCC meteorologist Alyssa Charbonneau on Wednesday.

Temperatures expected to shift to cooler-than-normal territory across B.C

OPINION

The public broadcaster has outgrown its taxpayer-funded mandate and Canadians can’t afford it. It’s time to defund the CBC.

While many Canadians were suffering from lockdowns, job losses and pay cuts, the CBC was handing out pay raises and bonuses.

Documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation show the CBC spent more than $51 million in bonuses and pay raises during the years 2020 and 2021.

In unrelated news, CBC went cap in hand to the government and came back with a 10-gallon hat full of cash.

The federal fiscal update delivered another “$42 million to help CBC recover from the pandemic,” according to the National Post .

In Budget 2021, the Trudeau government gave the CBC an extra $21 million to “ensure its stability during the pandemic.”

This extra money is on top of the annual funding the corporation already gets from government.

Taxpayers pay about $1.2 billion per year for the CBC.

That amount could instead pay the salaries of more than 13,000 nurses . It could cover the grocery bills for 100,000 families . What we pay for the CBC equals the annual income taxes for the population of Nanaimo .

The CBC’s original mandate in the 1930s was to air Canadian news and entertainment over the radio waves. Comedy and drama shows were broadcast to compete with the popular programming emanating from powerhouses such as CBS Radio in New York.

Farmers check the satellite images of stormfronts on apps like World Weather Inc. Parents put their kids in snowpants based on what their smartphone recommends. We watch our shows on commercial TV, YouTube and Netflix.

Hockey? That stuff’s like coffee, you can get it anywhere nowadays.

But today, the CBC is a big government monster that’s gobbling up tax dollars like it’s at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

The corporation has about 7,500 employees , it deals with 11 different labour unions , and it lists more than 600 personalities on its website. It has a 12-person board of directors, and eight people sitting on its senior executive team.

Catherine Tait is the president and CEO of the CBC. She is paid a salary of between $422,600 and $497,100 per year and is entitled to a performance bonus of up to 28%.

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CBC is a government monster gobbling up tax dollars by Kris Sims

Youth hit in face with firework in Surrey

Police are looking for a white car after they say someone drove up to two young people and shot a firework at them, hitting one of them in the face.

Surrey RCMP say it happened Tuesday (Nov. 22) at 12:38 a.m. They say the victim and a friend were on 148 Street near the intersection of 104 Avenue and 148 Street when a small, white, fourdoor hatchback (with a sunroof) drove slowly past them and an occupant of the vehicle fired a firework at the pair.

The firework hit the victim’s forehead and “minor injuries were sustained.” Police say the victim came to the detachment at 10395 148 Street after he was hurt.

RCMP say the investigation is in early stages

and it appears to be an “isolated incident.”

Investigators have reviewed the traffic camera footage from the intersection and released a photo of the suspect vehicle. Police say there were two other vehicles in the area that may have witnessed this incident.

Police are asking for anyone in the area who witnessed the incident or has dash camera footage to contact police. The suspect vehicle was travelling south on 148 street at 12:34 a.m. when the firework was shot off and then the vehicle turned right (westbound) onto 104 Avenue.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502

Canadian study visa rejection rate touches 50% as Punjab students turn to UK

With a high rejection rate and huge backlog for Canadian student visas, Punjabi youth is turning to the UK for student visas. As per the British High Commission, around 1.20 lakh sponsored study visas were issued to Indian students till June 2022 by the UK in one year and of these, 40 per cent are Punjabi students. Earlier, Canada was the most sought-after destination for studies by students from Punjab, but with the rejection rate touching 50 per cent, parents and dejected students now prefer to apply to the UK.

The only eligibility for a UK study visa is an overall score of 6 in the IELTS exam with minimum 6 bands in each of its components — reading, writing, speaking and listening.

An immigration consultant said, “Delay and high rejection rate for Canada has dejected students, who are nowadays opting for the UK as it has a 100 per cent success rate with students requiring only a 6-band score in each component of the IELTS exams.

Universities in the UK are also offering various scholarships to the students as well.”

A girl student from Bathinda, who had applied for a Canadian study visa for September intake earlier this year, said,

“My visa was rejected without any reason, so now I have applied for a UK study visa and I’m hopeful of getting it soon.”

Some education consultants are of the view that this trend is primarily due to the high pendency rate of applications in different categories, fraud documentation by students in some cases, licensing issues with certain private colleges and rising cases of gang wars involving Punjabis in Canada.

Apart from the 100% success rate of the UK study visa, another major reason for the UK getting student attraction is that the UK has reopened the work norms that allow students to work for two years after completion of their study course.

This has been done to facilitate their efforts in repaying their education loans. India and the UK are working closely to support student mobility and create better opportunities for Indian students to succeed in a global job market.

The launch of the graduate route or the announcement of the Graduate Entrepreneur Visa (Tier 1), which allows graduates with a business idea to set up their businesses in the UK stands as a testament to the UK’s efforts for extending support to Indian students.

Man taken to hospital after shooting at Burnaby house

A man was taken to hospital with nonlife-threatening gunshot wounds to his arm and leg after a shooting in Burnaby Monday night. Emergency crews responded to the 3800 block of Nithsdale Street in the Cascade Heights neighbourhood shortly before 11 p.m. for reports of shots fired, according to an RCMP news release.“When police arrived, they found several people at a home, including a 47-year-old man who had been

shot in the arm and leg,” the release stated. The investigation is still in the early stages, according to police, but there are early indications the shooting was targeted and may have involved several suspects who fled the area. As of Tuesday morning, investigators were still gathering details from witnesses who were at the home during the shooting.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Burnaby RCMP at 604-646-9999.

Upset Hindus urge British Columbia firm to withdraw Ganesh-Lakshmi leggings & apologize

Upset Hindus are urging Salt Spring Island (British Columbia) based firm Hannah Stone Apparel for immediate withdrawal of leggings carrying images of Hindu deities Ganesh and Lakshmi; calling it highly inappropriate.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, said that Lord Ganesh and goddess Lakshmi were highly revered in Hinduism and were meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to adorn one’s legs, thighs, calves, knees, groin, genitals, waist, crotch, pelvis. Inappropriate usage of sacred Hindu deities or concepts or symbols or icons for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees. Zed, who is President of Universal

Society of Hinduism, also urged Hannah Stone Apparel to offer a formal apology; besides withdrawing Lord Ganesh and goddess Lakshmi leggings from its website. Apparel companies should not be in the business of religious appropriation, sacrilege, and ridiculing entire communities. It was deeply trivializing of the immensely venerated Lord Ganesh and goddesses Lakshmi to be displayed on leggings; Rajan Zed emphasized. Hinduism was the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about 1.2 billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken frivolously. Symbols of any faith, larger or smaller, should not be mishandled; Zed noted.

Guns, drugs and $90K cash seized from homes in Abbotsford & Surrey

A police investigation recently resulted in the seizure of drugs, guns and $90,000 in cash from two residences in Abbotsford and Surrey.

Sgt. Paul Walker, media officer with the Abbotsford Police Department (APD), said three men in their 20s were arrested and have been released pending further investigation.

Walker said the APD’s drug enforcement unit (DEU) began the investigation in July following several overdose deaths connected to a known drug-trafficking operation.

He said the DEU identified and targeted the suppliers and street-level dealers.

