The Asian Star February 16 2019

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Vol 18 - Issue 3 BC fights off superbugs brought home by medical tourists The risks involved in medical tourism aren’t just personal. Having surgery abroad could also mean bringing back a drug-resistant superbug and putting people in this country at risk, B.C. officials warn. That alert comes after the recent discovery that two patients at New Westminster’s Royal Columbian Hospital had been colonized with the multidrug-resistant yeast Candida auris. Though neither patient is infected with the bug, the two join just a handful Continued on page 10

Saturday, February 16, 2019

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Commissioned review will assess lack of money laundering prosecutions - BC govt Attorney General David Eby revealed Monday his government’s second review of money laundering, this one studying real estate, is also examining the lack of money-laundering prosecutions. Postmedia published the results of an investigation that showed successful money-laundering prosecutions in B.C. are rare and convictions of B.C. residents are more likely in the US.

“It confirms some of what I have heard anecdotally from people involved in law enforcement ‌ that it is difficult, if not impossible, to get convictions for money laundering in Canada,â€? Eby said Monday of the findings.“And there is a concern that some of the prosecutions are being farmed out to the United States, instead of going ahead in Canada where they should have Continued on page 7

South Asian father charged with 1st degree murder after 11-year-old South Asian girl found dead

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n 11-year-old girl, who was allegedly abducted by her father after he took her out for her birthday on Thursday afternoon, has been found dead at a home west of Toronto. Her father was arrested shortly after the discovery of her body and is expected to be formally charged on Friday. Peel, Ontario police issued an Amber Alert after 11pm on Thursday, several hours after 41-yearold Roopesh Rajkumar failed to return his daughter, Riya, to her mother. The father made threats to harm his daughter and

I’m concerned for the wellhimself to his former Continued on page 6 girlfriend, Peel police spokesperson Danny being of my daughter, I need Marttini told reporters some help,�’ Marttini said. Friday morning. The “Obviously our investigators girl’s mother alerted took action right away.� The girl police at around 7pm on did not live with her father on a Thursday, triggering an full-time basis, police said, but Riya (left) with her father investigation to locate the Roopesh Kumar was dropped off at a gas station in two before the Amber Alert was issued. Mississauga, Ontario, at about 3pm “She came in already fully concerned so he and saying, ‘This is what he’s saying to me, Continued on page 6

Liberal MLA Linda Reid removed as Assistant Deputy Speaker amid questions about role in spending scandal Liberal MLA Linda Reid, a scandal that has already led to former Speaker of the House the suspension of Craig James, in BC Legislature, was stripped Clerk of the House and Sergeantof her post as assistant deputy at-Arms Gary Lenz. Before a Speaker on Tuesday amid motion could be brought against questions about her role in the her on the first day of the spring spending scandal that promises session, Ms. Reid’s caucus to dominate the spring session. colleagues pre-empted her critics Both the governing New and appointed a replacement. Democrats and the Green caucus Liberal Leader Andrew were seeking Ms. Reid’s removal Wilkinson said MLA Joan Isaacs in the wake of allegations about Continued on page 6 inappropriate spending, a

Surrey real estate agent suspended for 1 year for professional misconduct A Surrey real estate agent has lost his real estate licence for one year after the Real Estate Council of B.C. (RECBC) found he committed professional misconduct. The real estate council made the ruling following an investigation into the activity of Jaswinder Singh, who also goes by Jas Gill (pictured) and that of his wife, an unregistered mortgage broker. The case goes back to 2015, when Gill’s spouse, Ranminder Gill, was investigated by B.C.’s Continued on page 7

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Vancouver may push province for public inquiry into money laundering Vancouver could soon be adding its voice to the growing calls for a public inquiry into money laundering in B.C., something a poll this week suggests just over three-quarters of people in B.C. would support. Coun. Christine Boyle is scheduled to put a motion forward at council meeting on Tuesday, asking that the City formally endorse a call for the provincial government to launch an inquiry into money laundering and how it has impacted Vancouver real estate, and ties between organized crime and the opioid crisis. An RCMP report estimates $1 billion worth

of property transactions in Vancouver could be connected to crime, and an estimated $1 billion a year could be laundered through underground b a n k i n g networks, including casinos in B.C.Boyle says the inquiry should be similar to Q u e b e c’s Charbonneau C ommission, a yearslong public inquiry launched in 2011 into suspected widespread corruption in Quebec’s construction industry, because of the severity and scope of the problem.

Dean Deperon, who helps train drivers, said that Taylor Pro Driving Training his company offers the best options for potential truckers offering things like mountain driving and brake courses ,etc. “We really take care of all your needs from day one to until you are fully trained and until you find a suitable driving job,”he said. “We have a long history of providing ICBC Certified Instructors really know the very best training for truck drivers their stuff! They ensure that furthyou are in - both in the classroom and behind the the competent hands of a true Professional. wheel on the road,”Dean said. When you’ve completed your training, you He said one of the things that his will be a competent and confident operator. company focuses thatbothers may not is With truck drivers being predicted to be actually providing students with mountain in big demand in BC over the next few years, driving experience. there is no better time than now to contact For further information, please call Taylor Pro Driving in Surrey or Kelowna. Taylor Pro Driving at 778-990-5822

Indian man sue parents because he didn’t agree to be born A 27-year-old Indian man is planning to sue his parents for bringing him into the world without his consent. According to some media reports, a Mumbai resident Raphael Samuel identifies as “anti-natalist,” a belief that life is so insufferable that people should stop procreating. “There’s no point to humanity. So many people are suffering,” Samuel said, according to the BBC. “If humanity is extinct, Earth and animals would be happier. They’ll certainly be better off. Also no human will then suffer. Human existence is totally pointless.” Samuel, who acknowledges that it would be impossible to gain consent from an as-yet-unconceived human, has yet to find a lawyer to take up his case. Further tempering his goal, his parents are both lawyers.“I must admire my son’s temerity to want to take his parents to court knowing both of us are lawyers,” his mother,

Kavita Karnad Samuel, said in a statement. “And if Raphael could come up with a rational explanation as to how we could have sought his consent to be born, I will accept my fault.” “I’m very happy that my son has grown up into a fearless, independent-thinking young man,” she added. “He is sure to find his path to happiness.” Samuel created a Facebook page about a year ago called Nihilanand, the BBC reports, where he posts anti-natalist messages eliciting a range of responses. One commenter reportedly advised him to “go kill yourself,” while others have shown strong support for his ideas. Samuel says he has a good life but wanted to sue his parents on principle. “I wish I was not born,” he told the BBC. “But it’s not that I’m unhappy in my life. My life is good, but I’d rather not be here. You know it’s like there’s a nice room, but I don’t want to be in that room.”

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Vol 18 - Issue 3

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Trump administration announces Women Empowerment Programm for India The Trump administration has announced that it will launch two projects in India in partnership with the private sector as part of its historic initiative to empower 50 million women globally to tap their economic potential. The initiative will be led by Ivanka Trump, the senior adviser and daughter to President Trump. US President Donald Trump signed a memorandum to launch the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiativea first-of-its-kind, whole-of-government approach to women’s economic empowerment One of the programmes will be launched in West Bengal. The United States Agency for

International Development (USAID) in partnership with PepsiCo in West Bengal will scale women’s economic empowerment throughout PepsiCo’s agriculture supply chains, he White House said. “The OPIC (The Overseas Private Investment Corporation) USD100 million loan will expand IndusInd’s microfinance lending to women in India,” it added. Further the USAID-UPS Memorandum of Understanding is aimed at improving the ability of women entrepreneurs to export their goods to markets, with an initial focus in Africa, Asia, and Central America.

Modi threatens Pakistan will pay ‘heavy price’ for Kashmir bombing India’s prime minister has warned Pakistan it will pay a “heavy price” for a suicide bombing in Kashmir that killed at least 40 paramilitaries on Thursday, the deadliest attack in a 30-year guerrilla war in the region. Narendra Modi said the “blood of the people is boiling” after a car laden with explosives was detonated beside a convoy carrying 2,500 Indian security personnel on a major highway between the Kashmir and Jammu regions. No official death toll has been announced but two senior police sources in Kashmir have said at least 40 security personnel died in the blast.c The bombing was claimed by the Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed and immediately sparked calls for retribution against Islamabad from across Indian politics and media. “Our neighbouring

country, which has been isolated internationally, thinks such terror attacks can destabilise use, but their plans will not materialise,” Modi said, telling an audience in Delhi that security forces had been given “complete freedom” to respond. India’s finance minister, Arun Jaitley, said there was incontrovertible evidence that Pakistan had “a direct hand in this gruesome terrorist incident” and that all diplomatic measures would be taken to isolate the country. He said Pakistan’s most favoured nation status, a guarantee of equal treatment in trade negotiations, had been revoked – a largely symbolic gesture given the relatively small $2bn bilateral trade relationship between the countries. The White House urged Pakistan in a statement “to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to Continued on page 6

Indian men say fake immigration consultant crushed their Canadian dreams Three men from India say their Canadian dreams have been crushed by an unlicensed immigration consultant. Kamalpreet Singh, Amrit Gill and Gurjit Gill came to Canada on student visas and enrolled at Algonquin College in Ottawa. They each paid Karnail Singh Ghadial $39,000 for help securing jobs that would allow them to stay as permanent residents. Ghadial arranged offers for

the men at a Howard Johnson hotel in Yorkton, Sask., that purportedly paid $18.48 per hour. But Immigration Canada said the job offers were fraudulent. And not only that – the agency rejected the applications from the men and ruled them “inadmissible to Canada” for five years. All of them are now back in India. Singh says he believed the job offer was legitimate, and that Continued on page 6

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OPINION

Saturday, February 16, 2019

BC Liberals collected $3 million in campaign donations from independent power industry while signing deals costing BC families $200 a year A report on BC’s independent power industry released Wednesday reveals that sweetheart deals made by the BC Liberals will cost British Columbians a staggering $16.2 billion over 20 years. That’s an extra $200 on every residential ratepayer’s bill, every year for 20 years. As the BC Liberals signed these deals, the independent power industry filled BC Liberal campaign coffers to the tune of $3 million between 2005 and 2017. The contracts signed with independent power producers required BC Hydro to purchase power BC consumers didn’t need, often at two or three times the market rate. The report calculates that this overbuy cost the public $16.2 billion more than if the BC Liberals hadn’t intervened

at BC Hydro. The report also shows that even as the problems with IPP contracts became clear, the BC Liberal government continued to direct Hydro – often against warnings from BC Hydro and Ministry staff – to pursue these contracts: “In interviews, both the Ministry and BC Hydro advise that Government was made aware of the risks inherent in its directives… Government was purposeful when the only option it left BC Hydro was to buy that energy from IPPs.” (Davidson Report, Page 48) The report also found that “most of the money has left and continues to leave the province,” with 81% of the money flowing

to companies not headquartered in BC. (Pages 63-65) BC NDP MLA on the record: “This is a 16 billion dollar boondoggle with profits going to friends of the BC Liberals. It’s outrageous that these deals are costing BC families, including seniors on fixed incomes, $200 a year. Yet again, the BC Liberals gave billions to their rich friends and stuck British Columbians with the bill. People will be paying for that choice on every Hydro bill they get for the next two decades.” –Michelle Mungall, Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum New Democrat MLAs have raised concerns about the BC Liberals’ IPP contracts for more than a decade.

Staying safe outdoors on Family Day weekend No one expects to have to make a call for help when out on a B.C. backcountry adventure but, unfortunately, it happens all the time. Over the past few weeks, search and rescue (SAR) volunteers throughout the province have been deployed to help British Columbians who have run into trouble in the wilderness. On Family Day weekend in 2018, SAR volunteers responded to 28 incidents. Planning can reduce the number of incidents and could make this Family Day weekend safe and enjoyable for everyone. Whether hiking, snowshoeing, skiing, snowboarding or sledding, it is critical to be prepared when heading out in the backcountry. It is especially important, given the current elevated avalanche risk in some areas of B.C., from snow storms on the coast to lingering problems in the southern Interior. It is also important to monitor safety warnings, including those from Avalanche Canada and Parks Canada.

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Saturday, February 16, 2019 From page 1

Liberal MLA Linda Reid removed as Assistant Deputy Speaker amid questions about role in spending scandal perspective to this challenging role.” In a statement, Mr. Wilkinson did not directly mention the allegations, but said Ms. Reid had agreed to give up her post to create opportunities for newer MLAs. In a report tabled in January by Speaker Darryl Plecas, Ms. Reid is alleged to have turned a blind eye to questionable benefits awarded to the legislature’s clerk and head of security while she was serving as Speaker between 2013 and 2017. Opinion: Culture of entitlement in government isn’t just a B.C. thing, and it’s far from harmless Opinion: Speaker Plecas’s bombshell report a disturbing montage of alleged abuse According to the Plecas report, Ms. Reid heard concerns that four senior officers of the legislature were not entitled to receive “long service” awards worth a total of $660,000, but she did not act. More than $250,000 went to Mr. James, who is currently suspended from his duties while police investigate allegations of misuse of public funds. An internal review found the benefit was not a condition of Mr. James’s employment, but that report disappeared from the legislature’s files and only turned up because a whistleblower produced a copy for Mr. Plecas. Ms. Reid has promised to co-operate with both a police investigation and a forensic audit, but would not stop to speak with reporters on Tuesday. As she walked into the Liberal caucus offices, she would only say she has not yet decided if she will seek re-election as an MLA. “It’s premature.” Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver,

who had called for Ms. Reid’s resignation as assistant deputy Speaker, welcomed the change. “Over the past few months, allegations of systemic financial wrongdoing have emerged at the B.C. Legislature,” he said. “Her decision to step down is an important step, but only one of many that must be taken by all parties to address the alleged abuses of power that have gone on for far too long.” Story continues below advertisement The manoeuvring unfolded as legislators returned to the B.C. capital to hear Lieutenant-Governor Janet Austin read the Speech from the Throne, a mid-term, stay-the-course plan for the year ahead. The minority NDP government carried on with themes that helped them win the recent Nanaimo by-election, promising more investments in low-cost daycare and affordable housing, both programs that were introduced in last year’s budget. The government also promises stronger consumer protections for cellphone services, payday loans and ticket scalping this year, as well as regulation to allow ride-hailing services in B.C. Premier John Horgan told reporters he intends to stick with an agenda to make life more affordable for British Columbians. “We’re going to invest in schools, we are going to invest in hospitals, we are going to invest in our kids,” he said. Ferry fares will be frozen, a poverty action plan will be introduced and rental housing construction will be fast-tracked. Mr. Horgan added that a key piece of legislation this spring will be the introduction

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South Asian father charged with 1st degree murder after 11-year-old South Asian girl found dead on her birthday

in a Brampton home, about midnight. Her father was arrested by Ontario Provincial Police in what has been described as a “highrisk takedown” shortly after in Orillia, Ont., about 130 kilometres north. Tips from citizens responding to the Amber Alert led to his arrest, say police. Investigators will speak with Crown attorneys Friday to determine charges, said Marttini. Meanwhile, forensics teams are combing the Brampton home for evidence. “Because there is a level of the severity of the case, From page 3

there’s obviously the potential for first-degree (murder), second-degree or manslaughter,” Marttini said in a telephone interview with The Canadian Press. “That conversation has to happen between our homicide bureau and the Crown attorney ... That is the spectrum of charges we’re looking at.” Police could not say how the Brampton home is connected to Rajkumar and his family but it’s believed he was renting a portion of the residence.

Indian men say fake immigration consultant crushed their Canadian dreams

Ghadial’s actions have ruined his life. “What has happened to my life? Where has it gone?” said the now 23-year-old. “I did everything in good faith,” he added. The men initially turned to police, who concluded there was enough evidence to lay a charge of “utter forged document” against Ghadial. But Ghadial said he didn’t know the documents were fraudulent, and was only ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution to each of the men. Unhappy with the result, the group tried to get a federal review of the case but were unsuccessful. As a last resort, they turned to small claims court. The judge ruled Ghadial (pictured) had provided false

documents and the men finally got all of their money back. “If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck,” said the judge. What the men really want, however, is a chance to emigrate to Canada. “I heard it’s a country where you get justice,” Singh said. “I didn’t get my justice.” Meanwhile, public filings suggest Ghadial’s company, Impact Immigration Consultancy, is still active. Under federal law, all immigration consultants must be registered with the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council. Ghadial is not. After calling him back to request comment, he said that he no longer consults and that his office is used for a matchmaking service.

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Saturday, February 16, 2019 From page 1

Commissioned review will assess lack of money laundering prosecutions - BC govt

gone ahead, because of that,” said Eby. The first independent report by Peter German, a former RCMP deputy commissioner, was released in June 2018 and concluded money from organized crime was being laundered through Lower Mainland casinos. Eby then commissioned German to examine money laundering in the realestate, horse racing and luxury-car sectors, with a report due by the end of March. Peter German, left, with Attorney General David Eby. Eby said Monday German has been asked to consider why there are few successful prosecutions for moneylaundering in B.C. Nick Procaylo / PNG On Monday, Eby said, he has already asked German as part of his second review to determine why there are few moneylaundering prosecutions, including whether there is a lack of investigative and/or prosecutorial capacity. “I gave (German) examples of specific

Real estate agent suspended for 1 year From page 1

Financial Services Commission (FICOM). The Real Estate Council of B.C. has suspended Jaswinder Singh’s licence for one year. (Jas Gill) Unregistered Surrey mortgage broker ordered to ‘cease and desist’ According to an RECBC document, an undercover investigator approached Singh, claiming he was looking to purchase an investment property. Singh and his wife Ranminder Gill, who goes by “R.G.” in the document, met with the investigator. Gill appeared to be working as an unlicensed assistant to Singh, according to the RECBC. The decision said Singh gave the investigator advice on how to mislead banks to get a better deal and save money. “He could advise the bank that he was going to rent out the property that he was currently living in and move into the new property but to not actually do so, only changing his mailing address,” says the RECBC decision, in describing Singh and Gill’s advice to the investigator. Gill also told the investigator that if he was going to borrow money for the down payment, Gill could provide a gift letter to conceal the source of the funds. “So let’s say if we’re going to be short and you need to borrow, then we tell them, okay, then we make a gift letter. Then we tell them my parents, or whatever, they’re going to give us a gift,” Gill is quoted as saying.

