Vancouver Restaurant, Kitchen Shut Down After Rat Allegedly Found In Soup

A restaurant in East Vancouver has been shut down a day after a rat was allegedly found in a bowl of soup produced in a kitchen in the same building.

On Thursday, a video posted by a patron at Crab Park Chowdery showed what appears to be a dead rat inside a bread bowl of soup.

Vancouver Coastal Health inspectors visited the cafe Friday morning to investigate, and allowed it to stay open.

bit.ly/2RujFLd via @CBCNews

Overdose Crisis Continues In B.C. With 120 Deaths Last Month, Coroner Says

An average of 4 people died per day in November.

There were 120 suspected drug overdose deaths in British Columbia last month, representing a 13 per cent increase over the number of deaths in the same month last year.

• 'Things are not getting better': B.C. opioid crisis still raging

The B.C. Coroners Service says an average of four people died every day last month from an illicit drug overdose.

The latest figures show 1,380 people died by overdose between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, 2018, almost exactly the same number of dead as between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, 2017.

The service says the majority of those dying from overdoses are men who are 30 to 59 years old, and most overdoses are occurring indoors.

• Men, alone and at home, dominate drug overdose deaths

The three cities experiencing the highest number of illicit drug overdoses are Vancouver, Surrey and Victoria.

The coroners service says 1,486 people died of overdoses in B.C. last year.

It is expected to announce the overall death toll for 2018 next month.

bit.ly/2EpK59O via @CBCNews ‏

Stabbing On Translink Bus In Vancouver Sends Man To Hospital – BC

A man is in custody and another sent to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after an assault and stabbing on a transit bus Christmas Eve.

Just after 1:30 p.m. Monday afternoon, two men began fighting on a TransLink bus near East 12th and Kingsway.

A number of passengers, witnessing the altercation, called 911.

During the melee, one of the men produced a knife and stabbed the other man.

Police responded immediately and located the victim, a man in his 60s, and sent him to hospital.

The suspect, who is also in his 60s, was identified and police caught up with him, taking him into custody.

He’s facing a charge of assault with a weapon.

No word on a motive for the assault, or if the two knew each other.

bit.ly/2sbkZEC via @globalnews

Vancouver Overdose Emergency Task Force Calls For Expanded Harm Reduction, Safe Supply

An emergency task force struck to address Vancouver’s overdose epidemic is calling for an expansion of harm reduction services throughout the city, including a second site for people to smoke substances under supervision and a mobile option to reach those outside of the Downtown Eastside.

The task force is also recommending an 18-month pilot project that would see overdose prevention sites in at least five private single-room occupancy (SRO) hotels, an expansion of these services in non-profit SROs and a review of overdose risk in both public and private SRO bathrooms.

Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart, who established the task force in November, released its first report on Tuesday. It will go before a special council on Thursday.

tgam.ca/2M5yvD3 via @globeandmail

Stopping Renovictions Tops BC's Rental Housing Recommendations

A call to stop renovictions was first among 23 recommendations in a B.C. government task force report issued Wednesday and described as the first comprehensive review of the province’s tenancy legislation in 16 years.

Renoviction is the practice of landlords evicting long-term tenants from their homes to renovate and then find new residents at significantly higher rents. The word, not in use 16 years ago when B.C.’s Residential Tenancy Act was last overhauled, has become commonplace in many B.C. municipalities, especially in cities like Vancouver and Victoria with low vacancy rates and soaring rents.

In recent years, tenants’ advocates have called for putting a stop to renovictions, and last week, Vancouver city council passed a motion to that end. But on Wednesday, some of those advocates questioned if changes proposed by the B.C. government’s report were strong enough.

bit.ly/2Ff4XSI via @VancouverSun

Vancouver's Looming 5% Property Tax Hike More Evidence Funding Reforms Needed

We'll spare the suspense: even though the vote is a week away, Vancouver is likely going to pass a budget with the highest property tax increase in a decade, after an election fought on issues of affordability.

"[An increase of] 4.9 per cent will allow us to do things citizens have asked for, so I think it's a reasonable increase," said Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart.