DEU investigators executed search warrants at the two residences on Nov. 10, with the assistance of the APD crime reduction unit, patrol section and the forensics identification service,

as well as the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit and the Integrated Emergency Response Team.

Walker said the search turned up a total of 1.3 kilograms in drugs that included fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine with a street value of $200,000.

Also seized were three handguns – two of which contained suppressors – and cash.

APD Sgt. Mike Hanninen said all three men arrested are Abbotsford residents with links to the Lower Mainland gang conflict.

“DEU will continue to target known members or associates of the (gang conflict) who operate and sell fentanyl within Abbotsford, leading to overdose deaths within our community,” he said.

From page 1

Lifting pandemic stimulus sooner would’ve limited inflation: Bank of Canada’s Macklem

policy decisions’ effects on inflation. The bank’s benchmark interest rate has risen 3.5 percentage points since March in an effort to tamp down the rising cost of living, but Macklem said Wednesday that the Bank of Canada is “still far from its goal” of ensuring “low, stable, predictable” inflation. The annual inflation rate held steady across Canada in October at 6.9 per cent — down from the peak of 8.1 per cent seen in June but still well above the central bank’s target of two per cent. “This tightening phase will draw to a close. We are getting closer, but we are not there yet,” Macklem said. The U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of Canada’s counterpart south of the border, has also suggested that the pace of rate hikes could soon slow, according to recently-released minutes from its meetings in early November. But Macklem conceded Wednesday that inflation, while initially a globally-driven phenomenon with supply chain issues and the war in Ukraine, might not have gotten as bad if the central bank had stopped stimulating the economy sooner during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Between 2020 and 2021, interest rates were at a low 0.25 per cent and the bank was engaged in quantitative easing — adding more bonds to its balance sheet to further lower interest rates and stimulate the economy. Macklem noted this practice ended more than a year ago and the bank has since begun quantitative

tightening by letting its existing bonds expire.

Read more: Half of variable mortgage holders with fixed payments have hit trigger rate: BoC

Click to play video: ‘Bank of Canada governor explains process to determine interest rate hikes, but can’t specify a standard number’

3:33 Bank of Canada governor explains process to determine interest rate hikes, but can’t specify a standard number

But in response to questions from Conservative Party MPs Marty Morantz and Andrew Scheer, Macklem acknowledged that stimulating monetary policy could have been lifted sooner.

“If we knew everything a year ago that we knew today, yes I think we should have started tightening interest rates sooner to withdraw the stimulus,” he said, adding that stimulus was “an important factor that generated a very strong recovery.”

Bank of Canada Senior Deputy Governor Paul Beaudry also said in a September speech that lifting stimulus sooner on a global scale could’ve limited inflation.

Macklem ultimately did not label the Bank of Canada’s monetary policy response to the pandemic a failure on Wednesday. Instead, he called for a review of the bank’s own response to the economic uncertainty and how effective its tools were at mitigating the impact and recovery from the pandemic.

Premier Eby tackles public safety in sweeping set of new measures

From page 1

Eby also plans to launch “repeat violent offender response teams” by April 2023, made up of police and dedicated prosecutors, to deal with what opponents have called a “catch-andrelease” model for alleged repeat offenders.

“Being compassionate, concerned and taking action on mental health and addiction issues does not mean that we have to accept repeated criminal behaviour or violence,” Eby said in a statement.

The premier said the new measures follow an investigative report released by the province in October, which called for an expansion of mental health supports. Eby says there will also be a revamp of the way information is shared between prosecutors and police, designed to help courts make clearer bail decisions and eliminate confusion, according to the premier. Some policies related to bail hearings are expected to go through as early as Tuesday.

The premier says the province will expand virtual bail hearings, so alleged offenders in smaller communities will not have to travel to larger “hub towns”, where they have little supports, to attend court. Indigenous justice centres and asset seizures

In addition to the measures around socalled repeat offenders, Eby said he plans to shore up addictions care at Vancouver’s St. Paul’s Hospital, though he provided few details as to what the new approach will be.

There is also a commitment to further fundingforbraininjurytreatmentservices,and more mobile mental health emergency teams.

Ten new Indigenous justice centres are set to open across the province, according to Eby, who says he wants to offer more access to culturally appropriate legal services for Indigenous people.

It’s unclear where the new centres will open — the province’s statement only

mentions “metropolitan areas” — but it says five are set to open next year.

“The reality is in our criminal justice system ... Indigenous people are over represented at significant amounts,” said Kory Wilson, director of the B.C. First Nations Justice Council.

“[The new policies are] going to help,” said Wilson, adding that she doesn’t know how quickly the changes will take place. “I’d like to snap my fingers and make it happen immediately — but we know there’ll be trials and errors.”

Another significant policy announced by Eby is proposed legislation to bring in “unexplained wealth orders”, which he says will dissuade those attracted to gang lifestyles. That legislation will be tabled in early 2023.

The orders would seize the “houses, cars, and luxury goods” of organized criminals— something recommended by the Cullen Commission on money laundering earlier this year.

Costs for the entire range of new measures were not provided at Eby’s news conference. However, the province says it will invest $3 million to create the new mental health crisis teams, and $3 million per year on the virtual bail system.

‘Velvet glove over an iron fist’ Elenore Sturko, the B.C. Liberal MLA for Surrey South and a former RCMP officer, questioned why the plan wasn’t introduced by Eby during his five years as attorney general.

“Not that some of these are not great ideas, but my disappointment lies in the fact that this opposition, police agencies, Urban Mayors Caucus, and people right across the province have been asking for some of these measures,” she said in an interview.

“The fact that he has saved this announcement for the Sunday after he is announced ... it’s actually, it’s disgusting to me.”

From page 1

Nanaimo mother found passed out drunk behind the wheel with her baby & dog in the back

the parking lot of the North Town Centre Mall.

They found a Ford F-150 pickup truck in park but the engine was still running.

The officers tried to repeatedly rouse the woman by yelling and knocking on the windows but were unable to, police said.

They called for Emergency Health Services and the fire department to help them remove the woman from the vehicle.

They were eventually able to wake her and remove her, police said, and she and her child were taken to the hospital.

“While being transported by EHS, officers detected a strong odor of liquor on her breath which provided grounds to pursue impaired driving,” Nanaimo RCMP said in a release.

At the hospital, both mother and child were medically examined. The child was turned over to their father and the woman was transported to the Nanaimo detachment.

While at the detachment, two samples of her breath were obtained, both being 2.5 times over the legal limit. She was issued a 90-day roadside prohibition and her vehicle was impounded for 24 hours.

From page 1

eight times the number of permanent residents each year - per population - than the UK, and four times more than its southern neighbour, the United States Why Canada is betting high on immigration?

Two significant factors are leading to country’s growing immigration targets - an acute labour shortage and at the same time, there are one million job vacancies in the country.  Labour shortages are majorly impacted by Canada’s low birth rate of 1.4 children per woman, one of the lowest globally. The country has one of the world’s oldest populations.

Approximately nine million people, or nearly a quarter of Canada’s population, will reach retirement age by 2030.

To ease the immigration process further, the country has announced to relax the rules for Express Entry draw, the pathway to invite international skilled workers to the country by offering permanent residency.

Accordingly, from 2023, the Express Entry system will transition away from a focus on CRS scores and conduct draws that allow Canada to welcome immigrants that help the country better focus on addressing specific areas of labour market need and weakness.

However, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada expressed that it will “consult a wide range of stakeholders to inform new categories in Express Entry” to ultimately decide on the details of the new

Association executive director Tony Gioventu wrote to the government during a consultation period on strata property rental bylaws in September, stating, “the expectation that the removal of rental bylaws will result in a solution for rental housing, has no correlation to the statistics.”

Furthermore, by lifting the restrictions, it opens the door to greater speculation on the part of investors, he said.

The association examined over 1,000 strata units in 12 stratas in Vancouver and found the greatest vacancy rate is within buildings constructed since 2010 and with no rental restrictions (averaging 18-24 per cent in 2022) whereas properties with rental bylaws average a vacancy rate of up to four per cent.

“There appears to be no compelling benefit to eliminating rental bylaws other than the optics of providing potential rental housing where no vacancies exist, placing the burden of this solution on strata owners across B.C.,” stated Gioventu.

immigrants

format. How Canada immigration policy is different from the US and the UK?

Canada’s policy is unique as it emphasises on economic immigration - about half of Canada’s permanent residents are welcomed because of their skills, not under family reunification.

In the UK, a bit over one in four permanent residents are welcomed through the economic stream. In the US, only about 20% of green cards are issued for economic reasons. Both countries have signalled they hope to increase the proportion of economic immigrants entering their respective countries, but a big difference for both countries is that most economic immigrants must be sponsored by their employers, the BBC report cited.

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Why is Canada inviting 1.5 million

in next three years?

Proposed BC law would end age restrictions, rental bans in strata housing

BC govt provides $230 million to RCMP to fund rural policing, specialized units

The B.C. government is providing a major infusion of cash for policing across the province to bulk up specialized units and rural police forces.

Premier David Eby announced late Wednesday afternoon a $230 million investment over the next three years to fill staffing vacancies and increase staffing at specialized units.

The announcement comes following the release of the government’s public safety plan on Sunday.

The funding will ensure adequate and effective levels of policing and law enforcement across the province, particularly in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities, and in a wide variety of specialized teams that investigate and prevent complex violent and organized crimes.

“Everyone deserves to feel safe, and my government is working on every front to protect our communities and make them stronger,” Eby said.

“As part of our Safer Communities Action Plan, we will help ensure that the RCMP can operate to its full capability to keep people safe. The actions today will help stabilize policing and provide our provincial police force with the staff resources they need to address public safety concerns head-on.”

The government has been under fire from the BC Liberals for being soft on crime.

The investment allows the provincially-funded regional RCMP units to reach their fully authorized staffing levels of 2,602 officers.

Hiring additional officers in specialized units such as the Major Crimes Section, the Sexual Exploitation of Children unit, and the BC Highway Patrol is also part of the funding.

Man, 25, killed in Coquitlam had ties to the Lower Mainland gang conflict: police

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has identified one of the men killed Wednesday night in Coquitlam.

Investigators said on Thursday that 25-year-old Ramin Salam of Coquitlam was shot and killed in the area of Dawes Hill Road and Mundy Street around 7:30 p.m.

Sgt. Timothy Pierotti of IHIT said Salam was known to them and they believe it was a targeted shooting connected to the Lower Mainland gang conflict.

Two people died in the shooting but investigators are not identifying the second person at this time.

They have not identified the other person killed in the shooting at this time.

When officers arrived on the scene they found multiple shell casings and two unresponsive people

inside a vehicle, police said. Both were suffering from gunshot wounds.

One victim was pronounced dead at the scene and the other was transported to the hospital where they later succumbed to their injuries.

Police also said a third victim was found suffering from a nonlife-threatening

gunshot wound and was also taken to the hospital.

Police are asking any witnesses who may have video footage, including dash cam, surveillance, or cellphone video to contact investigators.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to call the IHIT Information Line at 1-877-551-IHIT

A driver is paying a steep price after being caught speeding by Surrey RCMP.

Stopped for going 119 kilometres an hour in a 60 km/hr zone, the driver was trying

to pass a lineup of cars at 152 Street and Colebrook Rd., Surrey RCMP said on Twitter.

Police issued the driver a $365 fine and the car was impounded for seven days.

Surrey school stabbing left 18-year-old dead suspect arrested, victim identified

The 18-year-old was killed in stabbing outside Tamanawis high school in Surrey identified on Wednesday, as homicide investigators said they had arrested a 17-year-old suspect.

Police and emergency crews arrived at the school around noon on Tuesday, where they found Mehakpreet Sethi with critical injuries. He was taken to hospital but did not survive.

RCMP arrested a suspect, identified by witnesses, at the scene.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said it believes the suspect and victim knew one another, and that the killing wasn’t related to the ongoing regional gang conflict.

“We know there were many students in the area around the time this tragedy took place,” IHIT Sgt. Timothy Pierotti said.

“If you or one of your loved ones has information that could help shed light on why this young man was killed, please contact IHIT immediately.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: “If you or one of your loved ones has information that could help shed light on why this young man was killed, please contact IHIT immediately.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact the IHIT tip line at 1-877-551-IHIT (4448) or by email at ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

Daycare operator sentenced to 20 months in jail after Baby Mac died in her care

A Vancouver woman who operated an unlicensed daycare where a toddler died in 2017 has been sentenced to 20 months in jail and 12 months probation.

In April, Susy Yasmine Saad pleaded guilty to failing to provide the necessities of life to nine children, including 16-monthold Macallan Saini, known as “Baby Mac.”

The details surrounding Baby Mac’s death were revealed in a civil suit his family launched against Saad claiming negligence.

The suit alleges that the boy had been left unattended at the East Vancouver daycare and choked on an electrical cord.

Crown prosecutors were seeking two years in jail for Saad, while her team was seeking a conditional sentence, which would mean no jail time.

In October, Baby Mac’s parents gave victim impact statements describing their pain and horror at losing their child.

“I still look for him because I will never accept that he is gone. And I will never see

him again. Missing Mac is like missing a piece of my heart. I’m not who I was before and I’ll never be that person again,” Shelley Sheppard, Macallan’s mother, told the court.

“This is a life sentence for me and my family … I thought I would have decades to be with Mac, decades to learn who he was as a child, as a boy and as a man … I dream of who he would be now and what he would like. I missed out on his life and all the firsts a mother should experience.”

Chris Saini, the boy’s father, said the death left him “shattered in a million pieces.”

“No matter how I try I can’t feel complete. I can’t trust anyone. I think everyone is lying to me and out to get me,” he said.

“One of the most damaging effects of Mac dying is that almost six years later I still worry about him. I have dreams that he’s in danger and I can’t help him. I catch myself worrying about him walking between two cars, parked cars on the street and getting run over.”

Excessive speeding in Surrey costs driver $365 and the vehicle impounded for 7 days

Ontario great-grandmother, 83, wins $60 million Lotto Max jackpot

A Vancouver woman who operated an unlicensed daycare where a toddler died in 2017 has been sentenced to 20 months in jail and 12 months probation.

In April, Susy Yasmine Saad pleaded guilty to failing to provide the necessities of life to nine children, including 16-monthold Macallan Saini, known as “Baby Mac.”

The details surrounding Baby Mac’s death were revealed in a civil suit his family launched against Saad claiming negligence.

The suit alleges that the boy had been left unattended at the East Vancouver daycare and choked on an electrical cord.