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cases where it appeared that other countries were well ahead of Canada in knowing what was going on — and prosecuting cases,” said Eby. “It is a very significant concern of mine.” Police and experts say the reasons for the lack of prosecutions include issues such as availability of resources and expertise, case management problems, setting of priorities and difficulty in proving money laundering is tied to criminal activities. But it also includes challenges, said police, related to the huge amounts of information that must be disclosed to the defence, as well as new deadlines for prosecutions, a result of a precedent-setting 2016 Supreme Court of Canada decision. When it comes to disrupting major organized crime activities, getting drugs off the streets is the easy part. For officers who

are tasked with following the money, getting charges laid and getting convictions to stick is a big problem. How big a problem money laundering

is, how criminals are trying to move that cash, and challenges faced by the police and prosecutors who are tasked with dismantling these outlaw operations.

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Saturday, February 16, 2019

Kashmir tragedy has many authors but Pakistan and China must carry the lion’s share of blame for shielding terrorists, India has some introspection to do as well

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illions of Indians will by now have seen the twisted wreckage of buses carrying dozens of Indian paramilitary soldiers from the Central Reserve Police Force, or CRPF; at least 37 of them died when a car loaded with explosives rammed into their convoy as it passed through Pulwama district of India’s Jammu and Kashmir state. Jaish-e-Mohammed, a group of militant Islamic extremists who pioneered suicide bombings in the disputed region of Kashmir, claimed responsibility for the attack. As one Kashmiri politician wrote on Twitter, it was “reminiscent of the dark days of militancy pre

2004-05.” Jaish-e-Mohammed is based in Pakistan. Its leader, Masood Azhar, gives speeches freely and the group has built a sprawling training complex in the city of Bahawalpur, which features a wall painting of suitably militant-looking horses bearing down on Delhi’s Red Fort. Periodically, the Pakistani government pretends to crack down on militant Islamists such as Azhar; in fact, the terrorists continue to raise funds,

recruit and strike at will across Pakistan’s borders. Nor is it just India that suffers. The Afghan government tells all and sundry that it cannot defeat the Taliban as long as the militants are supported by Pakistan. Just a day before the Kashmir attack, the Pakistanbased Sunni extremist group Jaish al Adl killed 27 members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, also using a car bomb. Pakistani officials often like to say that their country is among the foremost victims

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of Islamist terrorism. Perhaps. But, their response has been at best to accommodate extremism, and at worst to try and convince terrorists that their efforts are best turned outwards, towards India, Afghanistan or Iran. Indian government officials -- like the Afghans -- are caught in a bind. They have little leverage over the militants’ patrons within the Pakistani military establishment. Nor are the Americans any longer influential enough to help: Jaish-eMohammed went quiet in the mid-2000s at American insistence but reemerged soon enough. The Pakistani military has found a new patron: the People’s Republic of China. Beijing has repeatedly blocked attempts by India at the United Nations to declare Azhar a “global terrorist,” freeze his assets and prevent him from travelling. Nobody can quite understand why the same country that runs prison camps for ordinary Muslims in Xinjiang is protecting a self-confessed jihadi militant. Earlier, only the generals in Rawalpindi were held responsible for attacks such as this one in India. Today, Beijing’s leaders will have to accept their share of the blame. The India of the past would grit its teeth and absorb a blow like this. But Indian public opinion is no longer as patient as it was during the attack on Parliament in 2002 or the siege of Mumbai in 2008. The big box-office success of the past year in India has been a dramatization of the cross-border strikes on militant camps in Pakistani Kashmir launched in retaliation for a similar (albeit less bloody) Jaish-e-Mohammed attack a few years ago. India’s ruling party, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, won state elections following those strikes and it has adopted the movie’s catchphrase as its own. Modi faces reelection in a few months; he’ll be under tremendous pressure to respond as he did then. Yet Modi’s government has a lot of introspection to do as well. The militants released a video of the man driving the explosive-laden car: He was a local, from Gundibagh village in Pulwama. In the decade before Modi took office in 2014, homegrown Islamist militancy in Kashmir had largely died out. In the past five years, it has tragically come roaring back, fed by a series of cynical moves by the government in New Delhi meant to shore up its popularity in the rest of India. Modi’s colleagues in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have tried to paint other Indian politicians as being sympathetic to terrorists. The BJP formed an opportunistic alliance in order to enter Jammu and Kashmir’s state government for the first time, and then abandoned that alliance in a manner that further alienated Kashmiris from Indian democracy. Party supporters own television channels that regularly paint all Kashmiris, not just terrorists, as the enemy. Crowd-control tactics in Kashmir have become ever more brutal, angering locals. And anyone who speaks up for the basic rights of Kashmiris under India’s liberal constitution is considered, in a delightful Indian neologism, “anti-national.” In the process, a once-quiescent Kashmir has been set alight once again. It’s possible Pakistan may want to stir up trouble in Kashmir. But, if it succeeds, then it is New Delhi that will have failed. India’s prime ministers, of every ideology and party, have long sought to control anger in Kashmir and, in the long term, win the state back to the Indian mainstream. Modi abandoned that policy, making his successors’ task infinitely harder.

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Blaming Liberals for hydro rate increases ‘not honest,’ say former energy minister British Columbians are facing an eight per cent spike in their BC Hydro bills over the next five years and political finger-pointing about its cause is in full swing. A new provincial report, released this week by the NDP government, lays the blame squarely on the previous government for signing deals with independent power producers. That decision is expected to cost consumers $16 billion dollars over the next 20 year, according to the report. But not everyone agrees. BC Hydro rates expected to increase 8% over 5 years “I would challenge the narrative that the NDP has set up here,” said former B.C. Liberal energy minister Bill Bennett. “It’s not honest and it’s not true.” ‘Other factors’ Energy prices increase for all sorts of reasons, Bennett argued, particularly when the costs of developing renewable sources are factored in. Hydro customers on the hook for more

than $16B due to B.C. Liberal government contracts: report “That type of power — run-of-the-river, solar, wind, bioenergy — it’s all more expensive electricity than what you get from the heritage assets like the big dams,” he said. “There are a whole bunch of other factors that are driving rates up at BC Hydro.” Bill Bennett was the B.C. Liberal Energy Minister from 2013 until he retired from politics in 2017. ‘Half truth’ B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver criticised the NDP for turning to a blame game rather than addressing larger environmental and energy management concerns. “I’m a little tired, and I think most British Columbians are, of this government standing up and blaming the previous government for this, that and everything else,” Weaver said. “[The report] is very much a political announcement, one that’s actually grounded in kind of half truth and not actually dealing with some of the broader

Statistics Canada says adults living with parents are usually employed and single A Statistics Canada report is digging deeper into what kind of adults live with their parents at a time when more are doing so than ever before. Close to 1.9 million Canadians aged 25 to 64 lived with at least one parent in 2017, more than double the 900,000 recorded 20 years ago, the agency said Friday. Close to 1.9 million Canadians aged 25 to 64 lived with at least one parent in 2017, according to a report by Statistics Canada. 74 per cent of them were employed. Close to 1.9 million Canadians aged 25 to 64 lived with at least one parent in 2017, according to a report by Statistics Canada. 74 per cent of them were employed. In 1995, Canadians at home made up only five per cent of the adult population aged 25 to 64; now it’s up to nine. But experts say it would be wrong to view them as the couch potatoes of the popular imagination. “The image of these lazy twentysomethings sitting in the basement

playing video games is not borne out in the data,” said Nora Spinks, CEO of the Vanier Institute of the Family. While students made up a significant share of adults living with parents, most had paid employment: 74 per cent, only slightly fewer than the 80 per cent of those not living with parents. They were less likely to have worked full-time permanent jobs in the prior year, though: 72 per cent had worked 41 to 52 weeks, compared to 82 per cent of those living apart from their parents. Seventy per cent reported being single, meaning they were unmarried and had no common-law partners. Spinks said financial concerns usually keep adult children at home with their parents because it’s difficult to maintain a household on a single income, even if only one person lives in the home. She said benefits and job security are scarce for young adults, making living with parents easier, more economical or the only remaining choice.

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of cases that have been identified in B.C. since 2017. Dr. Linda Hoang, medical co-director for the Provincial Infection Control Network (PICNet), said most of these cases have come from travellers who have had treatment overseas, including medical tourists. It means patients need to do serious research on the facilities they’re considering for surgeries or other treatments abroad, including looking for objective information about the presence of any drug-resistant microorganisms. Drug resistance likened to a slow-moving tsunami “It’s not only a problem in India or Southeast Asia. It is endemic in parts of the U.S. and parts of Europe,” Hoang told CBC News. “It [antibiotic-resistant superbugs] is a global problem, and the only way to to be aware of them is to make sure that healthcare professionals are informed and our

Saturday, February 16, 2019

BC fights off superbugs brought home by medical tourists residents are informed when they’re seeking health care outside of British Columbia.” It’s a sobering reminder for those who travel abroad for medical treatments, whether it’s to skip the surgery wait list in B.C., access therapies that aren’t approved in Canada or save money on cosmetic therapy. Some of the top destinations for medical tourists from around the world include India, Mexico, Southeast Asia, Brazil and Turkey, according to the Medical Tourism Association. But facilities in other countries can sometimes take a more haphazard approach to prescribing antibiotics, and overuse can trigger the evolution of resistance to these crucial drugs. India a major source of bug The two colonized patients at Royal Columbian were isolated after the bug was discovered, and the hospital has been

aggressively cleaning all areas they had visited, using UV light for disinfection, according to Fraser Health. C. auris was first identified in Japan in 2009, but it has popped up since then in countries around the world. It acts much like any other yeast species, causing infections in wounds, the bloodstream and the ears, but the real problem is how to treat it. “The only real reason why we’re concerned or interested in monitoring Candida auris is because of that potential resistance profile, making it difficult to treat with the antifungal agent that we have,” Hoang said. The biggest risk of infection right now seems to come from Indian facilities, Hoang said.

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A microscopic image, at left, shows Candida auris cells. At right is a culture of the yeast in a petri dish. (The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries) The bug was confirmed for the first time in B.C. in July 2017 in a patient who’d been treated in India. As it turned out, that traveller also came back with infections from multiple other drug-resistant organisms. B.C. doesn’t track whether infected people travelled abroad as medical tourists or simply required medical treatment because of an emergency during their voyages. But patients who have had medical treatment outside B.C. for any reason are a major source of these superbugs, she said.

Federal NDP struggling to resonate with members and Canadians, labour leader says The federal NDP is struggling to reach members of the labour movement and Canadians in general, says Canadian Labour Congress president Hassan Yussuff. Organized labour is a crucial well of moral and practical support for the New Democrats. Criticism from one of Canada’s most prominent labour leaders is a jolt as leader Jagmeet Singh faces a critical byelection in less than two weeks. Polls put the NDP well behind the Liberals and Conservatives in popular support and the party’s recent fundraising has been poor. In a round table interview with The Canadian Press, Yussuff said Singh has acknowledged some of his shortcomings,

adding he might find a “better groove” if he wins a seat in the House of Commons. Singh faces that test this month: securing the riding of Burnaby South in a by-election set for Feb. 25. During the race, Singh has faced internal and external questions about what will happen if he loses. He has insisted he’s in the NDP leadership for the long haul, even if he doesn’t get that much-desired seat. Yussuff – who leads what is billed as the largest labour organization in Canada, comprising unions with 3.3 million workers – said the congress values its relationship with the NDP. It was critical to founding the party in 1962 in a merger of the labour movement with the political Co-operative Commonwealth Federation.

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Trudeau admits Wilson-Raybould challenged him on SNC-Lavalin Prime Minister Justin Trudeau admits his former justice minister and attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould challenged her boss last fall to clarify if he was “directing” her to make a decision in the disputed bribery prosecution of SNC-Lavalin. Trudeau refused Friday to say exactly what he told his former attorney general or whether he indicated his own preference to her. PM says he only removed WilsonRaybould from Justice Minister role due to cabinet shuffle Justin Trudeau is now saying he only removed Jody Wilson-Raybould from her job as Justice Minister and Attorney-General because a surprise departure from cabinet triggered a shuffle. The Prime Minister is attempting to counter allegations from opposition critics that he demoted Ms. Wilson-Raybould

to Veterans Affairs because the B.C. MP was unwilling to shelve the prosecution of Montreal-based company SNC-Lavalin. “If Scott Brison had not stepped down from cabinet, Jody Wilson-Raybould would still be Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of Canada,” Mr. Trudeau told reporters Friday after a technology funding announcement with BlackBerry in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata. He did not explain why it was necessary to move Ms. Wilson-Raybould in the Jan. 14 shuffle triggered by Treasury Board president Scott Brison’s plans to leave politics. In that shuffle, more than 30 members of Mr. Trudeau’s cabinet were left untouched. In all, three existing ministers were shifted to other posts. Mr. Brison was replaced at Treasury Board by former Indigenous services minister Jane Philpott.

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BC gov’t annoucne $1.9 billion for new St. Paul Hospital in Vancouver The provincial government announced this morning that a new St. Paul’s Hospital will open for patients by 2026. Premier John Horgan said the new hospital will have 548 beds, 115 more than the hospital on Burrard Street, which was founded 125 years ago. The new hospital will cost $1.9 billion. It will be located at 1002 Station Street, next to the Via Rail Station, on the False Creek Flats. Horgan says the plan for the new hospital had stalled for 12 years, but the wait is over with the approval of a business plan for construction. The project will be funded with the provincial government and

Providence Health Care sharing costs. Businessman Jim Pattison has already donated $75 million to the new hospital. The property where the current St. Paul’s hospital stands in downtown Vancouver will also be sold to fund part of the project. The hospital will offer specialized and general care, emergency and critical care, there will be mental health and addictions beds and community outreach programs. The government says St. Paul’s will also remain a teaching hospital, training hundreds of University of B.C. medical students and other health-sector professionals

BC’s vaccination rate is too low to prevent diseases: officials Certain pockets of British Columbia fall far short of the immunization coverage public health officials say ensures the best defence against serious diseases, and an outbreak across the border in Washington State should be a wake-up call. There have been 54 measles cases reported in reported in Washington State this month, and on Wednesday B.C. health officials confirmed three cases of measles. The B.C. cases are unrelated to those in Washington, but Monika Naus, medical director of communicable disease and immunization service at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control

(BCCDC) said there’s a vulnerability in certain pockets of this province. “I think we have geographic parts of this province where if we had the introduction of measles, we could easily have the kind of outcome that they are seeing in Clark County,” said Dr. Naus said in an interview on Thursday. Measles are highly contagious and unvaccinated, young children are at highest risk. Complications from measles can include pneumonia and encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain. However, the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine is almost 100-per-cent effective if

people are vaccinated properly, according to the BCCDC website. Children should typically be vaccinated at 12 months and for a second time between the ages of four to six. To make it difficult for the disease to spread, MMR immunization coverage – the percentage of people who receive one or more vaccines in relation to the overall population – should be at 95 per cent. However, vaccination data from 2017 data shows that 87.3 per cent of two-year olds received the first MMR vaccine in the province. In Clark County – where 53 of the 54 measles outbreaks occurred – only

67.7 to 79.3 per cent of kindergartners completed their required immunizations in the 2017-2018 school year. In 2014, a measles outbreak with over 400 cases occurred in the Fraser Valley, B.C. The area is one of several pockets in the province that have lower vaccination rates. Other under-vaccinated areas include the Gulf Islands and some communities in the Northern Health district, Sunshine Coast and Interior Health district, Dr. Naus said. “When immunization rates drop as they have in some geographic areas, it’s easy for these things to transmit.” Dr. Naus said.