• Vancouver city councillors to consider 4.9 per cent property tax increase

After a day of presentations by different city departments on why their funding is needed, it seems clear a majority of council will side with Stewart — if only because eight of them are brand new to council and seem reluctant to override staff who have been working on the budget for months.

"We weren't involved in the development of this budget. At the same time, we have a responsibility to take a second sober look," said Coun. Lisa Dominato.

"I don't think anyone wants us just to rubber stamp a budget. And so, we're really trying to take our time to review carefully and do our due diligence. But definitely, it's a difficult spot to be in."

Yet, while the focus will be on the number council settles on for its property tax increase, the longer-term question of whether Vancouver's taxation system is sustainable remains.

bit.ly/2GYyP5M via @CBCNews ‏

Former Accused In Money Laundering Case Try To Get Cash Returned

Days after charges were stayed in the province’s largest-ever money laundering case, a lawyer for the former accused was in B.C. Supreme Court trying to get millions of dollars seized by police returned to the pair.

The hearing was held Nov. 27 before Justice Heather Holmes. Postmedia did not attend the proceeding, but listened to a recording of the 42-minute session at the Vancouver Law Courts on Friday.

Lawyer Matthew Nathanson filed an application on Nov. 26 for the return of more than $2 million seized during an RCMP investigation, dubbed E-Pirate. The cash was found in the home of Caixuan Qin and Jain Jun Zhu, as well as at the Richmond offices of Silver International Investments, of which Qin is director.

bit.ly/2AxFcsN via @VancouverSun

China Won’t Stop Flood Of Fentanyl Into Canada, Sources Say

The opioid crisis and record-setting death counts caused by fentanyl flooding into Canada could get worse because of a growing diplomatic dispute with China, sources have informed Global News.

Canadian law enforcement agencies have found that fentanyl and its chemical precursors are mostly produced in southern China factories and sent to North America via shipping containers, and in the mail.

bit.ly/2MAGojP via @globalnews

PHS Housing Director Andy Bond Promoted To Lead The Vancouver Nonprofit Through Challenging Times

The Portland Hotel Society (PHS) has named Andy Bond its interim executive director.

Early reactions suggest the appointment could finally end a tumultuous period in which PHS has burned through no less than six executive directors in barely four years.

Bond was unavailable for an interview Friday (November 30). Reached by phone, the organization’s board chair, Allen Garr, told the Straight that Bond was selected for his extensive experience working for PHS Community Services Society (as PHS is known officially).

“The staff who work for us are under particular stress, because of the opioid crisis,” Garr said. “We needed someone like Andy to let them breathe a bit and then put their shoulder into it for the next few months.”

The nonprofit supportive-housing provider is one of B.C.’s largest provincial partners on social services. In 2017, its annual revenue exceeded $36 million, according to Canada Revenue Agency filings.

In 2014, PHS’s founders and entire management team were forced to resign amid accusations of financial improprieties. In the year that followed, Ann McNabb, Dominic Flanagan, and Ken Bayne provided leadership under appointment by the provincial government or otherwise cycled through the organization’s top position in quick succession.

By 2015, Ted Bruce brought a brief period of calm to PHS’s upper management team. He was executive director for 14 months. Eamonn O’Laocha took over next and lasted eight months. Then Jennifer Breakspear was named executive director in January 2017. She came to the position with some experience running a large nonprofit, Qmunity. That raised hopes the organization’s Game of Thrones imitation had come to an end.

Alas, Breakspear resigned without warning at the end of October, after 22 months on the job. Garr declined to discuss her departure and Breakspear did not respond to a request for comment.

In May 2016, the Straight reported on a PHS internal memo that described the preceding years as “some very difficult times”. More recently, mid-level managers and lower-level PHS staff have consistently complained to the Straight that the executive directors hired from outside the organization simply did not understand PHS, or how it provides care to people who struggle with severe mental-health issues and long-term drug and alcohol addictions.

bit.ly/2Nn1umd via @georgiastraight

High-Roller Targeted In RCMP’s Probe Of Alleged ‘transnational Drug Trafficking’ Ring

On a country road in British Columbia’s Chilliwack Valley, a Chinese VIP gambler has spent years constructing a compound of incredible wealth, according to witnesses and sources with access to police intelligence.