Crown prosecutors were seeking two years in jail for Saad, while her team was seeking a conditional sentence, which would mean no jail time.

In October, Baby Mac’s parents gave victim impact statements describing their pain and horror at losing their child.

“I still look for him because I will never accept that he is gone. And I will never see

relief measures

Governments looking to provide inflation relief to Canadians should choose measures that are well targeted and temporary, says Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem.

At a House of Commons committee meeting Wednesday, Conservative MP Adam Chambers asked the governor which of two options is a better way to deliver relief without fuelling inflation: direct transfers to low-income Canadians or energy relief packages.

In response, the governor said targeted and temporary measures fuel

him again. Missing Mac is like missing a piece of my heart. I’m not who I was before and I’ll never be that person again,” Shelley Sheppard, Macallan’s mother, told the court.

“This is a life sentence for me and my family … I thought I would have decades to be with Mac, decades to learn who he was as a child, as a boy and as a man … I dream of who he would be now and what he would like. I missed out on his life and all the firsts a mother should experience.”

Chris Saini, the boy’s father, said the death left him “shattered in a million pieces.”

“No matter how I try I can’t feel complete. I can’t trust anyone. I think everyone is lying to me and out to get me,” he said.

“One of the most damaging effects of Mac dying is that almost six years later I still worry about him. I have dreams that he’s in danger and I can’t help him. I catch myself worrying about him walking between two cars, parked cars on the street and getting run over.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered his most detailed explanation yet on Wednesday about what kind of “interference” he brought up with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a meeting earlier this month.

At the recent G20 summit in Indonesia, the Prime Minister’s Office told reporters that Trudeau raised serious concerns with Xi about Chinese “interference” in Canada, but offered no specifics.

In a rare unplanned exchange caught by cameras, Xi later confronted Trudeau about the fact that details had been shared with the media. “Everything we discuss has been leaked to the paper; that’s not appropriate,” Xi said through an interpreter.

During question period in the House

of Commons on Wednesday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre asked, “What specific interference was the prime minister referring to when he raised his serious concerns about interference with the Chinese president?”

“We’ve known for many years that there are consistent engagements by representatives of the Chinese government into Canadian communities, with local media, reports of illicit Chinese police stations,” he said.

“These are all things that we continue to be concerned about, that our officials stay active on and that we will continue to be vigilant around to keep Canadians safe.”

TransLink program encourages employers to subsidize workers’ transit

inflation less than broad-based ones.

“Policies aimed at mitigating the effects of inflation on citizens really need to be targeted, targeted on the most vulnerable, and temporary, temporary while this is an inflation problem,” Macklem said.

The federal government along with provincial governments have responded to high inflation with measures aimed at softening the blow on Canadians’ finances. While some measures have been targeted to lower-income earners, others have been broad-based.

TransLink is rolling out a new certification it hopes will help boost ridership while helping employers with recruitment challenges and sustainability goals.

The new Transit-Friendly Employer Certification (TFE) will be available to employers that subsidize a portion of their employees’ transit fares.

TransLink says the certification will be the first of its kind in Canada.

“By subsidizing transit passes for their employees, Transit-Friendly Employers will be demonstrating their commitment to climate action by encouraging people to get out of their cars,” the transit and transportation agency said in a media release.

“The program also provides employers an attractive employee retention measure, as transportation costs represent the second-highest household expense in B.C.”

To be certified, employers must pay for at least half of employees transit passes. Large employers with more than 200 employees must sign up at least 10 per cent of their workforce, while smaller employers must sign up 25 per cent.

TransLink says employers can also customize their involvement in the program, including choosing suitable subsidy levels, incorporating pay-as-you-go passes for staff who don’t commute every day and multizone passes for people with longer commutes.

Inflation

should be ‘targeted and temporary’: BoC governor tells committee

Trudeau elaborates on what Chinese ‘interference’ he discussed with Xi at G20

Public service will swell to 409,000 in five years, PBO says

The seven-year hiring spree in Canada’s public service will continue with billions of dollars in additional spending that will push the size of the workforce to about 409,000 jobs within five years, says the parliamentary budget officer.

Treasury Board President Mona Fortier tabled the government’s latest spending plans – known as supplementary estimates (B) – asking Parliament to approve another $21 billion. That’s among some of the biggest asks in supplementary estimates other than emergency spending to deal with the pandemic. In his latest report, Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux estimates $2.3 billion of this additional spending is needed for the salaries and benefits of an expanding bureaucracy, which pushes the wage bill to $55 billion this year. That’s more than $130,000 per full-time employee.

The government has been on a hiring binge since 2015, which kicked into overdrive to deal with the pandemic. The big hires were at:

Development Canada: 8,500,

government eliminated thousands of jobs. The PBO said spending on personnel grew

since the Trudeau government was elected. That’s about a four-per-cent increase in compensation for each full-time employee.

jittery public servants who may have braced for restraint and for the axe to begin to fall on federal jobs. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s economic update revealed nearly $22 billion in new spending, much of it on internal

Giroux said anyone looking to the economic update for signs of the departments reallocating money or reducing

amounts that were announced in or before the fall economic statement, oh yes, they

The $21-billion ask in the supplementary estimates covers a raft of spending measures that bypassed the normal financial cycle.

looking to speak with anyone who might have been threatened, harassed or intimidated by alleged undeclared Chinese “police service

approximately one month after CBC News first reported that the federal police service is investigating reports of police stations

refers to illegal activity targeting Canadian interests, interfering in Canadian society or threatening national security. That includes attempts to “threaten, harass, influence, intimidate, corrupt or discredit individuals, organizations and governments

50 such locations exist worldwide, including three in the Toronto area — a residential home and single-storey commercial building in Markham and

The group’s campaign director previously told CBC News that in most countries, the alleged police stations are more likely to be a network of individuals rather than a physical location that people might be brought to.

activities that are specifically targeting the Chinese diaspora in Canada and is investigating to determine any

deeply concerned about the possibility unauthorized police stations are on its soil.

But there’s more coming. In the fall economic statement:Canada to recruit and train more border guards, to help hire and keep case managers, positions to tackle backlogs.

On top that, Chief Information Officer Catherine Luelo says the public service

military is short about 10,000 members.

By PBO’s count, the public service –including the military – grew from 342,000 jobs in 2015-16 to 391,000 in 2020-21. That means the public service bounced back

budget, another third is for Indigenous reconciliation and the rest is for initiatives that were not in the budget or the fall economic update. The spending approval for them was crammed in the six months between the budget and fall update.

announced in budget 2022 to save $9 billion over five years? Federal unions, which have faced four reviews since the Mulroney era, initially saw them as code for cuts.

But Giroux said the impact of the reviews will barely be noticed.

For the spending review, the government was looking for $3 billion in savings to begin in 2023-24.

The Chinese embassy told CBC News local authorities in Fujian, China, had set up an online service platform to assist Chinese nationals abroad with things like driver’s licence renewals — but that the stations are serviced by volunteers who are “not involved in

acknowledging but declining to detail the FBI’s investigative work on the issue.