Police respond to ‘disappointing’ complaints by public over Amber Alert After receiving numerous complaints about being disturbed by Amber Alerts related to a murdered 11-year-old child, Peel Regional Police are urging people to have some perspective. Roopesh Rajkumar, 41, allegedly abducted his daughter Riya after he took her out for her birthday Thursday afternoon; the young girl was later found dead at a home west of Toronto. Peel Regional Police spokesperson Danny Marttini told reporters Friday morning that the Amber Alert -- issued after 11 p.m -- led to the arrest of the murder suspect because someone had seen a car with a suspect’s licence plate. But Marttini wanted people to appreciate the gravity of situation after police received complaints from people upset that the Amber Alert had woken them up when the emergency alert came across cellphones and TV stations. “I feel for everyone but given the

circumstances – I think it did lead to the arrest of the individual so I think that’s what we have to focus on,” she said, adding police were still receiving complaints hours after the initial alerts. “You know, it’s unfortunate when an Amber Alert goes off in the sense that it disrupts people’s lifestyle …but at the same point, we’re talking about a child that was missing and, in this case, the child was found deceased,” Marttini said. “I think you have to weigh that out,” she said. Another police spokesperson, Const. Akhil Mooken, shared those sentiments when he tweeted Friday morning: “I can’t even begin to describe how disappointing and upsetting it is to read the comments, emails and calls to our communications bureau complaining.” “The immediate need to locate the child outweighed the momentary inconvenience that some people encountered,” he also

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Did SNC-Lavalin play a role in the last cabinet shuffle? ‘Wide range of factors’ did, PM Trudeau says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau opened the door to more questions this morning about his conversations with former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould regarding the SNC-Lavalin fraud case and his reasons for shuffling her out of that role. Wilson-Raybould resigned as Veterans Affairs minister earlier this week — just days after a media report alleged that when she was at the Department of Justice, she was pressured to tell the director of public prosecutions to draft a “deferred prosecution agreement” to avoid taking SNC-Lavalin to trial on bribery and fraud charges in relation to contracts in Libya. Wilson-Raybould was moved from the Department of Justice to Veterans Affairs in January’s cabinet shuffle. Trudeau defended that shakeup, arguing it was triggered by former Treasury Board president Scott Brison’s decision to not run again and to step down from cabinet. “If Scott Brison had not stepped down from cabinet, Jody Wilson-Raybould would still be minister of justice and attorney general,” Trudeau told reporters during a BlackBerry funding announcement in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata. When pressed to say whether the SNCLavalin affair played a role in reassigning Wilson-Raybould, Trudeau said there were a “wide range of factors” to consider. “Any time one makes a decision to shift members of cabinet, there always a wide range of factors that go into making that decision,” he said. NDP MP Nathan Cullen said

the lack of a firm “no” in response to that question was troubling. “Let me be clear. If he is given a specific question — was she fired because she didn’t do what you wanted her to do and obstruct justice? — and his answer is anything other than ‘no’, definitively, we have a problem,” he said. “We have a huge problem. Because that is obstruction of justice. That is going to the very heart of what corruption looks like. “I am stunned by the prime minister’s answer to this because it was as close to a confirmation that you’re probably going to get from this guy as to what really happened here.” PM says WilsonRaybould asked if he would be directing her Since the first SNC-Lavalin story broke in the Globe and Mail late last week, Trudeau has denied that his aides pressured Wilson-Raybould to intercede on the company’s behalf. On Friday he said that WilsonRaybould did ask him if he was going to offer her direction following the “many discussions” his government was having about the Quebec engineering firm’s fraud and bribery case — including discussions with Quebec premiers, MPs and the company’s representatives. “There were many discussions going on, which is why Jody Wilson-Raybould asked me if I was directing her or going to direct her to take a particular

Vancouver Coastal Health confirms ‘several’ cases of measles at Vancouver schools Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) has confirmed multiple cases of measles at two French schools in the city of Vancouver. The health authority said there are two lab-confirmed cases of the highly contagious disease at École Secondaire JulesVerne and another at École Anne-Hébert. Students and staff at the latter school may have been exposed to measles on Jan. 25. There is also a “suspected” case of the disease at École Rose‐des‐vents that was discovered late Thursday. VCH spokesperson Tiffany Akins said two of the schools are connected by a door and all three share the same bus company. School buses are lined up outside École Secondaire Jules-Verne on Friday, the morning after Vancouver Coastal Health sent an alert to parents about measles on campus. (Harold Dupuis/CBC Radio-Canada) In a letter sent home to parents late Thursday, the authority said there were “several” cases on its radar. Any students and staff who aren’t immune or who haven’t been vaccinated were told to stay away from school until there is no longer a risk of measles. Measles is a highly infectious disease that spreads through the air. It can also be spread through sharing food, drinks, cigarettes or by kissing someone who’s infected. Symptoms of measles include fever, cough, runny nose and red eyes, followed by a rash that begins on the face and spreads to the chest. Complications from measles can include pneumonia, inflammation of the brain, seizures,

deafness and brain damage. It can also be fatal. B.C. officials preach caution following measles outbreak in Washington State Low vaccination rates, global outbreaks fuel U.S. measles spread An infected person can spread measles before knowing they have been infected, as people are infectious to others from four days before to four days after the onset of rash. James Rankin, president of the parent advisory committee at École Anne-Hébert, said parents received the letter from VCH late Thursday. “It’s important to remind people that vaccines, like the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, are the most effective way of preventing these very serious diseases, and that people who would be most concerned in this situation might be those whose children have not been vaccinated,” Rankin said. “If a family has chosen to not be vaccinated for other reasons that are non-scientific, then I think that’s a major concern for the family and for the community.” VCH said two doses of the measles vaccine, MMR, are 99 per cent effective at preventing the disease, adding that most cases now are found in those born after 1970 who haven’t been vaccinated with both doses. École Jules-Verne held a free vaccination clinic Friday morning. The vaccine is available for free at local community health centres or Vancouver’s City Centre Urgent Primary Care Centre. Family doctors and pharmacists may also have the vaccine available for adults and children over the age of five.

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SkyTrain extension to UBC gets green signal TransLink Mayors’ Council has endorsed SkyTrain as the technology for the transit extension to the University of British Columbia. At a meeting Friday morning, the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation voted in favour of proceeding with planning for SkyTrain, with only two mayors opposed. The decision was in line with a recommendation made by TransLink staff in late January. Before the decision, Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart said that in the interest of acting “collaboratively” on a regional decision, he would not be calling for a weighted vote. Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum told the council he’d heard from UBC students and employees in his city who were looking forward to getting to campus by rapid transit. “We’re certainly fully supportive of it,” he said. Several mayors said they supported transit to UBC, but had concerns about the cost of the line and its priority over other transportation projects. “It is not the only important transit project in the region,” said City of North Vancouver Mayor Linda Buchanan, adding “we need to look at the long-term needs of the region.”

White Rock Mayor Darryl Walker worried the council seemed to be “rushing headlong into something several years out,” without really knowing what future growth of the region would look like. Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart had questions about SNC-Lavalin and its involvement in future SkyTrain projects. A staff report included in the meeting’s agenda said staff believe “an extension of the SkyTrain Millennium Line is the only technology option that can provide sufficient capacity to meet demand beyond 2045.”

The report also noted other potentially lower-cost alternatives, including light rail transit, had been “thoroughly explored and eliminated because of capacity limitations and deliverability challenges.” Ridership for a new rapid transit line from Arbutus to UBC is projected to exceed 118,000 in 2045.

Average Canadian house price fell 5.5% in the past year, Realtor group says The average price of a Canadian home has fallen by 5.5 per cent to $455,000 over the past 12 months, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Friday. The group that represents 125,000 Realtors across the country says sales were higher in January than in December, but they were still below the level seen in January 2018 — a month that CREA at the time said was historically bad for the housing market because of new stresstest rules that had just been implemented. The rules, aimed at making it harder to get a mortgage, poured cold water on the housing market, CREA says, causing a sales slump that persists. “Homebuyers are still adapting to tightened mortgage regulations brought in last year,” CREA president Barb Sukkau said. CREA said 23,968 properties were sold through the Multiple Listing Service in January, down from 24,977 a year earlier. Prices have also slumped in many

markets, although CREA said the average price figure can be misleading because expensive markets in Toronto and Vancouver skew it higher than it would be otherwise. So the group said a better gauge of the market is something it calls the Home Price Index, a number it calculates by adjusting for the size of different housing markets and types of homes. That figure has risen by 0.8 per cent in the past year, the smallest it has been since last summer. Average Canadian house cost $472K in December, down 4.9% in 2018 But even that flat figure belies some wild swings across the country. In the Greater Vancouver, the HPI has fallen by almost five per cent in the past year, and it’s down by almost as much in Calgary, Edmonton, Regina and Saskatoon. Prices have increased by more than nine per cent in the past year on Vancouver Island, meanwhile, and by seven per cent in Ottawa, Guelph, Ont., and the Niagara Region area.

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Early morning robbery led to Kamloops kidnapping Early on the morning of February 14th, 2019 in downtown Kamloops, three individuals, two men and a woman, were robbed by two men armed with firearms. After the robbery, police believed the suspects took the woman against her will in one of the other victim’s vehicles. Through subsequent investigation it was learned that the suspects may attend a residence on Dallas Drive. Officers secured the area and ultimately determined that the home had been ransacked and now was empty. The temporary cordon on Dallas Drive was removed allowing traffic to the area to resume. The victim’s stolen vehicle was later located empty in an area near Barnhartvale Road and Hwy 97. Further investigation led police to an address in Kelowna. Officers of the Kamloops RCMP, Kelowna RCMP and Southeast District Emergency Response Team converged on an apartment building on Bernard Avenue. Unfortunately, the victim was not located at this address but one of the robbery suspects was arrested. This morning, February 15th, police determined that the captive woman could be in a vehicle travelling from Kelowna to Kamloops. This vehicle was stopped by police near Faulkland. Officers arrested a male and a female suspect and located the kidnapped female. Thankfully, the woman was uninjured. Firearms were also seized from this vehicle. Kamloops RCMP thank the media and the community for their patience during this ongoing and fluid investigation. We are

committed the safety of the community and would have communicated any immediate public safety concerns, however the situation was dynamic and unfolding. While the investigation was ongoing, what may have been perceived as lack of communication, was a measured, operational strategy. “First and foremost, our concern was for the woman who had been kidnapped,” stated Cpl. Jodi Shelkie. “The danger that she was in cannot be overemphasized. Officers knew that the suspects were armed. It was unknown what their intent was regarding her life. Few details could be released to the media to protect our investigation and

ultimately, help get this woman back to safety.” The investigation is still ongoing and police are working to identify and locate the second suspect involved in the robbery. It is clear this was a targeted crime and involved participants in the local Kamloops drug trade. All investigative information will be forwarded to the British Columbia Prosecution Service for consideration of appropriate charges. Numerous serious charges are expected against the suspect arrested in Kelowna.

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The Province has selected three pre-qualified bidding teams to participate in the competitive selection process to design and construct the new toll-free Pattullo Bridge that will deliver a safer crossing and easier connections into Surrey and New Westminster. “The existing Pattullo Bridge is nearing the end of its useful life,” said Claire Trevena, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure. “The selection of the three teams gets us closer to breaking ground on this project that will improve safety and reliability for residents, commercial vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.” The three bidding teams are: * Fraser Community Connectors: * Respondent: Kiewit Canada Development Corp. * Design-build contractor: Kiewit Infrastructure BC ULC

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Pattullo Bridge replacement project moves forward * Long-span bridge design contractor: T.Y. Lin International and International Bridge Technologies, Inc. * Flatiron / Dragados / Carlson Pattullo JV: * Respondent: Flatiron / Dragados / Carlson Pattullo JV (a joint venture of Flatiron Constructors Canada Limited, Dragados Canada Inc. and Carlson Construction Group, Inc.), ACS Infrastructure Canada Inc., Hochtieff PPP Solutions North America, LLC and COWI North America, Ltd. * Design-build contractor: Flatiron / Dragados / Carlson Pattullo JV (a joint venture of Flatiron Constructors Canada Limited,

RCMP arrest 17 in connection with international money laundering scheme RCMP and other police forces arrested 17 people in a series of raids in Montreal and Toronto targeting what investigators say is an extensive international money laundering network with ties to organized crime. The two alleged leaders were picked up in the Toronto area. Police hope to dismantle a ring that was collecting the proceeds of crime and laundering it. The RCMP, working with the Canada Revenue Agency, began the probe dubbed “Collector” in 2016 and wrapped it up last spring before launching raids Monday at around 6 a.m. More than 300 RCMP officers in Ontario and Quebec took part in Monday’s operation, aided by officers from the Montreal, Laval and Toronto police forces. RCMP Cpl. Genevieve Byrne said the raids – which involved 11 search warrants in Montreal and Toronto – were ongoing and would likely continue throughout the day. Byrne said the warrants target 19 people, but only 15 had been arrested by early afternoon. The location

of the four others remains unknown, she said. RCMP Sgt. Luc Thibault said Monday’s operation “targets individuals who facilitated the collection of money from criminal groups in Montreal and laundered the proceeds of their illicit activities.” He said in an interview that most of the money was drug-related but would not give details about the network’s operations. Thibault also declined to say what other countries were involved in the network or where the allegedly laundered money ended up. The RCMP are planning a news conference in Montreal Tuesday morning. Thibault said the suspects arrested Monday would be transported for detention in Laval, just north of Montreal. An RCMP plane landed around 10:15 a.m. at the St-Hubert airport in the Montreal suburb of Longueuil carrying several suspects arrested in the Toronto area. The remaining people arrested in Ontario were expected to be brought to Laval later in the day.

Dragados Canada Inc. and Carlson Construction Group, Inc.) * Long-span bridge design contractor : COWI North America, Ltd. * Fraser Crossing P a r t n e r s * Respondent: SNC-Lavalin Capital Inc. and Acciona Infrastructure Canada Inc. * Design-build contractor: SNC-Lavalin Constructors (Pacific) Inc. and Acciona Infrastructure Canada Inc. * Long-span bridge design contractor: SNC-Lavalin

Inc., Leonhardt, Andrä und Partner Beratende Ingenieure VBI AG, Hatch Corporation, EXP Services Inc. and Acciona Infrastructure Canada Inc. The $1.377-billion Pattullo Bridge Replacement Project will provide improvements for everyone using the bridge and create thousands of jobs and opportunities for British Columbians. The new four-lane crossing will replace the existing Pattullo Bridge and will have wider lanes and better connections to road networks on either side of the bridge, which will help traffic flow more efficiently. It will provide safer connections for commuters, commercial vehicles and first responders. The new bridge also features dedicated pedestrian and cyclist lanes separated from traffic by a barrier on both sides of the bridge.

Richmond driver fined $109 for driving snow-covered vehicle Mounties are reminding Richmond drivers to clear the snow off their vehicles before heading out on the roads. The Richmond detachment posted a photo to Twitter Monday showing a driver who received a $109 ticket for failing to do so. The dark sedan was covered in several centimetres of snow, with only a tiny portion of the back window cleared. “For safety’s sake, please take a few moments and clear all of your windows of snow,” the tweet read.

For safety’s sake, please take a few moments and clear all of your windows of snow. pic.twitter. Delta Police joined in on the call, adding a $10 brush to clean the snow off your car is much cheaper than a fine. $10 brush or $109 fine? If you head out today with snow-covered windows, or headlight or taillights covered by snow, that’s the fine you could face. The offence is ‘Drive While View Obstructed’ and it applies to your front, rear AND side windows.

BC proposes stronger security for witnesses testifying at criminal trials BC is proposing changes to its witness protection program in order to strengthen security for people who could provide police with information on serious crimes.

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth says people with intimate details about organized crime, for example, should not feel their life will be in danger if they co-operate with police. A statement released Thursday said proposed measures are expected to build on the federal witness protection program in cases that hinge on testimony from informants or an accused person’s former accomplices. Farnworth said stringent requirements for the federal program can lead to delays and low witness retention that

compromises prosecutions and frustrates police agencies that have worked for months to secure someone’s testimony. ‘I lost everything’: Couple says Sask. witness protection program failed them Judge shuts down feds’ application to hear Witness Protection Program lawsuit in private He said the proposed act means prosecutors and police do not have to solely rely on the federal program and it would be in keeping with programs in other provinces that help witnesses to safely attend trial and testify in court.

Saturday, February 16, 2019 The B.C. government says it will introduce legislation to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP), among plans announced in Tuesday’s throne speech. The goal is to table legislation sometime this year. If passed, it will make B.C. the first province in Canada to legislate its endorsement of the declaration. Premier John Horgan told reporters on Tuesday he’s unsure what implementation will look like — if a single bill will do the job or if several pieces of legislation will need to be rewritten. He said legislative councils are working on the details and will be reporting back with their findings. “I know it will be more than symbolic,� Horgan said. “We need to address reconciliation in British Columbia, not just for social

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with the province in BC commits to being 1st province in Canada to put UNDRIP into legislation the lead-up to this legislative promise on justice... but for economic equality for all Columbians,� Horgan said on Tuesday. citizens, Indigenous and non-Indigenous.� Legislation could affect land- how to fulfil its commitment to UNDRIP. Bob Chamberlin, vice-president B.C. government promises action on ticket use planning and industry scalpers, payday loans in throne speech The First Nations Leadership Council, of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, Horgan’s NDP campaigned on a promise made up of people from the Assembly of First said he will be watching carefully to to implement UNDRIP, which includes Nations, Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs and see what shows up in the legislation. 46 articles meant to recognize the basic the First Nations Summit, has been working human rights of Indigenous Peoples’ along with their rights to self-determination. Article 32 is among those in the declaration often cited by Indigenous leadership. It directs states to to obtain free, prior and informed consent from Indigenous groups before approving projects that would affect their lands or territories. “For too long uncertainty on the land base has led to investment decisions being foregone, and I believe that that hurts Indigenous people and it hurts other British

Besieged by workers and the CRA, this once-mighty translation agency is facing financial ruin Creditors besieged its bank account. The CRA obtained seizure orders for its assets and put liens on its president’s home and luxury cars. Its biggest clients have walked away. And more than 200 people have sued for nearly $1.8 million in unpaid earnings and other damages. Able Translations was once one of the biggest companies of its kind in Canada, landing contracts over the last two decades to provide medical interpreters for Alberta and Ontario hospitals, document translation for Fortune 500 firms, and language services to every level of government. It functioned as an agency, subcontracting the work to hundreds of people fluent in everything from Albanian to Urdu. Portuguese-born Wilson Teixeira, Able’s

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founder and president, could often be seen networking with top municipal, provincial and Portuguese politicians. But in the last five years, Ontario-based Able has racked up a global trail of debts, according to a CBC investigation that has revealed, for the first time, the vast extent of the company’s financial delinquency — and its machinations for dealing with it. Court and financial records, company emails, and interviews with more than 50 translators — overwhelmingly immigrants — show Able has bounced at least two dozen cheques, defaulted on dozens of court orders, possibly misrepresented facts in court testimony