If it was in Colombia or Mexico, the secluded five-acre property on Chadsey Road might pass for the set of a Netflix narcos drama.

bit.ly/2Axj7dV via @globalnews

David Eby Disappointed By Stay On Charges In BC Money-Laundering Case

B.C. Attorney General David Eby reacted strongly Wednesday to news that criminal charges in B.C.’s largest money-laundering case had been stayed, calling the inability to prosecute these cases a crisis.

“I was incredibly disappointed — as I imagine are many British Columbians,” Eby told reporters at a news conference in Vancouver.

He said he learned that criminal charges in the RCMP’s E-Pirate money laundering investigation had been stayed after reading about it in The Vancouver Sun.

Eby said there was an “urgent” need to find out why this happened and how to fix it, which would need the co-operation of all parties, including the federal government.

“It is a disturbing signal that a prosecution of this magnitude collapses shortly before going to trial,” said Eby, who believed it was the largest money-laundering case in B.C. history.

bit.ly/2LOXN82 via @VancouverSun

Criminal Charges Stayed In Major BC Money-Laundering Investigation

Criminal charges have been stayed relating to a high-profile RCMP investigation that alleged money laundering, underground banking and suspected drug cash used to fund VIP Chinese gamblers in B.C. casinos.

And now, the RCMP is conducting a review in an attempt to identify what police “activities” could have contributed to the charges being stayed, said Sgt. Marie Damian in a statement on Wednesday.

“The RCMP is conducting a full scale review to understand its activities which contributed to this stay, and will incorporate relevant lessons learned into its investigative practices and processes where necessary,” Damian wrote in an emailed statement. “More importantly, how to mitigate against the possibility this set of circumstances occurs again in the future.”

bit.ly/2F8gcMH via @VancouverSun

‘It’s Murder’ - How Lethal Opioids Devastated A Small Region Of Ontario

The wood framed clock on the table of Melissa Hurst’s living room is stopped at 7:42 a.m.
Inside the clock are the ashes of her son, Luke, who on Mother’s Day 2017 was discovered at that same minute in his bed dead of an overdose.

He was 19.

“My heart was ripped out that day,” Hurst told Global News. “I wake up with pain every single day. I go to bed in pain thinking of him and in some ways I feel like I failed him as his mother.”

bit.ly/2G8orrZ via @globalnews

Fentanyl Kings In Canada Allegedly Linked To Powerful Chinese Gang, The Big Circle Boys

In October 2015, RCMP officers wearing tactical gear burst into luxury homes, an underground bank and two illegal casinos in Richmond, B.C.

At a hidden casino on Richmond’s No. 4 Road, they found 27 surveillance cameras. The place was abandoned but police saw something that concerned them.

On a wall calendar, a day had been circled. It was the execution date for the RCMP’s search warrant.

bit.ly/2ScdJqK via @globalnews

Secret Police Study Finds Crime Networks Could Have Laundered Over $1B Through Vancouver Homes In 2016

The stately $17-million mansion owned by a suspected fentanyl importer is at the end of a gated driveway on one of the priciest streets in Shaughnessy, Vancouver’s most exclusive neighbourhood.

A block away is a $22-million gabled manor that police have linked to a high-stakes gambler and property developer with suspected ties to the Chinese police services.

bit.ly/2SaujHn via @globalnews

An Introduction To Fentanyl: Making A Killing

Almost a dozen Canadians died every day from opioid overdoses last year. Since 2016, more than 8,000 have lost their lives, primarily to fentanyl. In British Columbia, the problem has become so bad that life expectancy has dropped for the first time in decades.

But it has also made traffickers astoundingly rich.

In a multi-part investigative series, Global News follows the money, revealing how organized crime groups and small-time operators alike are making a killing from fentanyl.

bit.ly/2AAiOPq via @globalnews

A Botched Murder Case And Secrecy At The Top

No one should be satisfied with the secrecy around a botched “Mr. Big” murder case in B.C. that raised questions about the integrity of the justice system.