“But to me, it is outrageous to think that the Chinese police would attempt to set up shop, you know, in New York, let’s say, without proper coordination. It violates sovereignty and circumvents standard judicial and

Visit our Website www.theasianstar.com

angry all the time, his father recalled in a recent interview. The teen started getting into more and more trouble both in and out of school — skipping classes, fights, vaping, then evidence of drug use and even drug point, the worried father found a replica handgun in his son’s possessions.

real name, learned of a new program

Department known as Pathways. gang prevention coordinator, Pathways youth before they join an actual gang or become entrenched in a criminal lifestyle.

“The program is designed to prevent at-risk youth and young adults from have a three-pronged approach. One is

pillars are interconnected, and they

where he was a police officer for 10 and two outreach workers on his team.

we may face challenges in the beginning of the intervention … we have not had a single case whereby the parents or the youth have withdrawn

ago after a referral from his son’s school. about the program. I had that feeling … this program can help my son and possibly bring him on the right path. “

Through a lot of hard work and continuing support from the program, doing a lot better. “The whole family is onboard including my son. There are some successes. The risk factors are lower, but

RCMP wants to speak to anyone harassed by alleged Chinese ‘police service stations’ in Toronto area

Abbotsford anti-gang program aids families of at-risk kids

Sonakshi Sinha from rebilious kid to beauty queen

‘Double XL’

The film aimed towards making a socially relevantpointandspokeagainstbodyshaming.

relatability with her character because

transformation has been commendable.

weight because perhaps they went through the same thing when they were young.

journey which started whe she was 18. “I was huffing and puffing and couldn’t stay on a treadmill for more than 30 seconds. That’s when I decided to lose weight. Not because I wanted to be an actor but because

Tabu plays police officer in ‘Drishyam’

No one but Tabu could’ve played cop in ‘Drishyam’

garnering plaudits for playing a mother in Haider, versatile & beautiful Tabu talks and walks back on the silver screen with more power as a police officer in new film Drishyam

goes to any lengths to unmask the truth. The role is touted as ‘the toughest role she has ever portrayed’, read a statement. Drishyam, a thriller directed by Nishikant Kamat, also features

plays a middle class family man named Vijay

was rebellious when told to lose weight at

to lose weight and when someone says that constantly, one tends to get rebellious, said

mother stopped telling her, it struck to her that she should do something about her weight.

start from home and her mom also realised that while watching the film.

mothers who tell their daughters to lose

before he switched to the Indian National three children – she has two (twin) brothers, graduated in fashion designing from Premlila

characters are recurring pattern in Tabu’s choice of films - be it Cheeni Kum or Chandni Bar. This time too, the actress will play the role of IG Meera Deshmukh, who

Dharmendra still young at heart

Dharmendra, Deol, for him, it can be said that ‘Age is just a number’. The fitness and vivacity of Bollywood’s Veteran actor remains intact even at this young age of 86. Dharam pa ji is still young at heart. Dharmendra takes care of his health and he is very active at social media as well.

any chance to get entertained.

By sharing the news on social media, Dharmendra fulfilled the proverb of ‘Ek Panth Do Kaaj’.

The video of Dharam Pa ji shared on Instagram cycling and grinding wheat at the same time. The fans are once stunned by the act of this actor.

Viacom 18 Motion Pictures Production, presented by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, Drishyam is being jointly produced by Kumar Mangat

Cycling, wearing tracksuit and a cap, Dharmendra has reminded the fans of the past movies such as Sholay. The caption with the video read ‘Cycling, cycling, cycling and grinding mill…and grinding… and grinding.. haha’.

doing workouts as well as grinding wheat, the fans once again came down in praise of him.

One wrote ’86 years old young boy… Yeh hai garam dharam’ and the other wrote ‘You are very down to earth’. May God give you a long life and keep inspiring us like this every day.

Alia & Ranbir to name their newborn baby girl

reportedly shortlisted a name for their baby girl and it is said to be a tribute

the birth of the little one, reports claim that the star-couple has picked a name and it has a special connection with her late

Neetu Kapoor in tears after they revealed their decision to name their on Bollywoodlife, the new parents are eager to share the name they picked for the baby

to a very close friend of both the families who said, “Chintu uncle was the one who would have been the most excited at

fatherhood. One of the regrets of the family

Kapoor also shared his excitement about the new arrival to the family and said, “My must be delighted in want everyone has not yet revealed the name of her baby girl or shared any photo of the little one, the actress did make her return to social media by sharing a photo in which she is seen holding a mug that reads, first film with Priyanka Chopra and

busy on the sets, shooting his films to make sure he wraps up work in time so

Kayastha family while her mother

Veteran actor Vikram Gokhale passes away

Veteran actor Vikram Gokhale who was admitted to Pune’s Deenanath few days back is no more. and film actor Chandrakant Gokhale, he is known for his roles in Marathi theatre, and Vikram Gokhale is known for essaying the role of

Vikram Gokhale who was admitted to the actor had been in the hospital for the past 15 days and his condition was critical.

known for his sting in films and theatre breathed his last at Pune’s Deenanath

thespian’s condition has worsened and he has stopped responding to treatment. any official statement on the actor’s worsening health conditions. Television actor and former Bigg Boss contestant react to the news of his demise. The actor

took to Twitter to share an image of Vikram and wrote, “May god rest your soul in peace

actor Chandrakant Gokhale, he is known for his roles in Marathi films and television.

debut in 2010

plays, he retired from stage activities in 2016 following a throat ailment.

actor and his nephew Yashwant Gaikwad Bharatiya Marathi Film Corporation, intending to give artists a rightful place

old-age home and an open stage for performances by artists will be constructed in this space at Nane village in Mulshi taluka of Pune district in Maharashtra.

Vikram Gokhale is known for essaying the Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam in Bollywood hits like Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Dil Se, De Dana Dan, Hichki, Nikamma and Mission Mangal among others.

has been popular model before becoming Bollywood star. her name in Bollywood by 1990 in Delhi.

modeling, she made her acting debut in a Telugu Bollywood movie was ‘Heropanti’ for which she as the best debut female. Besides that, she has completed her Bachelor of Technology degree in Communication.

acting in movie ‘Dilwale’ which was one of the highest gross eaning movies of that year. in 2022 came with Bachchhan Paandey, marking her

Is Vicky afraid? ‘aaj khaana nhi milega’

Vicky Kaushal expressed his desire to choreograph wife Bollywood beauty Katrina Kaif.

a jibe at her dancing skills, he worried if he would get food at home once Katrina sees it. desire

taking, Vicky joked that he may not get food at home once his wife sees the interview. The actor is gearing up for his upcoming film, Govinda Naam Mera and the interview was

part of the film’s promotions. Govinda Mera Naam stars

Pednekar. The film directed by in the role of a choreographer. In a promotional interview for the film, Vicky and other stars were asked who they would like to choreograph if given a chance.

“I would like to choreograph Katrina Kaif, woh theek thaak dance karti hai, talented hai ladki better kar sakti hai. Bas aaj khaana is a talented girl but can do much better.

second collaboration with Kumar. The film was a box office bomb, grossing ₹69 million) against a budget of ₹180 crore million).

reunite with Vikas Bahl’s action film Ganapath and Dhawan in the horror comedy Bhediya. in Om (2023), costarring Prabhas and also reteam a remake of the Telugulanguage

Kriti Sanon

Some recent homebuyers will find rate hikes painful as

mortgages go up: BoC

rate mortgages will find the adjustment to higher interest rates more painful, said Bank of Canada senior

Young Canadians in Finance in Ottawa Tuesday, the senior deputy governor said the share of households with a variable-rate mortgage has increased over the last year. These mortgage holders by interest rate hikes.

news email alerts sent directly to your inbox “Mortgage costs for some Canadians have already increased, and they will likely according to her prepared remarks.

pandemic as Canadians rushed to take advantage of low interest rates. Now, as interest rates climb back up, recent homebuyers with variable-rate mortgages are seeing their borrowing costs go up.