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BC cuts use of auto insurance experts as ICBC set to hit billion-dollar deficit The B.C. government has imposed new limits on the use of dueling experts in insurance cases, blaming the skyrocketing costs for contributing to the financial precariousness of its public auto insurer, which is on track to a billion-dollar deficit this year. B.C. Attorney-General David Eby cited a Globe and Mail investigation into the lucrative, little-known growth industry that generates “independent medical evaluations,� as part of the rationale for limiting the use of experts in court cases. He noted both the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) and private lawyers are responsible for driving up the cost of settlements through the use of adversarial experts. “I believe ICBC and the plaintiffs are operating with a very broken system. There are excesses taking place on the ICBC side, there are excesses taking place on the plaintiffs’ side, in terms of experts that are brought forward,� he told a news conference on Monday. Mr. Eby said The Globe investigation showing ICBC’s tactics of recruiting experts to unfairly discredit injury claims was “an embarrassment for the corporation, and an illustration of why we are trying to move to reform this adversarial expert system.� Effective immediately, the number of expert reports addressing issues such as future wage loss or future care will be limited to one expert for each side on small claims

under $100,000. For major claims, three experts can be used by each side. That is about half of the number typically recruited currently to provide expert assessments in a motor vehicle-related court case

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Saturday, February 16, 2019

Federal government funds BlackBerry $40M to support self-driving car development BlackBerry is getting $40 million in federal funding to help develop technologies that make cars safer, more connected to cyberspace and, eventually, capable of driving themselves. The company is putting $310 million of its own money into the initiative, expected to create 800 jobs over the next decade at BlackBerry’s campus in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata, as well as support 300 existing jobs there. The one-time smartphone leader is now working on advanced systems for

vehicles and will put the federal money toward software development for the next generation of autonomous vehicles as well as skills training for workers. BlackBerry says its QNX software is already in 120 million cars, guiding systems related to driver assistance features (such as automatic braking to avoid collisions), hands-free commands, and entertainment. BlackBerry QNX plans to develop new automated-control systems, upgrade and secure communications in vehicles, and improve car safety by expanding its driver-assistance system. The company says these are milestones along the road to truly driverless cars, which are still years away from becoming widely available to consumers. The federal money is coming from the government’s Strategic Innovation Fund, a program intended to stimulate development of innovative products. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a news conference Friday the federal money for BlackBerry QNX software is a sign the

government supports Canadian technology companies that want to lead in a new economy. “Think of this new platform as the central nervous system of your car. It will consolidate things like lane assistance and blind-spot detection, so that the cars of the future are safer and more reliable,” he said. “For a global leader like QNX, this represents an unprecedented opportunity for growth. Of course, the competition is fierce.” According to the government, Canada’s expertise in emerging technologies is attracting significant investments in autonomous and connectedvehicle research from global firms such as General Motors and Ford and tech players like Uber, Google and Nvidia. The QNX technology being developed for cars also has applications for medicine, the military, drones, industrial automation, nuclear power plants and high-speed rail, said senior BlackBerry executive John Wall. More immediately, the developments will make cars safer, he said. “I think in 2025 your car’s not going to be very different than it is today, except it’ll have more safety features, and that will trickle down to even the lessexpensive vehicles,” Wall said. “What I would like to see out of all of this is less accidents and less fatalities related to cars.” While BlackBerry is working toward fully self-driving cars, they are not expected to be commercially available in a big way before 2035 or 2040, he said. The pace of technological development aside, consumers also have to be psychologically ready for the advent of autonomous vehicles, something that might take time. In addition, there are myriad regulatory issues to be worked out in jurisdictions around the world to ensure the new applications have government approval and meet common standards, Wall said. “The technology may be moving faster than the regulatory bodies are moving.”

Prime Minister Trudeau announces $20 million for Vancouver housing projects On a day where white stuff dominated all the talk in town, Prime Minster Justin Trudeau was in Vancouver to move the conversation towards green. Eight months removed from the federal election, Trudeau doled out close to $20 million in funding promises aimed at housing and affordability for the middle class, renters and those living below the poverty line. The big winner of the day was the Union Gospel Mission’s Women and Families Centre, which received an $11.3-million cash injection to aid expansion plans: more beds and more programming options that include trauma counselling, recovery support, job prep classes and licensed childcare spaces. The Women and Families Centre is a three-storey building in the Downtown Eastside that has outreach workers and offers supports such as emergency food hampers and an afterschool program. On the second floor is what’s called “The Sanctuary,” a stabilization program for women and mothers with babies. It’s for women who want to overcome addiction or get into recovery from addiction. Currently, there’s room for up to 15 women and up to six babies in the live-in suites. Monday’s announcement will help the facility to house more than 60 suites. “Folks in the area know that his hub

has been a refuge to countless women struggling with addiction as they work towards recovery,” Trudeau said. The Vancouver Affordable Housing Agency also got a $1.5-million top-up for modular homes that will house 600 people. The third piece of Monday’s announcement was a $6-million contribution to Vancity’s Pre-construction Equity Loan Fund to support the development of 2,500 new rentals across Vancouver and the province. The fund provides low interest funding for affordable housing projects, offering a lower rate than other financial institutions, according to a news release from the Prime Minister’s office. “Families who have lived in the Lower Mainland for years are forced to leave the communities they love. I hear these stories and my heart breaks,” Trudeau said. “These are hard-working Canadian who just want what their parents and grandparents had before them. In a country like Canada, we can and must do better.” Monday’s press conference took place at a development near the Croatian Cultural Centre off Commercial Drive, where last year the federal Liberals contributed $40 million to Cressey’s“Conrad”projectonEast18thAvenue.

Appeal court upholds stiff sentence for Canadian trying to join terrorist group An Ontario court has dismissed an appeal from a man convicted of trying to join a Somali-based terrorist organization, saying stiff penalties are necessary in such cases to deter similar would-be criminals. Former Toronto security guard Mohamed Hersi was convicted in 2014 of attempting to participate in the activities of a terrorist group and providing counsel to a person to participate in terrorist activity. Court heard he was en route to Somalia to join Islamic terrorist group al-Shabab when he was arrested, and a Superior Court judge sentenced him to consecutive five-year prison terms for the two charges he was convicted on.

A panel of three judges at the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld both the conviction and sentence in a decision released Monday. “When people determined to wreak havoc in our community are caught and convicted, the courts must impose sentences that reflect the community’s moral outrage and the very real danger posed by those individuals to the community,” the decision reads. “That is what the trial judge did. The sentence imposed was fit.” Hersi’s lawyer did not immediately respond to request for comment. Police arrested Hersi in March 2011 at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport as he waited to board a flight to Cairo via London. Court heard the purpose of the trip was to join al-Shabab, a group whose ideology he claimed to support according to the testimony of an undercover police officer.

Police ask for public’s help in locating wanted man New Westminster police are asking for the public’s help locating a man wanted for numerous offences. Police say 32-year-old Jory Wade Patrick is wanted on a Canadawide warrant for break and enter, possession of a weapon, uttering threats and mischief. He is also wanted on a warrant in B.C. for breach of probation. Patrick is described as Indigenous, six feet tall, 155 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He also has tattoos on his left hand that read JORY and A-K-47 and a tattoo on his right hand of flaming dice. Sgt. Jeff Scott asks members of the public to not approach Patrick and instead call police immediately.

Sridevi’s 1st death anniversary: Boney & Anil Kapoor reach Chennai for prayer

B

ollywood can never get over the loss of legendary actress, Sridevi. The first death anniversary of

meet. We also reported that Boney’s younger brother Anil Kapoor and wife Sunita Kapoor will also attend the puja.

the actress, who died in a Hotel in Dubai on February 24, 2018, is been observed today, according to tithi. Boney Kapoor, Anil Kapoor and others have flown down to Chennai for the late actress’ barsi puja. A few days back, we had told you about Kapoors going to Chennai for the prayer

Now, the brothers are in Chennai and pictures of the family are here as they head to actress’ maternal residence. n 20 February 2018, Sridevi and her youngest daughter Khushi had flown to Al Jazirah Al Hamra in Ras al-Khaimah,

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United Arab Emirates, to attend the wedding of her nephew Mohit Marwah. She decided to spend a couple of days in Dubai to shop for her eldest daughter Janhvi Kapoor’s 21st birthday, after the wedding.[166][167] Her husband Boney Kapoor was not present with them on the wedding day as he had

to attend a meeting in Lucknow on 22 February. However he had already planned a surprise visit to his wife, with whom he spoke on the morning of 24 February, when she told him that “Papa (that’s how Sridevi addressed Boney), I’m missing you.”

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Saturday, February 16, 2019

Ranbir Kapoor enjoys quiet dinner with Alia Bhatt on Valentine’s Day Ranbir Kapoor took time out for a quiet Valentine’s Day dinner with Alia Bhatt on Thursday night. Chef Harsh Dixit posted a click on his Instagram account and the two lovebirds are all smiles during the dinner date. We

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also know that Kareena Kapoor Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Karisma Kapoor and her daughter Samiera, Babita Kapoor, Armaan Jain, Aadar Jain and a few others came together to celebrate Randhir Kapoor’s birthday last night, but Ranbir gave this Kapoor gettogether a miss.

After all, it was Valentine’s Day and we are happy to see him and Alia together.

Ranbir and Alia Bhatt’s dinner date was the healthiest! Here’s what they ateAlia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor’s

dinner date was the healthiest! Here’s what they ate, Raw or undercooked rajma can be dangerous for youRaw or undercooked rajma can be dangerous for you, Fresh vs frozen vegetables: What is healthier? Fresh vs frozen vegetables: What is healthier?

Saturday, February 16, 2019

As Amitabh Bachchan completes 50 years in Bollywood, son Abhishek Bachchan pens down a post for his dearest Pa After daughter Shweta Bachchan Nanda shared a cool graphic post for his dad on Twitter congratulating him on completing 50 years in the Hindi film industry. The megastar shared his daughter’s tweet and thanked her for her wishes. Now, it’s the actor’s son and a well-known actor himself, Abhishek Bachchan, who took it to his social media handle to pen down a heartfelt post for his dad on his 50 glorious years in Bollywood. Donning a quirky Amitabh Bachchan sweatshirt, Abhishek wrote a long and heartfelt post for his father. Mentioning Big B as his icon, best friend, guide, best critic, greatest support, idol..... HERO!, Abhishek also said how he wishes his dad to rock another 50 years in the film industry. Abhishek further mentioned, how today itself he learnt a really cool thing from the megastar. He wrote ‘The coolest thing he taught me today.... As I went, in the morning to wish him for completing 50 years of being an actor and to tell him that I was leaving for work- I asked him where he was all ready to go to? He said..... To work’. Take a look at Abhishek’s post for his dad: Amitabh Bachchan completes 50 years in Bollywood today. His son and actor Abhishek wrote an emotional post for the megastar, who has given us innumerable iconic films in the past five notable decades of his career. Amitabh Bachchan has given 50 years of his life to the Indian film industry. The megastar, who completes five decades in the business today, signed his first Bollywood film Saat

Hindustani on this day in 1969. And while his well-wishers mark the special day by flooding him with messages on social media, Big B’s selfproclaimed biggest fan, son Abhishek, had the most beautiful post for his dearest father. Abhishek began his day by dropping in an early morning note for Amitabh Bachchan on his social media accounts. The actor shared a click where he is wearing a sweat-shirt sporting his father’s angry young man look from the 1970s with words “Iconâ€? written on it. Along with it, he wrote, “ICON! To me, he’s so much more. My father, best friend, guide, best critic, greatest support, idol‌.. HERO! 50 years today he started his journey in films. Even today, his passion and love for his craft and work is the same as I’m sure it was on the first day. Dearest Pa, today we celebrate you, your talent, your passion, your brilliance and your immense influence. Can’t wait to see what you have in store for the next 50 years. The coolest thing he taught me today‌. As I went, in the morning to wish him for completing 50 years of being an actor and to tell him that I was leaving for work- I asked him where he was all ready to go to? He said‌.. To work! #50yrsofBigB #amitabhbachchan #BigBâ€? Amitabh Bachchan’s daughter Shweta Nanda had also posted a fan art GIF on Thursday, wishing her father on the feat. The post was also shared by Big B on Twitter with the words, “thank you Shweta!â€?

Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar cancel visit to Pakistan invited for a 2 day event celebrating Kaifi’s Centenary and were truly looking forward to it. I appreciate that our hosts the Karachi Arts Council mutually agreed to cancel the event at the nth hour in the wake of Pulwama attack,� Azmi posted on Twitter. In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir’s three decades of militancy, a Jaish suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district,

killing at least 40 personnel and leaving many critically wounded. Azmi condemned the attacks and said she stands united with the grieving families. “Will there be no let to these heinous attacks? These mindless killings. This utter disregard for human lives? Extremely shocking news coming from Pulwama. I strongly condemn the worst terror attack on CRPF convoy,� she wrote.

Michael Jackson had escaped death during 9/11 terrorist attack in US Jackson could have been one of the victims of the 9/11 attack in which almost 3,000 people were killed when terrorists crashed planes into the Twin Towers. The singer overslept that day and missed his appointment which was scheduled to take place in the Towers, reports mirror.co.uk. “Thankfully, none of us had had a clue that Michael was due at a meeting that morning at the top of one of the Twin Towers,� the “Billie Jean� singer’s brother Jermaine Jackson wrote in his biography titled “You Are Not Alone:

Michael: Through a Brother’s Eyes�. It is also written in the biography that on the night of the attack, the King of Pop overslept after staying up late to talk to his mother Katherine. “’Mother, I’m okay, thanks to you,’ he told her. ‘You kept me up talking so late that I overslept and missed my appointment.’� Despite surviving one of the world’s biggest terrorist attacks, Jackson died eight years later after suffering a cardiac arrest. He was 50.

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Bollywood HOROSCOPE Aries March 21 - April 20 If you feel hemmed in by circumstances, the early part of the week could see you making a dash for freedom. As feisty Mars, your ruler, ties with electric Uranus in your sign, you may have had enough of a situation. The only way to resolve this might be to depart suddenly so that you can get the relief you desire, but is this the best way forward? In practice, with dynamic Mars moving into grounded Taurus on Thursday, it might be better to bide your time.

Taurus April 21 - May 20 While all may be calm on the surface, tension may be bubbling within and could spill over during the early part of the week. There are times when your naturally placid nature erupts in a volcano of frustration and anger, and this could be one of those times. If you’d prefer to avoid this, talk to someone about how you feel because this can help diminish the emotional charge around a very sensitive issue.

Gemini May 20 - June 21 A friend may spring a surprise on you that comes as a bit of a shock. It could disrupt your plans, but it could also completely change your opinion of the person in one way or another. If it does, this might be a lesson in embracing them as they are rather than who you’d like them to be. If you disagree with whatever they’re doing, perhaps you should ask yourself why. This revelation could put distance between you unless you’re willing to bridge the gap.

Cancer June 22 - July 23 The early part of the week could bring an unexpected event in the form of a job that a contract could come to an end, and embracing restless Uranus in your sector of goals and career, know that if one door closes, another will open. Your social life can be a source of wonderful opportunity and into Taurus on Thursday.

Leo June 24 - August 23 on an adventure quite out of the blue. The early part of the week could bring exciting news and a chance say yes to a trip or other opportunity that’s too good to miss. But it could disrupt aspects of your life if you have plans brewing. You’ll need to decide whether it’s worth following your heart or doing your duty. It may not be possible to do both.

Libra Sept. 24 - Oct 22 Other people could be a cause of disruption, especially early in the week, when promises may be broken or when someone could distance themselves from you. This may not be a permanent situation, yet it might cause you to wonder about this person’s motives. If you’ve felt let down once too often, you might have a decision to make. The tie between feisty Mars and electric Uranus in your partnership sector can hint at an instant attraction

Scorpio Oct 23 - Nov 22 Ready, steady, stop! Whenever you had planned early this week could come to an abrupt halt when unexpected events occur. This is something you may have no control over and that you’ll likely have to take in your stride. Assertive Mars ties with revolutionary Uranus in your lifestyle zone, which can be a tad chaotic. ! " # " $ and your relationship sector on Thursday

Sagitarius Nov 23 - Dec 22 An adventurous mood could overtake you at the start of the week " With feisty Mars embracing restless Uranus, your thoughts may not be so much on other people as on how much you can enjoy yourself. While there’s no harm in this, someone could be upset

" " " or a text can set their mind at ease. Intensive Mars moves into Taurus and your lifestyle sector on Thursday for a six-week visit.

Capricorn Dec 23 - Jan 20 An unexpected visit could cause a touch of chaos on the home front early in the week. This might be someone you didn’t expect to see who causes mixed feelings in you. Still, their appearance can encourage conversation, which could bring closure to a past event. On another note, you might feel great relief at seeing to some duties and responsibilities that had been hanging over you.

Aquarius Jan 21 - Feb 19 Be careful what you say, especially around Tuesday, because the wrong words at the wrong time could upset someone. " revolutionary Uranus suggests that you could be in an edgy mood and not inclined to make polite conversation. You could even be little too truthful with someone who may be feeling rather sensitive. At the same time, own medicine.

Pisces Virgo Sometimes you can dither about, trying not to upset the apple cart and yet all the while wanting things to change. This week, a situation could shift before your eyes - and more quickly than you have time to think about it. As pushy Mars embraces revolutionary Uranus in your sector of change, the thing you wanted to happen could occur spontaneously, liberating you at the same time. ! " # $ and your sector of travel and adventure

Feb 20 - March 20 If you have money to burn, the restless and lively tie between Mars and eccentric Uranus early in the week could encourage you to splurge. It could be that shopping becomes a " a busy or stressful time. If so, give yourself a limit. However, better than that may be treating yourself to a relaxing massage or perhaps a short trip and a chance to do something exciting. Shopping can be fun, but this time other options may be preferable.