Especially Attorney General David Eby.

Kristy Morrey, 28, was found dead in her small Port Alberni home on a Sunday in 2006. Police believed she had been murdered, but couldn’t come up with evidence to charge anyone.

Nine years later, they reopened the case and set out to get a confession from Morrey’s former boyfriend, truck driver Larry Darling, spending $2 million on an elaborate “Mr. Big” sting

bit.ly/2Te89EC via @TheTyee

Statue Honouring Pat Quinn Defaced In 'Disrespectful' Act Of Vandalism

A statue outside Rogers Arena honouring hockey legend Pat Quinn has been defaced in an act of vandalism one Vancouver Canucks executive is calling “disrespectful and disappointing.”

The statue's face and part of its torso were seen covered in orange paint or a similar substance Monday afternoon, though it's unclear when the vandalism took place.

Canucks Sports & Entertainment told CTV News it is working to have the statue cleaned up.

bit.ly/2EMni8M via @CTVVancouver

East Vancouver Church Daycare Vandalized On Anniversary Of Polish Independence

East Vancouver church daycare vandalized on anniversary of Polish independence

Members of St. Casimir’s Polish Parish in East Vancouver discovered the church daycare had been vandalized with “Antifa” graffiti on the same day they gathered for a mass marking one century of Polish independence. Kristen Robinson reports.

bit.ly/2Aft1R4 via @globalnews

Jean Swanson Wants City Council To 'Recommit' To Affordable Rental Rates At 58 West Hastings

COPE Coun. Jean Swanson is taking a years-long effort aimed at ensuring that housing built at 58 West Hastings rents entirely at pension and welfare rates to next week's council meeting.

Swanson has a motion on notice for the Nov. 13 meeting calling on the new council to “recommit” to those rates. She also wants council to direct staff to report back within a month on what funding is required to achieve the 100 per cent welfare/pension rate, with at least three options for sources of revenue.

http://bit.ly/2AAQ8Ws via @VanCourierNews

Outgoing Executive Director Jennifer Breakspear Says Resignation Not Related To Payment Issues Plaguing Staff

The executive director of the Portland Hotel Society is resigning after less than two years on the job, as struggles continue with a new payroll system that has consistently delivered inaccurate payments. Some PHS workers, along with their union representatives from CUPE 1004, say the payroll system has been malfunctioning for months, leading to financial insecurity, bounced rent cheques, non-sufficient fund fees from banking institutions and hours spent in the PHS payroll offices trying to get the money owed them.

"Some folks are potentially on the verge of losing their homes because of repeated errors in payroll, " said Cupe 1004 president Andrew Ledger.

bit.ly/2CCZLV6 via @CBCNews

Former International Drug Kingpin Now A Painter, Parole Documents Say

When Yong Long Ye was arrested almost 11 years ago, police described him as the “head of the snake” of an international trafficking gang who owned luxury properties and moved tens of millions in drugs and cash.

Since getting day parole earlier this year, he has been living a less glamorous life, staying in a halfway house and working as a painter, parole documents state.

The Parole Board of Canada ruled Oct. 15 that Ye, now 51, could remain on day parole because he no longer presents “an undue risk to society.”

“Your release will contribute to the protection of society by facilitating your reintegration into society as a law-abiding citizen,” board members Mike Sanford and Christopher Sullivan said in their written ruling.

Ye was sentenced to 18 years in jail in 2008 after pleading guilty in B.C. Supreme Court to conspiracy to import and traffic cocaine and methamphetamine, as well as laundering the proceeds of crime.

bit.ly/2TqAQuD via @VancouverSun

VPL Receives $5M In Largest Donation To Public Library In Canada - BC

The Vancouver Public Library (VPL) has received a historic $5-million donation from the Dilawri Foundation.

The donation allows the library to implement the second phase of its revitalization plan for Vancouver Central Library, which includes additional activity space for the children’s library, a new literacy playground and the addition of new sensory learning elements for children, including those with developmental disabilities.