New research from the Bank of Canada finds variable-rate mortgages now account for about onethird of total outstanding mortgage debt, up from about one-fifth at the end of 2019.

going toward interest costs rather than the principal is adjusted when interest rates increase.

If monthly interest charges exceed the monthly mortgage payments, the borrower reaches the

they may need to increase their monthly payments

The Bank of Canada estimates the percentage of Canadian mortgages that have reached this trigger rate is 13 per cent.

raised interest rates six consecutive times, embarking on one of the fastest monetary policy tightening cycles in its history. Its key interest rate has increased from 0.25

New BC housing laws will lift rental restrictions in strata, set housing targets for municipalities

measures including proposed laws that could order fast-growing municipalities to meet housing supply targets and end rental restrictions based on age or type of building.

The proposed measures were promised by B.C. faces a growing housing crisis where more housing is need for both renters and buyers.

If passed, the proposed regulations in mid-2023, while proposed amendments to the

which if passed would end certain rental restrictions, including those that limit tenants to people 19 and older or 30 and older — which essentially bans young families with children.

on condo owners renting their units.

The province estimates there are about 300,000 strata units that may be subject to

stratas to have bylaws banning short-term

growing communities in communities are estimated by the province to fall into this category — to establish housing targets in consultation with the province.

The target-setting is intended to be a collaborative approach. Municipalities will figure where and how that housing is built.

The province did not say Monday which municipalities have been flagged as being in an urgent state of need, only that those municipalities will be notified after the

The government also plans to introduce

planned to tackle when he was sworn in on Friday in Vancouver.

minister before running for premier, released a housing plan during his fall leadership

targeting speculators and protecting renters.

under his leadership would fast-track government land for some projects, make all secondary suites across the province legal and allow homebuilders to replace a single-family house with up to three units on the same lot.

The matter of secondary suites is not specifically addressed in measures being announced this morning.

More signs of the beginning of the end of Canada’s housing correction

The latest numbers on Canada’s housing market caused a bit of a stir when they came out last week. market adjusted to the higher cost from online realtor Zoocasa.

rose 1.3 per cent in October from the month before, the first monthly gain since 60 per cent of Canadian housing markets saw an increase, and new listings rose for the first time in four months, a possible sign, says Zoocasa, that buyers and sellers are sick of sitting on the sidelines and ready to get back in the market.

“In October, sales across the country increased for the first time since before interest rates started

the demand was there, so it’s just been a matter of some playing the waiting game as

economists also saw green shoots in the data. October’s monthly home sales gain potentially signals that the market is nearing a bottom after falling 36 per cent over the past seven months, wrote in a note.

“Canada’s housing market may be entering the

Leading the way in gains for the country was Victoria, where sales rose almost 20 per cent from the month before in

released. “Of course, we’ve known

digit percentages. Toronto and Calgary were pretty much flat, while sales fell in Ottawa by 2.9 per cent, Montreal, by 2.4

BC govt to bring in rental changes, supply laws to boost housing

The British Columbia government has introduced sweeping changes to boost the housing supply, and while local governments say they want to do their laws will have on their communities.

B.C. Municipalities, which represents local governments in the province, said the

“The complex challenges fuelling B.C.’s constructive partnership between the “This is meant to be a long road of collaboration and working together

that will end rental restrictions and force local governments to meet housing growth targets.

is outpacing supply and more must be done to raise the number of rental properties and increase home building in communities.

pieces of legislation tabled Monday aim to increase housing supply with measures

The province will work with local governments on the housing targets and removing rental restrictions on apartment Local governments strongly support “the legislation leaves a number of analysis of the proposed legislation.

to current official community plans, regional planning and growth management plans, including urban sprawl and address climate adaptation and

The analysis says because the target elements of the legislation remain undefined,

said housing is one of the most critical issues that he will immediately address.

“This is one more piece in our journey

said the legislation marks the start of a housing supply initiative that could take up to five years to show results.

“I think this is how you open up necessarily be immediate results as opposed to providing direction for

The legislation includes provisions that allow the province to force local governments to comply, although the province said it doesn’t expect that will be necessary for communities facing a housing crisis.  to be a framework for co-operation between the province and municipalities, but the government will have the power to ensure local governments meet housing development goals.

“This bill isn’t targeted at any as housing minister before becoming premier, had expressed concerns about delays in permitting approving for developments in communities.

Ottawa announces $250-million grant to help homeowners switch to heat pumps

The federal government has announced a $250-million grant program to help Canadians stop heating their homes with oil and switch to electric heat pumps.

provide up to $5,000 for low- and middle-

income homeowners.

Fraser says the money will cover costs such as the installation of heat pumps, the electrical upgrades removal of oil tanks.

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The minister says eligible homeowners will be able to combine the new grant with existing federal and provincial programs that assist with home heating.

Fraser says the grant will be made available early in the new year.

is in addition to an envelope of $250 million in federal funding over four years assist people with home heating costs.

Anwar Ibrahim - From protest leader & prisoner to Malaysia’s PM

sworn in as prime minister on Thursday, capping a three-decade political journey that has seen him cast as esteemed protege, protest leader, prisoner twice convicted of sodomy and opposition leader.

been denied the premiership despite getting within striking distance over the years: he was deputy prime minister in the 1990s and the official prime minister-in-waiting in 2018.

unprecedented post-election crisis after after speaking to several lawmakers.

prime minister, who has spent about a decade of his life in prison.

youth leader before joining former prime minister Mahathir Mohamed’s

Nasional alliance of political parties. Mahathir, prime minister since 1981,

in addition to his existing role as finance expected to one day succeed Mahathir. But the pair fell out after disagreeing

the ensuing protests, launched a crackdown sodomy, a crime in Malaysia, a move he said aimed to put an end to his political career.

remarkable comeback for then-92-year-old

ahead of the campaign politically, and it was the leadership reins, given Mahathir’s age.

with a black eye, which then became the symbol of the political party he started. Later, the police chief at the time admitted

jailed again for sodomy and corruption charges in 2015, two years after leading the opposition to its best electoral performance supporters placed blame on the government

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Andaman gets set to host G20 presidency meeting

the much-awaited meetings of the G20 Presidency, which will be held in the on November 26, official sources said.

which is a nearly two-and-halfhour sea journey from Port Blair in government ferries and private cruises.

The delegates will reach Port Blair in a chartered flight on November 25 and the meeting will take place the following day, the sources said. They will likely depart

Considering its popularity and mesmerising natural beauty, the G20 secretariat in New Delhi decided to hold one of its meetings

of traditional dance and music, have been lined up for the guests, who will also be served delectable local recipes, they said.

The delegates will also undertake a tour of and Nicobar Islands, the sources added.

for the event, and are gearing up to accord the delegates a warm welcome. Not only will this bring our beautiful islands on the global map as far tourism is concerned, it will also lead to

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renewable energy, one of the most complex dimensions of the transition is the obligation imposed upon developing the worst impacts of climate change.

growth to meet climate targets, when they were not the nations that caused the climate crisis in the first place?