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Bollywood

Saturday, February 16, 2019

On Valentine’s Day, Madhubala: Google doodle celebrates 86th birth anniversary of Bollywood’s Marilyn Monroe She fell in love with Yusuf Google doodled the starKhan (Dilip Kumar), her coFebruary 14, 1933 - February 23, 1952 crossed iconic character her iconic ‘Pyar kiya films, including star in the 1951 romance ‘Tarana’, which changed from ‘Mughal-E-Azam’, Anarkali, made to darna kya’ dance blockbuster ‘Mahal’ the course perhaps forever for the young girl, indelible in movie lovers’ mind by the ‘mudra’ doodle created opposite Ashok whose father-cum-manager interfered and made effervescent Madhubala who would have been by Bengaluru artist Kumar, when she it a star-crossed pattern for the woman, who was 86 on Thursday. “The Marilyn Monroe of Muhammed Sajid. dazzled with a spell- yet to blossom. The epic historical drama ‘MughalBollywood� as the Google blogpost said was Ma d hu b a l a binding breakout E-Azam’ directed by K Asif remains one of the raised in Bombay. She started supporting her appeared in her first p e r f o r m a n c e . most popular and expensive movies in Bollywood family as a child star at the age of nine, before film as Baby Mumtaz. Her breathtaking history; the Dilip Kumar-Madhubala chemistry was becoming leading star known for her elegance In 1947 she landed appearance earned “undeniable and unforgettable�. on the screen. the lead role in ‘Neel With a tragically brief career Madhubala was comparisons Madhubala was born on February 14, 1933 Kamal’, then just 14, taking her moniker that made to Venus, although Madhubala flourished billed ‘The Biggest Star in the World’ in 1952 by in Delhi as Mumtaz Jehan Begum Dehlavi, her famous. As her family’s main breadwinner, mostly in an understated style well suited for Theatre Arts magazine. She died on February 23, she was raised in a town located near Bombay she worked tirelessly to support her parents comedies, dramas and romantic roles alike. 1969 at the age of 36. Talkies film studio, said Google alongside and four sisters. In 1949, she appeared in nine Kajol’s mood swings if anyone asks

Many moods of Kajol

Kajol most - “Will your cousin Rani Mukerji tie the knot with Aditya Chopra?� Are you still friend with SRK? It leaves lovely lady thinking time around! tries to get happy about “Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’’ alright, but certainly not before singing ‘‘Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha.�

how she gained her current

Baba Ramdev’s expert pranayam tips. " memory lane and remembers how her initial cine-avatars " $ %

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Finance

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The “Oscars” of Immigrant Success:

Nominations are now open for the RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards The 11th annual program is Canada’s only national awards for immigrant recognition With more than one million newcomers coming to Canada within the next three years*, sharing and celebrating positive stories of immigrants in an increasingly diverse Canada is more important than ever. For the last decade, the RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards program has been doing just that — highlighting inspiring stories of immigrants who have made incredible contributions to Canada, and honouring them with the most esteemed national award celebrating immigrant success. Since the RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards program launched in 2009, we have received thousands of nominations, shortlisted 750 nominees and awarded 250 remarkable immigrants. It’s Time to Nominate for the 2019 Awards! Is there an inspiring immigrant deserving recognition that you know? Do they have a story that should be heard and honoured across Canada? Canadian Immigrant and the title sponsor, Royal Bank of Canada, are now calling on all Canadians to nominate these extraordinary immigrants at www.canadianimmigrant.ca/rbctop25. “Our goal at Canadian Immigrant is to support newcomers integration and success in Canada. Through the RBC Top 25 Awards program, we celebrate immigrants who have achieved great things and, in turn, serve as inspiring role models,” said Margaret Jetelina, Editor of Canadian Immigrant, a national multimedia platform and producer of the awards. “Canada has always has been known as a welcoming country to immigrants, and these awards are a shining example of that humanitarian hospitality.” Immigrants who have been honoured with this prestigious national award in the past include well-known Canadians like restaurateur/TV host Vikram Vij, acclaimed ballerina Chan Hon Goh and former Governor General of Canada Adrienne Clarkson, as well as other immigrants who demonstrated incredible contributions and achievements in their communities and for the country. “RBC is committed to supporting newcomers in Canada and is honoured to be able to celebrate their significant contributions and successes that positively effect change in our country,” said Ivy Chiu, Senior Director, Newcomer Strategy, and RBC. “These awards not only showcase the richness and diversity that newcomers add to the fabric of our communities but also the important role they play in making Canada the success it is today and will continue to in the future.” Eligibility A nominee can be anyone who has immigrated to Canada and has since contributed to the success

and uplifting of this country and its people. Achievements can be either professional or personal. Nominees must be aged 15 or older, hold landed immigrant (permanent resident) or citizen status in Canada, and reside in Canada. Entrepreneur Award This will be the fifth consecutive year that one of the Top 25 winners will also be selected for the additional Entrepreneur Award, honouring one of the Top 25 who has demonstrated entrepreneurial excellence in business. No additional application is required to apply for this award. Youth Award For the third consecutive year, the Top 25 will include the Youth Award, which recognizes young immigrants between the ages of 15 and 30 who are making a difference through achievement and/or service, and who exhibit great potential as long-term contributors to Canada. No additional application is required to apply for this award. Settlement Agency Award Canadian Immigrant and RBC are also happy to announce the return of the Settlement Agency Award. For the second consecutive year, this award recognizes the amazing work immigrant settlement agencies are doing to help newcomers integrate and succeed in Canada. Concurrent with the RBC Top 25 Awards, we are now accepting nominations for the top immigrant settlement agencies in your community at www.canadianimmigrant. ca/rbctop25. One agency will be selected to receive the Settlement Agency Award for 2019 after an online voting process. Last year’s inaugural winner was Vancouver-based ISSofBC, oone of the oldest immigrantserving agencies in Canada. Nomination Process Nominations can be made at www. canadianimmigrant.ca/rbctop25 until February 22, 2019, 11:59 p.m. EST. A distinguished panel of judges made up of past winners will review all nominees and present a list of 75 finalists who will be announced in March, after which all Canadians can vote for their favourite nominees. The 25 winners will be announced on June 2019 in Canadian Immigrant and online at canadianimmigrant. ca. Winners will receive a commemorative plaque and a $500 donation to a charity of their choice provided by RBC. Media partners include Toronto Star, Metro and Sing Tao. *Source: Federal immigration levels plan 2019-2021

Federal deficit to be $2.1 Billion lower than projected: budget watchdog The parliamentary budget watchdog is projecting the federal deficit this fiscal year will come in $2.1 billion lower than the Liberals have predicted. Yves Giroux’s office chalks up the change to highert h a n - a nt i c ip at e d income-tax revenues that the government has collected this fiscal year, which closes in March. A report out this morning from the parliamentary budget office predicts that this year’s budget deficit will be $16 billion, less than the $18.1 billion the Liberals anticipate.

Had the economy been weaker or tax revenues lower, the report says, the federal deficit for the 20182019 fiscal year could have hit $23.2 billion when taking into account extra spending in Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s fall economic update. More than half the $7.2-billion swing in the projection is due to stronger tax revenues than Giroux predicted in the fall. The report says corporate incometax revenues are $3 billion higher than the watchdog forecast in October.

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Saturday, February 16, 2019 Opposition BC Hydro Critic Greg Kyllo is expressing concern about some of the actions the NDP government plans to take in a misguided bid to keep Hydro rates affordable. “B.C. currently has the fifth lowest rates in North America, thanks to investments made by our former government, but our system is aging and our population is growing,” says Kyllo. “That means we need to invest more than $2 billion per year in new and upgraded infrastructure.

The BC NDP government introduced its latest Throne Speech yesterday, but Langley East MLA Rich Coleman says the speech shows no real agenda for Langley and the rest of British Columbia. “This Throne Speech shows that a year and a half into their mandate, the NDP is already out of ideas,” says Coleman. “Meanwhile, the government

Press release

British Columbians will pay the price for deferred Hydro capital investment “But the NDP is now delaying $2.7 billion in investments and upgrades, including the Revelstoke Unit 6 Dam improvement, which would have generated 436 person-years’ worth of total employment. Deferring capital investment means British Columbians will pay the price in the future.” Kyllo says perhaps the most concerning aspect of today’s announcement is the prediction of a reduced need for power, particularly by industrial users, as the justification for

delaying these types of upgrades. This could signal a negative economic outlook. He also notes Energy Minister Michelle Mungall has publicly stated that energy needs to be purchased at market rates of $25 per megawatt hour. “The cost of IPP energy is approximately $100 per megawatt hour because clean energy is simply more expensive,” says Kyllo. “That makes the Environment Minister’s Clean Energy Plan impossible to achieve. It’s clear Minister Mungall did not

Throne Speech lacks agenda for Langley admits many British Columbians are struggling – even working two or three jobs to get by. But while this Throne Speech preaches affordability, it doesn’t include anything substantial to help ease the burdens facing British Columbians – many of them piled on by their own government.”

Since taking office, the NDP has introduced 19 new or increased taxes – including an MSP-replacement tax, higher gas taxes, and a so-called Speculation Tax that targets B.C. residents. “The NDP has shown they have no problem taxing British Columbians, but

they don’t have anything new to offer them in return,” says Coleman. “This Throne Speech contains no relief from the government’s slew of new taxes, no plan to create jobs, and no plan to grow the economy. And that’s no way to run a government.”

First 100 days a steep learning curve, with mix of good and disappointing results - Linda Annis First-term Surrey Councillor Linda Annis said her first 100 days on council have been a steep learning curve, “but I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” Elected on October 20 and sworn in on November 5, Annis said municipal government in a fast-growing city like Surrey is a complex business with a lot of moving parts. “I really believe we’ve got a tremendous future ahead of us if we can make the right decisions together,” said Annis. “But that means ensuring more transparency and community participation around major issues such as transit, development and policing.” Annis said her first 100 days included some notable successes for Surrey, particularly $7.5 million in federal public safety funding for the Surrey Safe HUB program that includes providing early intervention strategies for families with children at risk of joining gangs. Annis said other local accomplishments include the start of construction on a 655-student elementary school in south Surrey as well as plans for more new schools that will help the city get out from under the plague of portables. In addition, emergency shelters in city buildings were opened for the first time, and the city is furthering plans to provide transitional housing for people who are homeless. “When you look at issues like public safety, schools, transit and major infrastructure, Surrey’s working relationships with Ottawa and Victoria are critical to building our future,” reinforced Annis. “The partnerships and collaboration we enjoy with our local MPs and MLAs mean a lot to this community and require ongoing work every single day. As a municipality there is only so much that you can do on your own, but good relationships with other levels of government, and our metro neighbours, are a big part of shaping the city we want to build for Surrey families.” Annis, who sits on various city committees, including Parks and Recreation, Audit, Public Safety, and Finance is chair of Surrey’s Heritage committee and the newly-formed Surrey Safe HUB program which

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consult her cabinet colleague before making these contradictory remarks.” Meanwhile, he notes the clean power industry has attracted more than $8.6 billion in investment and established valuable partnerships with local communities and First Nations. Kyllo is calling on the Minister to reveal what the path forward will be for First Nations. He’s also asking her to reveal the tender process for a companion report on IPPs, given that the report’s author worked for the NDP government in the 1990s.

allows her to use the experience and policing contacts she has developed as executive director of Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers. While Annis said she was excited about her first 100 days on council, she said she was disappointed by some of council’s decisions, and said she hopes there would be more public involvement and consultation, as well as greater transparency with the community, on issues such as transit, policing, and the future of city-owned land and the Surrey City Development Corporation. “The cancellation of already-approved community infrastructure such as the Cloverdale Ice Complex and Grandview Community Centre was a big mistake,” said Annis. “We take a lot of pride in being a city for families, and we’re growing by 300 families every month. Parks, pools, rinks and community centres are a must, so I was very disappointed by the short-sighted approach that was taken with the cancellation of these important additions to our city.” Annis added that she wants to see that taxpayers are fully-informed about major issues, including the proposed Surrey Police Department and the decision to move from Light Rail to SkyTrain. “My support for both of these council decisions has always been based on making sure we have complete transparency, with Surrey taxpayers knowing exactly what we’re buying and what we’re getting,” added Annis. “That means the community has to be engaged and consulted, and that we always have to be honest about the real costs.” Annis said it’s clear that the recently proposed SkyTrain route provides significantly less transit for Surrey residents than the Light Rail option and doesn’t meet the promises made during the municipal election. Similarly, Annis said, “The more we learn about creating our own police force, the more we recognize that costs will be significantly more than the 10 percent increase that was promised during the October election.” Contact: Councillor Linda Annis

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Vol. 10 No. 2

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Saturday - February 9, 2019

Tel: 604-591-5423

E-mail: ads@theasianstar.com

Sales slump could signal tough times ahead for BC realtors

S

low housing market could lead to tough times for some realtors, especially those who have recently entered into the profession, said the president of the Fraser Valley real estate board. The days when all a Vancouver realtor needed was a sign and pen to make a sale may be behind us. “I think it’s going to be tougher for the more-inexperienced realtors, those who are three or four years in,� said John Barbisan. “What they’re used to is not what real estate is typically like.� The 35-year veteran said agents will be forced to be more like “consultants than auctioneers� as they help to connect buyers and sellers. While the Real Estate Council of B.C. hasn’t seen a significant drop in the

number of realtors across the province, there are signs uncertain market conditions are impacting local agents. According to the council, there were 25,987 licensed real estate professionals in B.C. as of Dec. 31 — a 36-person drop from Sept. 30, although still slightly higher than June 30. The dramatic increase in the number of licensees — from about 21,000 in 2012 to 26,000 in 2018

reater Victoria’s housing market is now “moderately overvalued,� an improvement from its status as being “highly overvalued,� according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp. The capital region and Toronto are the two areas among 15 in Canada to see their previous overvaluation rating decreased to moderate from high. Even so, the degree of overall vulnerability remains high in Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto and Hamilton, the federal agency said Thursday in its quarterly housing

market assessment report. Although those areas remain overvalued, it is easing, which is why Victoria is now holding a moderate rating. That is because house prices are “moving closer to levels supported by housing market fundamentals such as population, personal disposable income, and interest rates,� CMHC said. The federal body releases quarterly reports examining how many vulnerable markets are within the country. If an area is

— seems to be slowing. The president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said agents must be able to manage sellers’ expectations in a challenging market. “Communication is going to be important,� said Phil Moore. “It’s not like it was two years ago. Properties are sitting longer on the market.� Housing Matters host Stuart McNish speaks with B.C. Minister of Housing Selina Robinson, opposition critic Sam Sullivan, and Vancouver Sun columnist Dan Fumano

Victoria housing market remains overvalued: CMHC vulnerable, that means it is imbalanced, which occur through overbuilding, overvaluation, overheating, and price acceleration. “We are seeing overvaluation pressures unwinding in Toronto and Victoria, despite the fact that Canada’s overall vulnerability remains high,� said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s chief economist. Braden Batch, a senior analyst for CMHC, said the change in rating took place in the third quarter of last year.

about how different levels of government can find solutions to Metro Vancouver’s housing affordability crisis. Subscribe to Housing Matters on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and Spotify. While the board’s membership has grown by about 1,000 members over the last two years, it has declined slightly in recent months. At the same time, home sales in Metro Vancouver have dropped, with about 40-per-cent less sales in January compared with the same month a year earlier. “In my experience, most people give (real estate a try for) four years,� said Moore. “Because our industry is open to part-time, you’ll find that some keep another job for the first two years while they’re learning.�

“The population of young adults, which is a key driver of household formation, increased in the third quarter adding support for house price growth,� he said. “However, the support from population growth was mitigated by a slight decline in disposable income and an increase in mortgage rates.� Housing sales have been slowing in Greater Victoria from more than a year ago, he said in an interview. However, “What you don’t hear often is that sales are still at about

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25

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Real estate market expected to mederate over next 2 years

#106 - 7565 132 St. Surrey, BC 604.572.3005

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the country’s real estate market is expected to moderate over the next two years as the growth in housing prices is expected to slow to more in line with economic fundamentals.In its 2018 housing market outlook released today, the national housing agency projects housing starts and sales are both expected to decline

in 2019 and 2020.It predicts housing starts for single and multi-unit starts will fall to between 193,700 and 204,500 in 2019, while sales are anticipated to be between 478,400 and 497,400 units. Prices are anticipated to range between $501,400 and $521,600. CMHC says it expects economic indicators

26

Classifieds / Jobs

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Saturday, February 16, 2019 South Asian Seniors - Filing Income Tax Returns Free From February 25th 2019 to April 30th 2019. Vedic Seniors Parivar Centre of Vedic Hindu Cultural Society Surrey informs South Asian Seniors that during the Tax filing period we can help you to file your Income Tax Returns for the year 2018, free of cost, through the community volunteer program of Canada Revenue Agency, from February 25th 2019 to April 30th 2019. If you are living in Surrey / Delta. The eligibility Criteria are as follows 1.Single individual with annual income limit up to $ 35,000. 2. Couples with annual income up to $ 45,000. 3. Three persons income $. 47,500, 4. Four persons income $. 50,000 , 5. Five persons or more, add $ 2500 for additional members. Interest income not over $ 1,000.00 and this income will be included as total eligibility. With no investment income, no rental income , no business or partnership income and no capital gain or loss. Sin# card and photo identity will be required to prove the documents. Project funded by Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program for Hindi speaking seniors. If you are eligible then please contact Surendra Handa Coordinator Tel. 604 - 507 - 9945 for further information. South Asian Seniors - Share the Experiences of Journey to Canada by participants, February 17th 2019 (Sunday) at Shanti Niketan Hall from 2.00 pm to 3.30 pm. Vedic Seniors Parivar Center of Vedic Hindu Cultural Society Surrey invites South Asian Adults and Seniors, both members and nonmembers also to attend a Valuable Talk Show, which was postponed last weekend due to some unavoidable circumstances, will be held this weekend, the Topic - sharing the Experiences of Journey to Canada by the members/ participants, now will be held on February 17th 2019 (Sunday) from 2.00 pm to 3.30 pm at Shanti Niketan Hall of Lakshmi Narayan Hindu Temple 8321 - 140th street Surrey BC. Volunteers will be requested to come forward and everybody is welcome to share the Experiences.Tea and light snacks will be served after the Talk Show is over. Project funded by Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program for Hindi speaking seniors. Please contact Surendra Handa Coordinator Tel. 604 - 507 - 9945 for further information.

