Big numbers are being reported for B-C's cruise industry. The Port of Vancouver says its final cruise ship of the 2023 season is setting sail today.
It says the 2023 cruise season in Vancouver has been the port's biggest season on record, with an estimated 1.25-million passengers this year.
It says that marked a 54 per cent increase in the number of visitors in 2022.
The port says 332 ships docked between April and October this year.
VPD officers responded when two men were shot near Victoria Drive and East 28 Avenue on September 10 just after midnight. Both men were taken to hospital for serious injuries. Zuhoruddin Mansoori, 35, died on Monday morning from his injuries. The second victim is recovering. VPD homicide detectives arrested one man on October 18.
B-C is providing 3.5-million-dollars for a six-day fan festival during the 111th Grey Cup in Vancouver next year. Tourism Minister Lana Popham says hosting the Grey Cup will showcase B-C as a prime destination for tourism and sport hosting.
The Canadian Armed Forces said Friday it is getting ready for the possibility that it will need to help bring Canadians out of Lebanon, as Israel began evacuating a large town near its own northern border with that country. Lebanese militant organization Hezbollah, which has a massive arsenal of long-range rockets, has been trading fire with Israel along their shared border since the latest Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7.
Canadian Immigration Minister Marc Miller said that visa processing in India will be "inevitably impacted" after Ottawa evacuated 41 of its diplomats following a diplomatic spat with New Delhi over the killing of pro-Khalistani hardliner Hardeep Singh Nijjar. With India maintaining that it seeks parity in diplomatic presence, Canada said that only 21 Canadian diplomats and dependents would be stationed in India from now onwards.
Canada's premiers have sent a joint letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking the federal government to extend the repayment period for a year for interest-free loans given to small businesses and non-profits during the pandemic. The federal government's Canada Emergency Business Account offered interest-free loans of up to $60,000 to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada remains "firm and steadfast" in its commitment to a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. He says the Middle East, and the world, needs both a Palestinian state and Israel to exist alongside each other in peace, safety and prosperity.