It’s a point that India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, raised at the 2021 COP26

pledged that India would hit net zero by countries, and a decade later than China.

Meanwhile, the world’s richest countries pledged to contribute to a fund that would help developing countries deal with climate disasters.

There’s also good news about climate ivestment coming out of India. The largest solar farm in the world is located

electricity to power 4.5 million homes.

“There was very little experience in India, and there were no real airtight regulations

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India is harnessing renewable energy through the world’s biggest solar farm

Air India to launch non-stop flights to 6 US, European cities early next year

enhance global reach, the Tata group-owned new international flights from Delhi and Mumbai. These flights will connect the two

The airline will launch flights connecting Mumbai to New York, Paris and Frankfurt and will also resume nonstop flights from Delhi to Vienna, Milan and Copenhagen.

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“This expansion comes as the airline continues to make progress in augmenting its fleet with newly leased

aircraft, and the return of existing

The new Mumbai-New York flight will start on February 14, 2023. The daily

The airline will resume four new weekly flights between Delhi and Milan from February 1. Three weekly flights between Delhi and Vienna will start on

of flights on the Delhi-Copenhagen route will start on March 1, 2023.

to strengthen India’s global network,

Not China but India is best tourism market

company said during a special event at the Vietnam embassy in Delhi that, “after complete China closure, India is the best

at the Vietnam embassy in Delhi that India is the best tourism market for Vietnam.

Thailand but Vietnam is emerging new

tourists to visit Vietnam and explore the thousand-year cultural links between the two countries, especially the Cham

NHAI tells Mysuru corporation to demolish dome-shaped bus shelter

City Corporation (MCC) to remove the contentious dome-shaped roof of a bus shelter in Mysuru. In the letter

the construction of the bus shelter had given rise to communal issues in the area.

had stopped the construction work of the bus shelter many times. It also said that the controversial issue surrounding the bus week’s time has been given to remove the

This comes days after Mysuru MP Pratap the bus shelter with a dome-like design the shelter’s roof – which he compared to not do so. The visuals show three domeshaped structures on top of the bus shelter.

social media of a bus stand on which there was a big gumbaz and besides that, there were two smaller gumbadz… it is a masjid.

Indian aerospace firm delivers first standard parts consignment to American company

firm and the provider of designed complex

reported saying. The move is expected to give the much-desired and chased push to the goal of ‘aatmanirbharta’ or self-reliance in the defence and manufacturing sector.

in the process to give the best services to Indian tourists coming to Vietnam instead of going to Thailand. “People prefer to go

flights less than 5 hours away, travelling to

partners of an Indian company for two-way beneficial cooperation between VietnamIndia inbound and outbound tourism.

The consignment is part of the contract transported essential and one-of-a-kind aerospace components for various Boeing on completing the first consignment for us. It is yet another demonstration of the company’s global manufacturing capability – this truly is Make in India Mon-Fri

enhanced its manufacturing skills, and the business claims to have established a near-flawless production system by extensively investing in technology and cutting-edge infrastructure.

“The breakthrough is the direct outcome of planning, rigorous production, and

space activities in line with the Government

Retired army jawan ‘beaten’

for protesting namaz onboard train in MP

police, officials informed on Tuesday.

US and Indian troops are teaming up for tough training in the Himalayas near a tense border with China

seen as a message to each other and to China about the strength of their relations.

a group of Muslims obstructing the aisle of the coach in which he was travelling along with his family as

The Muslim men reportedly belong to the Nizammuddin Markaz and the ex-soldier was allegedly beaten by pantry officials of the train near Betul in MP. The incident is narrating his plight went viral on Tuesday. The group of Muslims had boarded

the hospital for treatment, the pantry officials were arrested and the group of Namazis were deboarded by the

AAP MLA

evening. The retired soldier, Vilas Naik, along with his wife and children, was travelling to Vishakhapatnam

him in a self-recorded video, he wanted to relieve himself, but was denied passage by the group performing namaz in the aisle of the coach.

men from Nizamuddin’s Markaz were

In the said video, Naik said that the Muslim men sat in the aisle of the compartment barring the movement of people inside the train.

Singh Yadav beaten up by his party workers in Delhi

allegedly thrashed by his party workers on Monday, purportedly for selling Municipal Corporation of Delhi

This year’s version of the exercise is being held near India’s disputed border with China.

India strengthen their ties and manage rising tensions with China.

of the annual exercise to train in cold, mountainous conditions with Indian troops.

tensions with China, and the training is

the early 2000s. In 2021, it took

this year are members of the

Division, which was reactivated this summer to focus on operations in extreme cold and mountainous conditions — a skill set getting renewed attention

BJP’s Varun Gandhi lauds video of Japanese fans cleaning up after FIFA World Cup match

took to Twitter to share a video that showed

social media handles. In the video, Yadav can be seen in the midst of a heated argument with a group of party workers following which, he is manhandled and hounded out of the office.Delhi

claimed that Yadav was thrashed by the

India proposes guidelines to combat fake online reviews and ratings

India launched a crackdown on Monday against fake consumer reviews and unverified ratings in a bid to make the online world and e-commerce more authentic and less misleading for users.

The government has drafted guidelines

Google, Meta Platform’s Facebook and sites and food delivery apps that depend on reviews to validate products and services. Positive reviews help generate sales and interest from potential buyers.

by consumers and industry experts for downplaying negative reviews, or accepting fake ratings, making the vetting process difficult for buyers.

“Feedback mechanisms such as reviews

welcome the steps being taken by the government ... and are obliged to be said a spokesperson for Zomato.

a framework for checking fake and deceptive reviews in e-commerce,

Food & Public Distribution said.

“The new guidelines for online reviews are designed to drive increased transparency for both consumers and brands and promote

founder of LocalCircles, a community platform and pollster which made the initial submission to the Department the committee drafting the guidelines.

all patriots must learn from the “cultural ethos of decency and empathy that this

up used water bottles and food boxes from the floor of the stadium stands and throwing

decided to clean the stadium. It’s not even

are cleaning up a place that is not related

from the ground and either kept them on

India workers face painful exit from the US

including at firms like Twitter, Meta number of Indians working in the

speaks to workers who are facing the prospect of being forced to return to India if they don’t find another job.

11,000 employees losing their jobs.

I couldn’t access my computer, nor Ms Gupta is likely to be a familiar

Miss Bharat-California contest, she was featured most recently in the Netflix show Indian Matchmaking. Now she is among thousands of educated and skilled immigrant workers

On 9 November, Meta, which owns announced it would cut 13% of its the firm’s history which resulted in

allows firms to employ foreigners for up to six years in positions for which they have

Gulab

Punjab IPS officer faces HC wrath for failing to answer in drug case

In a major embarrassment for the Punjab Police, the Punjab and

faltered in her cross-examination. Despite being a senior officer of the state, she could not remember or come out with the details in a case where the accused were too, was carried out in a slapdash manner.

that the drug menace was undoubtedly that alone was not sufficient to fasten criminal liability on the accused and its case by leading cogent evidence.

the judgment dated October 9, 2019,

Income Tax officers raids leading Ludhiana jewellers

The Income Tax department conducted raids on leading jewellers here on Thursday. simultaneously raided the premises of showrooms, in the wee hours of Thursday.