For more Updates, Visit our Website

www.theasianstar.com

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Health officials confirm measles case in Vancouver area Health officials have confirmed a case of measles in the Vancouver area. Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) spokesperson Shaf Hussain said a resident of the VCH health region was diagnosed on Feb. 7, and that the Medical Health Officer’s office was notified on Feb. 8. Hussain said he believes the risk to the public is low, but could not confirm that the patient was not infectious. “If the person was infectious there may have been a risk to the public, but I believe the infection period had lapsed. Usually, a rash appears when you have measles. You’re infectious four days before or four days after the rash,” he said. “We don’t know where the person has been. But in general, if the person is infectious

and the person is out in the public, yes.” Hussain could not speak to where the patient may have contracted measles, citing privacy. He said most people in B.C., especially those born after 1970 are already immunized against the disease. However, he said anyone who believes they are showing symptoms of measles should contact their doctor right away. “If they suspect they have measles they’re asked to call ahead if they’re going to a walk-in clinic or physician’s office, so proper precautions can be taken by that office and to protect anybody who may be there,” he said. Symptoms of measles include fever, red eyes, a cough, a runny nose and a rash. You can learn more about measles here.

BC money launderers more likely to be convicted in USA than at home Over the past decade, more than a dozen B.C. residents have been charged and convicted in the United States of money laundering. Canadians have faced more justice south of the border for cleaning illicit profits than they have at home, including Ariel Savein, who was moving cash for a Mexican cartel, and Omid Mashinchi, who pleaded guilty last year in Boston to laundering B.C. drug money, Police experts say that sometimes it’s more effective to turn over evidence they have

collected in Canada to their U.S. counterparts, who have a better chance of conviction. In fact, a Postmedia investigation has revealed that successful money laundering prosecutions in B.C. are rare. But some lawyers who specialize in extradition believe Canadians accused of committing cross-border crimes like money laundering or drug trafficking should be held accountable in this country. At least two B.C. men are still in Canada despite being charged years ago with laundering cash in Washington state. Trevor Jones, twin brother of full-patch Hells Angel Randy Jones, was charged in 2011 with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, as well as money laundering. Neither Canadian nor American authorities could say this week whether an extradition request has been made. And gang associate Glenn Sheck is alleged to have laundered millions in the U.S. and Canada between 2007 and 2012. He was ordered committed for extradition in November 2017. Sheck has filed an appeal, which is set to be heard on April 4. Former Metro Vancouver realtor Omid

Most provinces in Canada fail to secure convictions in money-laundering cases Canada largely fails to successfully convict money launderers with almost three-quarters of people accused going free, a Global News investigation has found. From 2000-2016, Canada recorded 321 guilty verdicts in money-laundering cases, according to an analysis of data provided by Statistics Canada. Another roughly 809 cases were either stayed, withdrawn or dismissed, according to the data, resulting in a conviction rate of around 27 per cent. That’s far fewer than other crimes, as roughly 63 per cent of all adult criminal court cases in 2017 resulted in a guilty verdict. “It’s scandalous,” said forensic accountant Matt McGuire, who previously worked for FINTRAC — Canada’s watchdog against money laundering. “It’s quite clear the system isn’t working. It’s mind-boggling.” The data comes amid growing calls for an inquiry into money laundering and organized crime in B.C, but the new numbers show it’s a problem touching every province. McGuire, co-founder of the AML Shop in Toronto, said Canada’s reputation as a stable financial system, coupled with investigators that are unwilling or lack resources to prosecute complex financial crimes, has turned Canada into a “utopia” for money launderers. “Our violent crime is at the lowest crime rate in 30 years. It’s hard to convince anybody really that crime is a monster problem at the moment,” he said. “The criminals have moved from baseball bats to balance sheets.” The U.K. and the U.S. have been far more successful in prosecuting money launderers. Between 1999 and 2007, there were 7,569 money-laundering prosecutions in the U.K., resulting in 3,796 convictions (a roughly 50 per cent conviction rate). The most recent data available from the U.S. Department of Justice show that in 2015, 727 people were prosecuted for money laundering, with 615 being convicted – a rate of 85 per cent. Examining prosecution rates for these crimes in Canada is challenging. No federal government agency collects the data directly from provincial courts and information from Superior Courts is not available to be analyzed. Cases where a person was charged with money laundering in addition to other crimes were not available.

LOCAL / NATIONAL

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Asylum-seekers flee from other countries enter into USA then ask for protection in Canada For nearly two years, hundreds of asylum-seekers have been traveling down a well-worn road in New York to cross the border into Canada and ask for protection. Though the movement started out with immigrants who lived in the US and feared deportation under Trump’s policies, word has spread over the months since he took office. Now, the migrants come to Roxham Road from all over the world, using tourist visas to enter the US and making their way to the Canadian province of Quebec. Though migrants are supposed to request asylum from the first “safe country” they land in — which for these migrants is the US — many say they don’t feel safe in Trump’s USA, and are pessimistic about their chances at winning asylum here. INSIDER spoke to a handful of migrants to learn how the bordercrossings have evolved over time, why people continue to make the roundabout journey to Canada, and what they want Americans and Canadians to understand. Some migrants had just landed in America hours earlier, while others had stayed for weeks, months, or years. They came from countries across the world, from Colombia to Nigeria. But all of them had hope that they could find a new, safe life in Canada. Here’s what they said: “We’re good people, we’re not here for bad things. Only to be safe.” A migrant named Andres brought his

sister and her children to the US-Canada border. He said the children’s father was killed just weeks earlier, and the family decided to flee. INSIDER/Marisa Palmer A Colombian migrant who said his name was Andres crossed the border with his sister and nieces. He said they were fleeing conflict, and that they had heard from friends they could seek asylum from Canada if they entered at Roxham Road. “Their father was murdered like two weeks ago,” Andres said. “Our life changed like 180.” Andres said they didn’t know anyone in Canada, nor did they know what they could expect when they crossed the border. He added that the only thing he knew about Canada was that “it’s cold.” “What I want is just to be safe here, and maybe in a couple months or years, to see again my daughters with a safe life. There is insecurity in my country.” Blaise Kidasharira, 34, says how he fled Burundi because he feared for his life after his wife was killed. Blaise Kidasharira, a 34-year-old doctor from Burundi, said, he left his home country because he feared for his life. He said his wife was murdered less than one year ago by a member of the “Imbonerakure,” the youth wing of Burundi’s ruling party, and that he saw the young man who shot her. Kidasharira said that as a member of the Tutsi ethnic minority, the Imbonerakure

Group of 23 people about to enjoy major Lotto win in Mississauga A Mississauga resident—along with several other people—is one step closer to a massive $1 million lotto win. OLG recently announced that a group of 23 people from the GTA is one step closer to claiming their lottery win of $1,000,000 from the Lotto Max (Maxmillions) draw on September 21, 2018. The members of the group are: Sivakumar Kandasamy of Milton - Adarsh Sharma of Etobicoke - Danwantie Lachhman of Mississauga- Gowri Dayabaran of Scarborough- Iankaran Nadarasa of Scarborough- Indira Bharosi of BramptonJeyanthini Chandrarajan of Maple- Jeyaruby Shanthakumar of Scarborough-Kalaranee Rajendran of Markham- Maheswary Paramanathan

of Scarborough- Mainawattie Ractoo of Woodbridge - Malini Balenthiran of Scarborough- Omwattie Sarran of North York- Paskaradevi Shanmugeswaran of Markham - Radchaeswary Vasanthakumar of Vaughan- Rajeswary Kanageswaran of Brampton- Rajkomarie Seetahal of Etobicoke- Rohankumar Kirubakaran of Pickering - Shanthini Sivaneswaran of Maple - Sirikaran Gunaratnam of TorontoSurinder Kaur of Brampton Thangeswary Kunasingham of Bradford Vasuky Nallathamby of Brampton Kirubakaran’s brother is an employee at an OLG retail location, and since one of the group members is related to an employee, this prize falls within OLG’s definition of an Insider Win.

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Terror suspect teen’s bail hearing adjourned for another week The arrest of a youth on terrorism charges in Kingston, Ontario, has made national headlines. But there are still more questions than answers in this case It will be another week’s delay before a bail hearing is set for the youth charged with terrorism-related offences in Kingston, Ont. The teen — who was arrested on Jan. 24 after RCMP raided two homes in Kingston, and was charged with knowingly facilitating a terrorist activity, and counselling a person to deliver, place, discharge or detonate an explosive or other lethal device in a public place — appeared briefly via video in the Kingston Criminal court on Feb. 12. The youth’s defence asked for the matter to be adjourned another week, making it the

third week in a row no decision was made on when the bail hearing will be. As of Tuesday, the youth’s former representation, Douglas Caldwell, was replaced by a new defence counsel, Sean Ellacott. Ellacott said Caldwell will no longer be working on the case but did not give a reason why. Ellacott also did not disclose who hired him to work the case. As they were last week, the federal Crown attorneys were prepared to set a date for the bail hearing, but Ellacott asked for an adjournment to get acquainted with the youth’s case. Once a bail hearing is set, the Crown asked for a full day to present its arguments, which means the youth’s bail hearing could run over two days. The teen will appear again in court via video link on February 19.

SNC-Lavalin signed at least $68M in federal contracts last year SNC-Lavalin was awarded at least $68 million in new federal work last year, a Toronto Star analysis shows. The figure provides a glimpse into what is at stake for the Quebec-based company if it is convicted of fraud and corruption charges that lie at the heart of a political storm swamping the Trudeau government. The tally excludes the value of multiyear contracts and major infrastructure projects, and likely represents a fraction of what the construction and engineering giant stands to lose in the high-profile case. It also

excludes work SNC-Lavalin is involved in as part of a consortium of companies, such as Ottawa’s new $2.1-billion light rail line and the $2.8-billion contract to upgrade Montreal’s regional transit system. The charges against the company are at the centre of a political controversy for the Liberal government. Last week, the Globe and Mail reported officials in the Prime Minister’s Office pressured former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to halt criminal proceedings against SNC-Lavalin and settle the case through mediation.

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NATIONAL

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Blaming Liberals for hydro rate increases ‘not honest,’ say former energy minister British Columbians are facing an eight per cent spike in their BC Hydro bills over the next five years and political fingerpointing about its cause is in full swing. A new provincial report, released this week by the NDP government, lays the blame squarely on the previous government for signing deals with independent power producers. That decision is expected to cost consumers $16 billion dollars over the next 20 year, according to the report. But not everyone agrees. BC Hydro rates expected to increase 8% over 5 years “I would challenge the narrative that the NDP has set up here,” said former B.C. Liberal energy minister Bill Bennett. “It’s not

honest and it’s not true.” ‘Other factors’ Energy prices increase for all sorts of reasons, Bennett argued, particularly when the costs of developing renewable sources are factored in. Hydro customers on the hook for more than $16B due to B.C. Liberal government contracts: report “That type of power — run-of-the-river, solar, wind, bioenergy — it’s all more expensive electricity than what you get from the heritage assets like the big dams,” he said. “There are a whole bunch of other factors that are driving rates up at BC Hydro.” Bill Bennett was the B.C. Liberal Energy Minister from 2013 until he retired from politics in 2017.

Federal deficit to be $2.1 Billion lower than projected: budget watchdog The parliamentary budget watchdog is projecting the federal deficit this fiscal year will come in $2.1 billion lower than the Liberals have predicted. Yves Giroux’s office chalks up the change to higher-than-anticipated income-tax revenues that the government has collected this fiscal year, which closes in March. A report out this morning from the parliamentary budget office predicts that this year’s budget deficit will be $16 billion, less than the $18.1 billion the Liberals anticipate. Had the economy been weaker or tax

revenues lower, the report says, the federal deficit for the 2018-2019 fiscal year could have hit $23.2 billion when taking into account extra spending in Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s fall economic update. More than half the $7.2-billion swing in the projection is due to stronger tax revenues than Giroux predicted in the fall. The report says corporate incometax revenues are $3 billion higher than the watchdog forecast in October.

Home prices fall for fourth straight month: Teranet Canadian h o m e prices fell in January for the fourth consecutive month led by weakness in major We s t e r n Canadian cities, data showed on Wednesday. The Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index, which measures changes for repeat sales of single-family homes, showed prices fell 0.1 percent last month from December 2018. Prices fell in four of the 11 markets surveyed, with cities in the oil-rich province of Alberta posting the largest drops. Edmonton prices fell 0.8 percent, while prices in Calgary were down 0.5 percent. Vancouver prices fell 0.3 percent. It was the sixth straight month of declines for Pacific Coast city, which boasts the most expensive

housing market in Canada. “Those three westernmost markets have been trending down markedly for months now,” Teranet said in the report, noting that was in contrast to major cities in the eastern Canadian province of Quebec. “Montreal and Quebec City were the only indexes at an alltime high in January,” Teranet said. Canada’s once-hot housing market has softened in the last year, weighed by tighter mortgage rules and five interest rate hikes from the Bank of Canada since July 2017. Prices rose 2.2 percent in January on an annual basis, led by a 6 percent increase in the capital region of Ottawa-Gatineau, though prices fell 0.3 percent in January compared with December in that same region.

ISIS fighter now wants help to return home An Ontario man who spent four years fighting for ISIS and used social media to recruit others now wants to return home with the help of the Canadian government. Canadian Mohammed Ali says the Islamic State terror group is abandoning its foreign militants as it continues losing ground against U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters. The 28-year-old says he, his Canadian wife and their two children have been “hung out to dry” and that it is no longer safe for them in Syria. “Why shouldn’t I be able to go home? I’ve done nothing in Canada. I’ve broken no laws there at all,” said Ali in an interview. Ali and his family attempted to flee to Turkey after he was cast out of the terror group, but were captured by coalition-led forces. They have been detained in a Syrian prison for the past nine months. Ali fears the Islamic State militants still have sleeper cells and that members are hiding out until U.S. forces withdraw from the war zone. “They have pockets in the desert; they’ve got people intermingling with

the population, acting as civilians -just biding their time,” said Ali. But he isn’t the only Canadian in Syria asking for help. On Sunday, two Canadian women fled one of ISIS’ last remaining strongholds and surrendered to coalition forces, according to a report from CNN. The two women, who spoke fluent English, said they were from Toronto and Alberta and travelled to Syria at their husbands’ insistence. Non-profit group Families Against Violent Extremism, which says there are currently 27 Canadians detained in Syria, is lobbying for their return. The group says more than half of those detained are children under the age of five. Global Affairs Canada previously confirmed that it is aware of Canadian citizens being detained in Syria, but said the government only has minimal means to provide aid. “Given the security situation on the ground, the Government of Canada’s ability to provide consular assistance in any part of Syria is extremely limited,” Global Affairs spokesperson Richard Walker said.

Saturday, February 16, 2019

How Trudeau’s climate promise fizzled Some voters had a lot of hope for the federal Liberals back in 2015. First of all, Justin Trudeau was not Stephen Harper, a fact some people really liked. He also had a pile of platform promises that appealed to many Canadians. Confronting climate change was one of the big ones. The Liberal platform pointed out how inept Harper’s Conservatives were on climate change and said “We will end the cycle of federal parties – of all stripes – setting arbitrary targets without a real federal/provincial/territorial plan in place.” Then Catherine McKenna hit the ground running as environment and climate change minister. There was a lot of excitement as she helped lead the successful negotiations of the Paris Agreement on climate change in December of 2015. She got all kinds of credit for pushing the aspirational goal of a maximum 1.5 C increase in global warming. It looked like the Liberals really meant it and that Canada, as they claimed, really was back. Comparing Andrew Scheer to Stephen Harper won’t likely work in the upcoming election campaign. Justin Trudeau has to run on his own record this time. So what happened? Well, the air was let out of the tires. They decided to go with Harper’s goal of a 30 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in Canada by 2030. They said that reduction would be a floor rather than a ceiling. Turns out it’s a ceiling. It also turns out they really don’t have a plan to implement the goal;

their ‘Pan Canadian Framework’ is mostly hype and has pretty well fallen apart. And even then it didn’t actually say how Canada would meet Harper’s target. So not what was promised. The Liberals have hung their hats on carbon taxes. But it turns out that if you can’t specify the end result you’re looking for (something that would come from an actual plan with defined actions and outcomes), then it’s hard to sell a carbon tax as the right tool. And the provincial Conservative governments across the country are fighting carbon taxes, apparently not quite understanding why they are such a good idea. The Trudeau government’s latest way of trying to sell the carbon tax is to give money back to the people. After all, people like getting cheques, right? The government also issued a complex, difficult to understand version of the carbon tax for industry. It contains adjustments so that industries that burn a lot of carbon won’t be hit too hard because apparently that would make them uncompetitive. Trudeau has to run on his own record this time Effective carbon pricing makes the alternatives to fossil fuels at least as economic as the fossil fuels. While the Trudeau government can say they have priced carbon, it is not clear their confused approach will reduce the burning of any carbon. To hold the temperature down to the level agreed in Paris we actually have to stop burning fossil fuels this century, and really sooner rather than later.

