A man serving a second-degree murder sentence has died in an Abbotsford prison.
Correctional Service of Canada says in a statement that Eugene Raymond Benoit died while in custody at the Abbotsford Regional Treatment Centre.
C-S-C officials say the 69-year-old man died of apparent natural causes on July 13th, and at the time of death, the inmate had been serving an indeterminate sentence.
They also say the police and coroner have been notified, with a review of the death pending.
Vancouver Police say the Israel-Hamas war has fuelled hate crimes in the city and sparked far more protests than usual, with policing for the events costing millions. Police say they investigated 265 reports of hate crimes in 2023, a 31-per-cent jump from the previous year, including those related to South Asian, LGBTQ+ and Jewish communities.
More charges have been laid in a shooting in Surrey last April where a Calgary man was initially charged with attempted murder. RCMP say they began working with police in Calgary shortly after a man was shot and injured in a home in the Newton neighbourhood.
BC Ferries has awarded a contract to build four new hybrid-electric vessels to be ready to sail by 2027. The ferry corporation says in a statement that the contract has gone to Netherlands-based Damen Shipyards Group, the same company that built its last six ferries in the same Island Class of double-ended hybrid ships.
Former premier Rachel Notley, after almost a decade at the helm of Alberta’s NDP, is stepping down from the top job. Notley, the official Opposition leader, said a leadership race will be called and she will stay on as leader until a replacement is chosen.
A small cabinet shuffle in B-C has promoted Victoria's Grace Lore to the post of minister of children and family development. Premier David Eby announced the previous children's minister, Mitzi Dean, will now be the minister of state for child care.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says voters in the United States will face a choice later this year between optimism for the future or nostalgia for a past that never existed. Trudeau made the comments in Montreal today to a business crowd in reference to Donald Trump's victory Monday in the Iowa Republican caucuses, which gives the former president an early lead for the Republican nomination ahead of the November election.