The teams were accompanied by police.  There was panic among jewellers in the city as word spread. The shutters of the showrooms were down and

It is expected that the raids, conducted under the supervision of the Directorate, Investigation, will continue till evening.

Police invoke UAPA in Dera Sacha Sauda follower’s murder

killed by six assailants on November 10. The police claimed that investigation

the case, revealed that he, in connivance with Canada-based Goldy Brar and others, had planned the attack with the intention of creating terror among a particular section of society due to which they had decided to invoke the

Pakistan

Uber abandons its growth-at-all-cost strategy in Pakistan

local competition and aggressive abandoning its growth-at-all-cost strategy, and is shifting gears in Pakistan.

On October 11, the ride-hailing giant notified its users in Karachi, Islamabad,

Faisalabad, Multan, and Peshawar that it was discontinuing service in the cities; it continues to maintain a presence in Lahore. To continue getting rides in the places it has to Careem, the local ride-hailing company

Pointing out spelling mistake leads to contempt conviction for Fiji lawyer

guilty of contempt of court over a Facebook post pointing out a spelling mistake. its decision after court proceedings

Fiji court justice 2015 The post showed a picture of a judgment

that had the word ‘injunction’ misspelt, with Naidu adding the applicant wanted to have it correctly spelt.

5 for mitigation and sentencing.

described the post as malicious and inviting others to mock the judiciary.

Fijian economist wary of Fiji’s debt servicing scenario

Thirty-two cents in every dollar that government collects in revenue is going be very concerned about this scenario, economics lecturer Dr Neelesh Gounder.

spend on infrastructure and to fund public services, businesses do the same.

“But the real issue is when a debt continues to grow, but your income is not growing faster than your debt. “Our debt is slightly over 85 per cent of

GDP and in the 2021-2022 fiscal year, 32 per cent of all the revenue the Government

the remainder is then available for spending in public services and infrastructure.

“You can see that every dollar the Government collects, 32 cents of the the remainder of the 68 cents, then, is available for the government to spend.

continue to grow, then more and more revenue is going to go towards debt

Chaudhary dances on TikTok, Rabuka in a humorous skit

From dancing to acting in a humorous skit. Two of Fiji’s former Prime Ministers are getting creative on the popular social media app TikTok to appeal to youth voters.

has recently been featured in a TikTok video with a local social media influencer in a humorous skit while Fiji Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhary has loosened up and busted a move in a

choreographed dance with a group of youths on the platform. It’s a far cry from the two former Prime Ministers’ traditional and rigid style of political leadership, vision, and campaigning back in the day.

below the age of forty, the two leaders recognize the power of social media as a tool for campaigning and visibility.

Country’s defence minister Khawaja

Imran Khan sold one gold medal he received from India during his sports years, now a days Pakistan’s former prime

Pakistan on Thursday named its former weeks of speculation over an appointment that comes amid intense debate around the military’s influence on public life. In a Twitter post, Information Minister appointment would be ratified

minister is in crosshairs amid gifts scandal, including one wrist-watch he bought from the state gifts depository ‘‘Toshakhana’’.

discounted price from the state gift depository.

retire on November 29 after six years in what is normally a three-year post.

Pakistan military is often accused of meddling in the politics of a country that has experienced numerous coups and been ruled by generals for extended periods since its army chiefs is often a highly politicized issue.

appointment may prove controversial with supporters of former Prime Minister Imran

Trail of sale gifts from Toshakhana available with govt: Imran Khan

Former Prime Minister, Imran and Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman from Toshakhana during their tenures

that ‘‘the trail of sale of gifts from Toshakhana is available in government records’’.

address to his party’s long march, and after he was accused of corruption and selling gifts given to him when he was prime minister.

Imran Khan-baiter Asim Munir is Pakistan’s army chief

Defence minister claims, Imran Khan ‘sold’ gold medal he received from India

Dear Community Member,

On Friday, November

18th, David

This is a time of exciting transition and change for B.C., and I know David is keen to hit the ground running to tackle the challenges British Columbians are facing.

The past few years have been difficult ones, with two public health emergencies putting strain on our healthcare system, and global inflation contributing to

build a better future for themselves and their families, and people should know that David is in their corner.

Our team will be tackling these challenges head-on as we work to build a better present and future for you. Together, we will work to our communities safer, strengthen

Tara Singh Hayer (Nov. 15, 1936 –November 18, 1998)

was an Indo-Canadian Times newspaper Canada on November 18,1998 after reporting about terrorism, he was recognized with hundreds local, provincial, national and international

our healthcare system, fight climate change, and continue meaningful reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.

I’m looking forward to the work ahead and continuing to serve you as your representative on David’s team.

I also want to recognize and thank

his service and dedication to the people of B.C. During these past few difficult years, I have been grateful for his leadership and his friendship.

or concerns about any provincial issue, please don’t hesitate to reach

AutismBC report an indictment of NDP’s autism funding clawback

present their report, Parent and Caregiver Perspectives on Family Connections Centres,

the NDP’s callous and harmful decision to end direct funding for children with autism, as 96 per cent of survey participants want continued access to the program.

NDP should have done before announcing their ill-thought-out policy change more

show some respect to the families before him and immediately reverse the autism funding

Critic for Children, Family Development and Childcare. “For the past year, the autism community has held multiple rallies,

voice their fears that forced transition to the Family Connections Centres will be traumatic for children and families, create another waitlist and make families compete against one another for resources and services in a system they are already struggling with. If the

Premier wants to do good by these parents,

The survey of 1,563 participants shows that parents and caregivers of autistic children overwhelmingly anticipate the change in service model to have a negative impact, and are concerned about having current connections with service providers disrupted.

NDP to maintain all existing supports and services, until a formal policy review can be conducted to get the best support in place for all neurodivergent and disabled children.

“The BC Liberals have opposed this unfair funding clawback from day one but the NDP have simply refused to listen, leaving thousands of families scared for

report has valuable feedback regarding the availability and accessibility of supports for children and families. It is my hope that the recommendations and give families

journalist who, through his or her work, has made an important contribution to reinforcing and promoting the principle of freedom of the press in Canada or elsewhere. In 2000 Tara

non-French origin to be added to the as one of the International Press Institute’s 50

honors every year a journalist who has been courages and brought out stories of the marginalized communities. On Friday, November 18th we

my father’s message of freedom of expression and freedom of speech, his message against hate, violence, extremism and terrorism.

freedoms, because then they would win … and we must never let those who promote hatred, extremism, violence and terrorism succeed.

Fear is what drives terrorism around the world, but we must stand united against that, and fight back peacefully as my father did through his

have the courage, as he did, to keep talking about, and keep fighting for our freedoms and our rights.

in Canada, the Commemorative Medal for the

My father’s life was devoted to democracy, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press to speak out against those who try to prevent those freedoms, the right that we in Canadian society hold so precious, to live and speak without fear.

even though he knew he was putting his life in danger, he had the courage to not only speak out about his own beliefs but also speak out for victims and the innocent.

My father believed that it was not right to remain

I would like everyone to remember that only by speaking out, by being strong and unafraid of threats can we win the fight against terrorism,

Only then we will be truly free, and truly able

Dave S. Hayer

Cell 604 833 4000

Jinny Sims, MLA Surrey-Panorama

Statement on the 24th Commemoration of the assassination of newspaper editor & publisher Tara Singh Hayer

Ted Kennedy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/

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