Ontario police free 43 from ‘modern day slavery’ Police in Ontario have freed dozens of people from a human trafficking operation officials likened to “modern day slavery.” The Ontario Provincial Police announced Monday that an investigation revealed 43 people were brought to Canada with the promise of work visas and permanent residency status. The majority male, Mexican-born victims paid large sums of money to leave their home country, police said, but were often left with less than $50 a month to live in “squalid conditions” in Barrie and Wasaga Beach, Ont. “Human trafficking is modern day slavery,” said the OPP’s Rick Barnum at a news conference Monday. “Exploitation is the key element of this offence.” The victims, who were between the ages of 20 and 46, were reportedly working for a Barrie-based cleaning company and were transported daily to work at hotels and vacation properties in central and eastern

Ontario, Barnum said. Workers were charged fees for the transportation and lodging. One victim reportedly told an officer: “Last night I went to bed a slave. This morning I woke up a free man.” The operation was the first of its nature and size seen in the region, said Barrie Police Chief Kimberley Greenwood. “This is very disturbing,” she said, adding that while human trafficking for labour purposes is less commonly discussed, it is no less troubling. “It is inconceivable that this was taking place in our community.” Police executed 12 warrants on Feb. 5, and rescued the 43 victims who were then provided hot showers, food and fresh clothing before interviews were conducted. All victims have been offered accommodation and legal employment at a local resort, said Greenwood. “To me, this is what it means to be Canadian. Stepping up when others are in need and rectifying wrongs in our community when we’re able to do so,” she said.

Sask. NDP calls for probe into province’s dealings with SNC-Lavalin The Saskatchewan NDP is calling for a full review of the Saskatchewan Party’s longstanding relationship with SNC-Lavalin. NDP leader Ryan Meili said the province needs to investigate SNC’s business in Saskatchewan, including the Boundary Dam 3 carbon capture project. “Find out everything that went on and make sure that there’s no possibility of any wrongdoing, and if necessary, bring the auditor’s office in, have a really close look at all of Bill Boyd’s activities and all of SNC-Lavalin’s activities,” Meili said. He also renewed calls for a review of conflict of interest laws, calling them “the worst political donation rules in the entire country.” Meili said that over the last decade, the Quebec-based construction and engineering firm has donated nearly $10,000 to the Sask. Party and has been awarded more than $750 billion in contracts. “Looking at what’s happened with SNC nationally and in other parts of the world, in recent years and the checkered history of

that minister in particular, Bill Boyd and this government when it comes to the selling of Saskatchewan land or granting of contracts, it’s absolutely worth doing here in Saskatchewan. Canada’s ethics commissioner has agreed to calls from the federal NDP to launch a conflict of interest examination into allegations that the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or his office attempted to influence the Attorney General in relation to the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin. Last week, the Globe and Mail reported the Prime Minister’s office tried to interfere in a criminal case against the engineering giant. Since then, pressure has been mounting on Trudeau to let his former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould share what she knows about the scandal. Federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer also sent a letter to Trudeau demanding he waive solicitor-client privilege in the case. Wilson-Raybould has said she won’t comment because she’s legally bound to keep details of her dealings with government confidential.

NATIONAL

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INDIA

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Rahul to launch his election campaign from village ‘Lal Dungri’ (red onion) in Gujarat Congress president Rahul Gandhi launches his election campaign from the same tribal village, Lal Dungri in Gujarat’s Dharampur area where his grandmother Indira Gandhi, his father Rajiv Gandhi, and his mother Sonia Gandhi in 2004 started and romped home to power. The party believes Lal Dungri (Red Onion) brings good luck for the family to rule the country. Many remote villages in South Gujarat region recognise only the Congress’ symbol and remember only former PM Mrs Gandhi. Not losing out on the fact that the Congress attaches historic importance to this region, the Bharatiya Janata Party moved in Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis from

neighbouring Maharashtra to Dharampur on Wednesday, a day ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s Jan Akrosh Rally, to galvanise over 4,000 party workers at a ‘cluster meeting’ of the party’s rank and file in presence of state chief Jitu Vaghani. The meeting, held at Rajchandra Ashram hall in Dharampur, was to address party workers of three Lok Sabha constituencies in South Gujarat dominated by Adivasis. Rahul, meanwhile, was expected to make a statement against land acquisition for the bullet train in this region where angry farmers who are losing their fertile fields are locked in a battle with the government, the matter now awaiting a judgment in the Gujarat High Court.

Supreme Court delivers split verdict on control of services The tussle between Delhi Lt Governor and the elected Government of NCT remains unresolved, as the Supreme Court delivered a split verdict on the issue of control of services. A Bench of Justice AK Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan had different views as to who had powers to appoint and transfer officers of State Public Services under Entry 41, List II of the Constitution. In view of the split verdict, the issue of “services” has been referred to a larger Bench. Justice Sikri ruled transfers and posting of officers of and above the rank of Joint Secretary are under the powers of the Lieutenant General of Delhi. He, however, said

other officers would be under the control of the elected Government of Delhi. Justice Bhushan disagreed and ruled that “services” were totally outside the purview of the Delhi Government. But the two judges were unanimous in their findings on disputes pertaining to the anticorruption branch, appointment of commission of inquiry, control over electricity boards, land revenue matters and appointment of public prosecutors. It upheld the Centre’s notification that said its employees cannot be probed in corruption cases by the ACB of the Delhi Government.

PM Modi to visit South Korea from February 21 Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay a two-day visit to South Korea next week during which he will hold talks with President Moon Jae-in on a host of issues to strengthen strategic ties, and also be conferred with the Seoul Peace Prize. The prime minister will arrive in Seoul on February 21 on a visit that will provide an important occasion for the two leaders to review the recent developments in bilateral relations, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. Vijay Thakur Singh, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said though the visit is barely for 30 hours, it is packed with a number of engagements scheduled with the South Korean leadership, businesses and other stakeholders. It will also provide an opportunity to

exchange views on regional and international issues of common interest with the objective of further strengthening the special strategic partnership between the two countries based on shared values and interests, the statement said. On February 21, PM Modi will address India-Korea Business Symposium and also launch India-Korea start-up hub. He will also unveil the bust of Mahatma Gandhi at a varsity in Seoul, Mr Singh said. The next day he will hold talks with the Korean president. During the visit, Prime Minister Modi will also be conferred with the 2018 Seoul Peace Prize at a ceremony to be organised by the Seoul Peace Prize Cultural Foundation on February 22, in recognition of his national and international contributions.

More than 100 die after drinking poisonous home-made alcohol in India Over past few days over 100 people died inmany parts of north India and also including slums of Mumbai by drinking poisonous alcohol. Indian police launched a crackdown on illegal bootleggers after many killed drinking toxic moonshine, police said. India has grappled with the problem of fake or illegal alcohol, which is cheap and readily Bootleg alcohol deaths hit India’s poor the hardest. available for many poor and impoverished people. Police believe the About 400 liters of illicit booze was seized deaths occurred when victims across two during joint operations by police in both states. neighboring states drank from the same batch Police said the criminal group conducted its of illegal homemade brew, which was produced operations out of villages hidden in the forests, by a criminal group operating between Uttar where the toxic drinks were mixed. Pradesh and Uttarakhand. “Regarding the source of the alcohol, we The majority of the deaths were reported in have found traces of several locations in the Uttar Pradesh, with 36 dying in Saharanpur forests where the liquor was produced,” Dinesh district and eight in Kushinagar, according Kumar, superintendent of police in Saharanpur to district officials. Thirty-six people died in told reporters on Saturday. “There are three or Uttarakhand’s Haridwar district, Janmejay four villages where there are criminals whose Khanduri, the region’s police superintendent, profession it is to make this alcohol.” said. In a press conference Tuesday, Khanduri Ongoing problem said police have arrested two suspects accused Deaths from cheap, illegally brewed liquor of selling the illicit liquor. Indian moonshine -- often containing toxic methanol -- are not deaths raise concerns over food safety also. uncommon in India. Indian moonshine deaths risen. “From our The moonshine is typically brewed in villages investigations, we have found that the chemical before being smuggled into cities, where it sells was transported from Haridwar to Saharanpur,” for about 10 cents a glass -- about a third the he said, adding that authorities were waiting price of legally brewed liquor. for test results to confirm the chemical used. More than 100 people died from drinking The investigation into the poisonous liquor is illegal homebrew in a Mumbai slum in June ongoing and eight people, including the two 2015, police said, while more than 160 people sellers, have been arrested, police spokesperson died from drinking a bad batch of moonshine Shalin Sharma said. in West Bengal in 2011.

Naval officer arrested for ‘molesting’ domestic servant A 46-year-old senior naval officer posted in Goa had been booked for allegedly molesting his domestic help, police said on Thursday. The maid filed a complaint of molestation and sexual harassment against Commodore Mankandan Nambiar, posted at the INS Hansa naval base here, on Wednesday, Vasco police station inspector Nolasco Raposo said. In the complaint, the woman accused the officer of molesting her at his private

residence in Vasco town, located around 40 km from here in South Goa district, he said. The officer has been booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 354 (assault or criminal force on woman with an intent to outrage her modesty), 354-A (sexual harassment) and 354-B (assault or use of criminal force on woman with an intent to disrobe), he said. After the officer was booked, he moved a local court for anticipatory bail, the police added.

PUNJAB

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Court convicts gangster Bhola in three cases Jagdish Bhola, along with 22 other accused, including NRI Anoop Kahlon and Jagjit Chahal, were found guilty by a special court in three cases related to multi-crore synthetic drug racket that rocked Punjab in 2013. Bhola, an award winning wrestler and former DSP, Punjab Police handed 12-year jail in case registered against him at Mandi Gobindgarh, in an other case registered at Banur 10-year-jail and two-year jail in a case registered in Sirhind. The court also imposed a fine of

Rs 2.2 lakh on Bhola. All cases are related to recovery of synthetic drugs and precursor chemicals, besides arms, from his possession. His lawyer said they will challenge the conviction in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. However, in two other cases — one registered at Patiala and another at Sirhind — Bhola was acquitted. He and 49 other accused were present in the court when the verdict was announced. There were a total of 74 accused.

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Resolution passed on expediting SGPC poll process The Punjab Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution on expediting the process of holding elections to the SGPC and authorised the CM to meet the Union Home Minister in this regard. MLA HS Phoolka urged CM Capt Amarinder Singh to meet the Home Minister to get the elections to the SGPC expedited. Amarinder said he would meet the minister, urging him to hold early polls of the SGPC, which had been delayed for three years.

Akali MLA NK Sharma said it should first be made clear if Phoolka is a member of the House or not, since he had resigned. Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu jumped to the rescue of Phoolka, saying Phoolka would go down in history for the service he had rendered for Sikhs. Akali BJP MLAs got up and started shouting slogans. Harpal Cheema, Leader of Opposition, said the Akali Dal members were crying foul on the resolution for having early elections

A hot debate in Punjab Hot debate in Punjab assembly over bringing motion against superstition the assets of Sharma as well as Assembly on bringing in a law that of his own. Sharma countered this by saying that against superstition went awry with Kuljit flocked to Pandits, including NK Sharma, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brahm who was sitting on the other side and wearing no one had the right to ridicule the other’s Nagra of the Congress and NK Sharma of Mohindra said a House committee should the SAD bringing religious practices of each a religious thread on his wrist. Nagra said religion. As the two sparred and got personal inquire into it following which Speaker Sharmas are also Pandits, which did not go in levelling allegations, Nagra told the House other to the forefront. Rana KP okayed the inquiry. BJP MLA that Sharma had acquired a huge empire in Som Parkash, who had moved the nonDuring the debate, Nagra said people down well with Sharma. the past 12 years. He sought an inquiry into official resolution for bringing in the abovementioned law, said separate cremation Punjabi NRI selected for UK civil service

An NRI originally from Sangrur, Chahat Sekhon joins Civil services in the UK. Chahat’s father Kiranjeet Singh Sekhon, an advocate, said, “She is first girl from Punjab to join the civil service in UK. After successfully clearing the written exams and the final interview, she was overjoyed when she was declared a successful candidate.” Chahat Sekhon is serving as an Economist in finance department of Scottish government. Just after completing her degree in M.Sc. economics and finance from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland in 2018, Chahat appeared in the civil services exams of UK. Chahat’s father Kiranjeet Singh Sekhon an advocate, said, “She is a first girl from Punjab to join the civil services in UK.

Girl gang-raped, her boy frined beaten in Ludhiana 20-year-old girl from Ludhiana and her friend were returning from Sarabha Nagar market on Saturday when their vehicle was intercepted near Issewal by three accused. The girl allegedly gangraped and her boy friend was assaulted. Police said Lakesh Lahu Uttekar was caught after the woman on Saturday night found a mobile phone in the changing room and found a clip in it of her undressing. DIG Khatra added that during interrogation, he named four other accused – and raids are being conducted to arrest them. Three days after 20-year-old student was gangraped allegedly by 10 men after she and her male friend were waylaid on Changna Bridge on South City road in Ludhiana late on Saturday, rural police arrested two accused on Tuesday and identified three more. DIG Ranbir Singh Khatra said that prime accused Sadiq Ali (24), a resident of Rehpa village in Mukandpur police station area of Nawanshahr district, and Jagroop Singh (30) from Jaspal Bangar of Ludhiana have been arrested. “Jagroop has been arrested wiith the help of Ludhiana city police. Sadiq, who was arrested first, had confessed to his crime during interrogation and named four other accused, including Jagroop. Raids are being conducted to arrest the others.

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INDIA

Saturday, February 16, 2019

India’s emergence as most vibrant democracy is exceptional: Envoy The emergence of India as the world’s largest democracy and perhaps the most vibrant one post the World War-II is indeed exceptional, a top Indian diplomat has said. Part of India’s success lies in the historical tradition of people’s participation in governance. In that sense, democratic tradition is not completely a foreign one, Deputy Indian Ambassador to the US Santosh Jha told a Washington audience on Wednesday. “India’s emergence as the world’s largest democracy, and perhaps the most vibrant one after the end of the Second World War, is indeed exceptional,” he said in his keynote address at a day-long

seminar ‘Delivering Democracy in India’. The event, attended by over 150 prominent representatives from American media, academic institutions, US agencies and thinktanks, was organised by the Embassy of India in collaboration with Indian Council for Cultural Relations and prestigious Hudson Institute think-tank. “With the benefit of the hindsight of seven decades of Indian democracy, there is no doubt that democracy is perhaps the only way to natural way to govern India, given the diversity of its languages, religion, ethnicity and culture,” Jha said.

India to remove trade privileges, ensure complete isolation of Pakistan: finance minister India will take all possible diplomatic steps to ensure the “complete isolation” of Pakistan in response to an attack by an Islamist militant group Jaish-eMohammad (JeM) that killed 44 Indian paramilitary police in Kashmir on Thursday, India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley (pictured) said on Friday. This would include

India removing most favored nation privileges given to Pakistan under World Trade Organization rules, he said. Pakistan-based JeM claimed responsibility for a car bomb that killed the police in one of the deadliest attacks ever in the India-controlled Kashmir region.

Chinooks helicopters arrive but infrastructure nowhere - CAG Even as the US-made Chinook heavylift helicopters have started arriving in India, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), while pinpointing several infirmities in the procurement process, has observed that the necessary infrastructure required for operating and maintaining the machines would not be available till March 2021. Revealing that the IAF had aligned its technical specifications to suit Chinooks and had modified its requirements five times, the CAG pointed out that the sanction for infrastructure at the designated airbase was accorded by the defence ministry in March 2018 whereas the contract for procurement of the helicopters was concluded in September 2015, thus leading to delay in the initiation of works procedure worth Rs

145.98 crore. CAG had tabled a report of capital acquisitions by the IAF in Parliament on February 13. US Aerospace major Boeing was contracted for procurement of 15 Chinook helicopters to support combat operations of the Army by transporting troops, artillery guns and other equipment to combat locations. The first four helicopters in semi-knocked-down condition arrived by sea in Gujarat last week, where they are being re-assembled by an American team. After acceptance trials they would be based in Chandigarh. The Chinooks would replace in the IAF the Soviet-origin Mi-26, which is the world’s heaviest helicopter.

Parliament’s budget session records only 4.79% productivity Rajya Sabha (the upper house of India’s parliament) on Wednesday passed the motion of thanks on the President’s address, the Interim Budget as well as five Bills, salvaging itself of an ignominy of a total washout of the Parliament session, the last before next general election in April. The completion of business was a result of a thaw between the floor leaders of Opposition parties and the government at a meeting convened by House Chairman Venkaiah Naidu. The hustle of the House helped jack up its overall productivity of the 10-day session to 4.79 per cent, about which the Chairman made a reference in his valedictory speech, terming the Budget session as a “wasted opportunity”.

During the 10 House sittings, 39 hours 51 minutes of the available 48 hours were lost in disruptions. The agenda was accomplished in a jiffy in the context of all through adversarial stand of the Opposition parties against the government resulting in a washout of the House proceedings. Among the Bills passed were Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill—seeking to remove leprosy as ground for divorce—and the Constitutional (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third Amendment) Bill. Naidu, who took the initiative of presenting a “Report Card” on the House’s five-year performance, said since June 2014, the Rajya Sabha productivity (time available and that utilised for legislative business) was only 60 per cent.

Man shot dead for having affair with friend’s sister A man was shot dead by his friend for having a relationship with his sister despite the accused’s objection to it, police said on Thursday. The accused, Sanu, has been arrested with a country-made pistol following the incident, which took place at a restaurant near a bus stand

here on Wednesday, they said, the entire incident was captured on CCTV camera of the restaurant. According to the police, Dharmendra Singh (34) was a tenant at Sanu’s home a couple of years back and had an affair with his sister to which Sanu had raised objection.

Teenage girl gang-raped A 15-year-old girl abducted and raped by four men in Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh, police said. The 15-yearold girl was abducted when she was returning home from the fields on Tuesday evening in the Panwadi area of Mahoba, a police officer said. The four men allegedly raped the girl and fled. The girl managed to reach her home and informed her family. An FIR (a police report) was registered against the accused Pushpendra Rajput, Ankit, Kesh

Kumar and Konion Wednesday. The girl has been admitted to hospital, where her condition was stated to be critical. Efforts were on to arrest the accused, the police officer said.

Saturday, February 16, 2019

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SOUTH ASIA

Saturday, February 16, 2019

China and India mostly responsible for Earth’s ‘Greening Phenomenon’

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wenty years ago, the world was literally a less colorful place. Data from NASA satellites shows that over the last two decades, the surface of the earth has become significantly greener. Way back in the 1990s, when pants were big, shirts were mesh, and the Spice Girls ruled the world, Ranga Myneni, a Professor in the Department of Earth and Environment at Boston University, noticed something odd: despite reports from the 1970s and 1980s that places like India and China were losing vegetation at an alarming rate, it appeared—from space, at least— that the foliage on our floating blue marble was making a comeback. It was around that time that Myneni decided to keep a closer eye on things to try and figure out why the so-called “greening phenomenon” was occurring. Over the next 20-or-so years, Myneni and his colleagues routinely took notes on what was going on and released reports on it. Recently, however, they dropped a report that found something surprising. According to the numbers, China and India, two of the countries with the world’s biggest populations, are responsible for the brunt of the greening. “China and India account for one-third of the greening, but contain only nine percent of the planet’s land area covered in vegetation,” said Chi Chen of the Department of Earth and Environment at Boston University and lead author of the study. “A surprising finding, considering the general notion of land degradation in populous countries from overexploitation.” The researchers used data from a

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NASA instrument orbiting the Earth called a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (which everyone calls MODIS because typing Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer more than once is super annoying). The MODIS has a high-resolution data record that covers the last 20 years. NASA described it, in a vaguely braggy way, as such: “its high-resolution data provides very accurate information, helping researchers work out details of what’s happening with Earth’s vegetation, down to the level of 500 meters, or about 1,600 feet, on the ground. An advantage of the MODIS satellite sensor is the intensive coverage it provides, both in space and time: MODIS has captured as many as four shots of every place on Earth, every day for the last 20 years.” According to a report the team released in 2016, the reason for all this greening is because of good ol’ human beings. “From a quarter to half of Earth’s vegetated lands has shown significant greening over the last 35 years largely due to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide,” it reads. If you will go back quickly to your time in high school science class, you’ll remember that green leaves the energy the sun throws at them to combine carbon dioxide from the air with water and nutrients they suck up through from the ground. That process is called photosynthesis and numerous studies have shown that increased concentrations of carbon dioxide increase photosynthesis, which in turn puts plant growth into overdrive.

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Saturday, February 16, 2019

Science Fair at Gobind Sarvar School a huge Success

This year's Science Fair was a great success and was appreciated by all those who attended. Staff and students worked very hard and did a commendable job. Our all teachers worked very hard to make it a success. It was very well attended and everybody appreciated students' hard work Our grade 7 teacher, Mrs. Rekhi, a very experienced teacher, was coordinator of Science Fair and planned and managed it very well. On behalf of Gobind Sarvar Elementary / High School Community, I would like to commend her for a job well done! Two MPs, Mr. Sukh Dhaliwal and Mr. Sarai and MLA Mr. Jagrup Brar were also there to bless our kids. Surrey City Councillors, Laurie Guerra, Brenda Locke and Jack Hundial also attended the Science Fair.

Last year we had 34 projects on display (grades 4 to 8). This year we had 54 projects (grades 4 to 10) and all projects selected as First, Second and Third by Judges in grades 7, 8, 9 and 10 will be registered for participation in South Fraser Regional Science Fair. KG and Grade 1 students worked on class projects and grade 2 and 3 students displayed their group projects and did a great job. As promised, winners' names will be announced tomorrow during school Remember: Together we can make the difference. Thank you. Jasbir Singh Bhatia

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FIJI

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Prime Minister Bainimarama says there’s an ongoing investigation in relation to former CEO of FSC The Prime Minister also Prime Minister Voreqe said that the question should Bainimarama says there is an have been disqualified under ongoing investigation in relation the Standing Orders by the to the former CEO of Fiji Sugar Parliamentary Business Corporation however it would Committee as it seeks to question not be prudent for him to release the character and conduct of further information as it might a person, seeks confidential compromise the investigation. information and seeks to confirm Bainimarama made this the accuracy of the statement in comment after National the press. Federation Party Leader Professor Speaker Ratu Epeli Nailatikau Biman Prasad asked Bainimarama PM Voreqe Bainimarama ruled that the question was in parliament whether an sufficiently answered as investigation, that was announced by the the investigation was ongoing however Sugar Permanent Secretary, was conducted SODELPA MP, Niko Nawaikula continued to on the former CEO of FSC. question why there has been a delay.

Bill to amend iTaukei Land Trust Act passed by parliament bill to amend the iTaukei Land Trust Act has been passed by parliament to allow the iTaukei Land Trust Board to appoint a CEO as the current act only provides for the appointment of a manager and officers of the Board. The Board has already gone ahead and appointed a Chief Executive Officer which is not provided for in the current act. Therefore, it was pertinent to amend the law to cater for this change. Amendments are also proposed to allow for suitably qualified persons to be appointed and to also provide for provisions regarding their functions, responsibilities and remuneration. A consequential amendment was also proposed to the Higher Salaries Act to

include the Board as one of the bodies for which the salary and benefits of its Chief Executive Officer are subject to sections of the Higher Salaries Act. Twenty seven MPs voted for the bill, 23 voted against it while one MP did not vote. During the debate, SODELPA MP Niko Nawaikula said that today is a very sad day for the indigenous people of the country, because it marks the beginning of the time when the government interferes with their land rights. He says this bill which concerns indigenous rights requires government to obtain their consent. Nawaikula says this is not an ordinary legislation.

Cyclon moves towards northern Tonga A heavy rain and flash flood advisory remain in force for all of Tonga as the possibility for a tropical disturbance in Tonga to develop into a tropical cyclone moderate, said the Fua’amotu Meteorological centre this morning Tuesday 12 at 7am. The system, named by the Centre as TD 10f was located near the north west of Niuafo’ou. It is moving east south east at the speed

of 12 knots (22km/hr) towards Niuafo’ou. Associated clouds, heavy rain and strong to gale force winds are expected to affect the group, it said. The Centre said, a gale warning remains in force for all of Tonga land areas and coastal waters. A heavy damaging swell warning remains in force for all of Tonga coastal waters. Meanwhile, it said tropical cyclone alert previously in force for all of Tonga for 08f is now cancelled.

184,305 people have less than $5,000 in their respective FNPF accounts 184,305 people have less than $5,000 balance in their respective Fiji National Provident Fund accounts. This is according to FNPF’s 2018 Annual Report which has been tabled in Parliament. 56,143 people

have a balance between $5,000 and $10,000 in their accounts. According to the 2018 report, there are 429,936 FNPF member accounts. 132 members have balance above $500,000

Teacher shortage affecting primary & secondary schools education minister Minister for Education Rosy Akbar (pictured right) says that teacher shortage is just not a case for Dilkusha Girls School as they are facing teacher shortages. She says they are currently facing teacher shortages in Primary and Secondary schools. Akbar says they have identified some vacant positions and have advertised for teachers positions. She has urged parents of Dilkusha Girls School to keep sending their children to school as the issue will be resolved shortly. Akbar adds they have identified schools that have surplus teachers and they will be

pulling those teachers to fill the void. Some parents of Year Two students at Dilkusha Girls School have informed Fijivillage that one teacher has resigned and one teacher has missed classes as she is admitted in hospital. Parents say that students in that teacher’s class are just sent to other classrooms for supervision and they have been informed by the school that they do not have a relieving teacher. They are raising concerns that it is week 5 of Term 1 but their children in Year 2 have not learnt much with midterm tests scheduled for next week.

Super market in Raiwasa confirms that no employee will lose their job despite fire Following a fire that has damaged the New World Supermarket on Shalimar Street in Raiwasa, the New World Group of Companies have placed the 22 staff from Shalimar Street to other New World Supermarkets in Suva, Damodar City and Nakasi. New World Group of Companies, Chief

Operating Officer, Peter Royce says it is too early to determine the cost of damage adding that he will reveal this once Police and NFA have completed their investigations. NFA says after initial assessments the fire is suspected to have started in the kitchen. NFA and Police will soon conduct their investigation to determine the cause of the fire.

Fiji man sentenced life in prison for killing his former girlfriend A former Fiji resident Rohit Deepak Singh who was found guilty of the murder of his ex-girlfriend Arishma Chand in Arishma Chand New Zealand has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum period of imprisonment of 19 years. 24-year-old Chand was killed during the early hours of November in 2017, after her ex-boyfriend lay in wait at her Manurewa house with a large kitchen knife. Rohit Deepak Singh, 41, has been charged with the murder of 24-year-old Arishma Rakesh and Aradhana Singh, Arishma’s

parents, discovered their daughter’s body when they returned to their home. Singh stalked his ex for year and broke into her home wearing gloves and wielding weapons. The Rohit Singh Crown prosecutors said the motive for the murder was Rohit Singh’s obsession and infatuation with Arishma. He was in a relationship with Arishma which ended in August 2016. But he was obsessed and infatuated with Arishma and refused to accept she didn’t want to be with him and it was this obsession which drove him to kill her.

PAKISTAN

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Gov’t An opinion published in New York Times criticising Pakistan’s powerful army was censored by its local publisher on Tuesday, replaced by a blank space in a country where it can be dangerous to reprimand the military. The article by an activist Manzoor Pashteen (pictured), the leader of a movement which calls for an end what it says are enforced disappearances and extra-judicial murders of ethnic Pashtuns by security officials. It was headlined “The Military Says Pashtuns Are

censors New York Times article by an activist critical of military Traitors. We Just Want Our Rights”. In it, the former veterinary student detailed how the impoverished northwest, along the Afghan border, has been “desolated” in Pakistan’s long fight with militancy. He described his group, the Pashtun Protection Movement (PTM), as “peaceful”. “We held

Gov’t to start massive crackdown against extremists on social media Federal information minister announced on Wednesday that the gov’t is gearing up to launch a massive crackdown against extremist narratives on any social media in next few weeks. Minister (pictured) Fawad Chaudhry, who was addressing an event in Islamabad, said: “We have created a mechanism through which we will control hate speech on social media as well. A working group of our agencies, including the FIA, sat [to discuss this]. “Our problem is that the digital media is

taking over formal media so it is important for us to regulate this. We are bringing a new authority called the Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority which will serve as a one-window operation for digital, print and electronic media. “The informal media is a greater problem than formal media as the former is soon set to take over the latter so the need was to build a capacity through which we can monitor social media, trace fake accounts and those who break the law could be prosecuted.

IMF asks Pakistan to take decisive actions before bailout As a prerequisite for the bailout package, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked Pakistan to take “decisive actions”, signifying that the international lender body remains inflexible in its demands, The demand for implementation of drastic measures was made during a meeting between IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday in Dubai on the sidelines of the World Government

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde meeting with PM Imran Khan on Sunday in Dubai

Summit, hosted by UAE (United Arab Emirates).

numerous sit-ins and protests and continued to hope that Pakistan’s leaders would try to address our concerns. Instead, they responded with intimidation and violence,” he wrote. “After every major protest, police arrests

Non-bailable arrest warrants issued for provincial minister Anti Terror Court issued non-bailable arrest warrens for Information Minister of K.P.K. province, Shaukat Yousafzai (pictured) in television building & parliament attack case for his continuous absence from the hearing. The judge ordered police to arrest the minister and present him before the court, also issued arrest warrants for another 26 party workers. The court accepted applications of Shah Mehmood

Qureshi, Jahangir Khan Tareen, Assad Umar & Shafqat Mehmood seeking exemption from the hearing. The court is expected to conduct hearing on pleas seeking acquittal of President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan during the next hearing. The hearing was adjourned till March 28. Parliament attack case: PTI and Awami Tehreek workers stormed Pakistan Television building in 2014.

Saudi Arabia dispatches 100 security personnel prior to Crown Prince’s visit to Pakistan Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Prince Mohammed bin Salman visiting Pakitan from February 16, this will be the first state visit of a Saudi Prince who will be staying at the official residence of prime minister in Islamabad, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said. The crown prince is due to arrive in Islamabad on February 16. Outlining the prince’s agenda, the information minister said the Prince would attend a reception at Presidential Palace in Islamabad on Saturday. He is expected to sign many agreements worth up to $15 billion, including three power

plants in Punjab and an oil refinery and petrochemical complex t in the coastal city of Gwadar. “A reception will be hosted in his honor at the president’s house and will be attended by the (Pakistani) prime minister, army chief, all top ministers, bureaucrats and important personalities in the country as well as members of the royal entourage,” Chaudhry said. On Sunday, Prime Minister Imran Khan and Crown Prince will co-chair meetings of joint working groups on trade.

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and charges PTM activists and supporters with rioting, treason or terrorism,” he continued. He also accused the security establishment of ensuring that “almost nothing is reported about our movement in the mainstream Pakistani newspapers and television networks”. The piece was “removed for print by our publishing alliance in Pakistan. The New York Times and its editorial staff had no role in its removal,” a note at the bottom of the empty-single column on the front page said.

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NRI

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Kamala Harris confronts critics questioning her black heritage Indian-origin US Senator Kamala Harris, who officially kicked off her 2020 presidential campaign, has directly confronted critics who questioned her black heritage, saying she was not going to spend her time trying to educate them about who black people are. Harris, 54, became the first Indian-American and the second black woman to serve in the US Senate when she took office in 2017. In an interview on Monday with New Yorkbased The Breakfast Club radio, the show’s hosts asked the California Democrat to address a series of derogatory memes circulating on social media, questioning her black heritage,

her record of incarcerating minorities as a prosecutor and her decision to marry a white man. One of the hosts cited a meme that said Harris is “not African-American” because her parents were immigrants born in India and Jamaica and she spent her high school years in Canada. “So I was born in Oakland, and raised in the US except for the years that I was in high school in Montreal, Canada,” the CNN quoted Harris as saying. “And look, this is the same thing they did to Barack (Obama). This is not new to us and so I think that we know what they are trying to do.

Trump’s judicial nominee apologizes for writings about date-rape

Neomi Rao, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s now-vacant seat on a powerful appellate court in Washington, apologized on Monday for commentary she wrote decades ago as a Yale University student suggesting women should change their behavior to avoid date rape. “Sexual assault in all forms, including date rape, is abhorrent. Responsibility for the rape is with the rapist. I believed that as a college student and continue to believe that today,” she wrote in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee. “As a society, we should create an environment where survivors feel empowered and comfortable coming forward. I am sorry for anything in my college writings to the contrary.” Last week, Rao faced fierce questioning from

members of the committee during her confirmation hearing for the writings from her college years, which included a piece she wrote in 1994 for the Yale Herald titled “Shades of Gray.” In the piece, she responded to an alleged date rape incident on campus by writing: “It has always seemed self-evident to me that even if I drank a lot, I would still be responsible for my actions.” She added: “A man who rapes a drunk girl should be prosecuted. At the same time, a good way to avoid a potential date rape is to stay reasonably sober.” Responding to questions from members of the committee during the hearing, Rao emphasized that rape is a crime and no one should “blame the victim,” and that she hoped she has “matured” as a writer and a person.

3 NRIs convicted in multi-million dollar money-laundering fraud Three Indian-Americans are among six people convicted for their role in a two-year multi-million dollar money-laundering scheme, the US Justice Department has said. Ravinder Reddy Gudipati, 61; Harsh Jaggi, 54 and Neeru Jaggi, 51, all from Laredo, Texas, were convicted of a money laundering conspiracy following a five-week jury trial. Along with the Indian-American trio, Adrian Arciniega-Hernandez, 36, of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico; Adriana Alejandra Galvan-Constantini, 36 and Luis MontesPatino, 57, both from Irving, Texas,

were convicted, said Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. Harsh and Adrian were also convicted on two counts of money laundering and Neeru Jaggi was convicted on one count of money laundering. Gudipati was convicted on two counts of money laundering in addition to other counts. Adrain, Galvan-Constantini, Montes-Patino, Gudipati, Harsh and Neeru were part of a complex money laundering scheme whereby money derived from the sale of drugs in the US was laundered

Man pleads guilty role in human smuggling to USA Yadvinder Singh Bhamba, 60, an Indian national, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and 15 counts of smuggling aliens to USA for profit before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sivia Carreño-Coll of the District of Puerto Rico. Judge Carreño-Coll has recommended that District Judge Carmen C. Cerezo accept the guilty plea. A sentencing hearing before Judge Cerezo is scheduled for April 23, 2019. Bhamba was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico on March 15, 2017. Bhamba a major role in human smuggling conspiracy operating out of the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico, India and elsewhere. As part of the conspiracy, Bhamba personally

assisted around 400 aliens to unlawfully enter the United States between 2013 and 2015. He also oversaw and directed co-conspirators operating out of the Caribbean. Bhamba and other members of the conspiracy made flight arrangements for aliens to travel from India through other countries – including Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Iran, Panama, Venezuela, Belize, and Haiti – to the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic was used as a staging area, where aliens were housed before being transported to the United States. The organization brought groups of aliens from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico or Florida by boat.

10-months jail for NRI attacking employee over payment Singapore: An Indian-origin man in Singapore was on Friday sentenced to 10 months of jail, along with six strokes of the cane and a fine of 3,000 dollars for attacking a cook at a stall here last year after being asked to pay for the food he ordered, according to a media report. At the court, Murugan Joseph, 45,

pleaded guilty to five charges, including voluntarily causing hurt with a weapon, possessing a weapon, using insulting words, mischief and theft. The incident happened last year when jobless Murugan and two of his Indian friends went to a food stall and ordered rotis (chapatis), Channel News Asia reported.

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