WATCH: Sneak peek inside Vancouver Public Library’s central library expansion and rooftop garden

bit.ly/2rUXf7A via @globalnews

Localized Flooding In Parts Of Metro Vancouver After Sunday Night Rainstorm – BC

A torrential downpour on Sunday night turned Vancouver streets into lakes and kept city crews busy throughout the night.

READ MORE: Flooding concerns as snow melts in Calgary

Environment Canada says up to 25 millimetres fell over a couple of hours.

The city responded to 128 calls, 49 of which were for property damage including water entering homes and underground parkades.

Video sent to the CKNW newsroom shows cars submerged, and neighbours taking it upon themselves to unclog drains covered in leaves.

bit.ly/2Ntc2Aw via @globalnews

Homeless Campers On The Rise Amidst Housing Crisis

They come in all shapes, models, and sizes.

They’re meant as a form of transportation, but vehicles also offer refuge for those on the brink of homelessness in Vancouver.

Darryl, who only wanted to share his first name, said he was forced out of his basement suite of 10 years and had to choose between living in a tent city or living in his 1990s Ford Winstar.

“I can barely afford [the van] let alone pay another $400 or $500 of rent,” he said. “With the cost of moving, I had to rent a container to try and save my belongings.”

Darryl’s situation is not unique, according to newly elected city councilor Pete Fry.

Fry claims this is a growing phenomenon along West Coast cities, adding he’s seen similar situations in Seattle, Portland and San Diego. He said in those cities, there are safe and secure lots for the vulnerable.

“People that have no place else to go can park there and can have access to toilets, running water, showers and outreach services,” Fry said.

He thinks this could be a temporary measure to address the housing crisis in Vancouver with winter approaching.

Another councilor said the city is working to help those in need.

“Some of these people go to work, and are trying very hard to be able to sustain themselves and their lives,” said Coun. Melissa De Genova. “I understand that our staff has a lot of compassion for them."

“When our engineering team comes across a person or family in this situation they work closely with our housing team to make sure these individuals get all the resources and help that they need.”

Meanwhile on the street, Darryl’s plan is to save up enough money to fix his van and drive it out of Vancouver entirely, and head to Ontario.

“You can get houses down there cheaper than you can get up here,” he explained. “For $700 you can get a nice two-bedroom house on its own property.”

Having lost his job with the collapse of Greyhound, he doesn’t know how long that could take.

bit.ly/2GGxpOa via @CTVVancouver

This Week In History 1889 — A Classic Victorian Hotel Goes Up Downtown

There was boundless optimism in Vancouver in 1889, when the city was only three years old and was expanding at an explosive rate. So Joseph Couture thought it was a good time to build a new, “first-class” hotel at Howe and Dunsmuir streets.

It was called Manor House, probably to try to give the impression that it was the kind of place blue bloods would stay.

“It is a large, commodious and fashionably built house, with all the most modern conveniences, specially adapted for the use of families and those desiring homelike accommodation,” said an ad in the Oct. 27, 1889, Vancouver News-Advertiser. “The house is supplied throughout with electrical bell service, speaking tubes, fire escapes, hot air, bathrooms, closets, electric and gas lights, and the best of ventilation.”

Manor House featured a posh dining room, a billiard room and a “double” parlour. There were also sitting rooms in the “tower” and a “pavilion” on the roof, which featured a “walking terrace.”

Translation: It was totally Victorian and over the top.

bit.ly/2GGSSaj via @VancouverSun

Fentanyl Leads B.C. To Record Decline In Life Expectancy, Defying Positive Trends Recorded By Most Of The Species

Average life expectancy is about the broadest indicator of a population's health that we have. In the simplest terms, it tells us if a given generation is doing better than the one that came before it.

In modern history, average life expectancies for most nations on Earth as well as for the human species as a whole have consistently trended up.

Thanks to improved hygiene, education, technology, and medical care, among other factors, each generation of humans lives longer than the previous.

And so, in the developed world, something has to be very wrong in a given region for its population's average life expectancy to begin to decline.


British Columbia is one area where that is happening, according to an October 23 report by Canada's chief public-health officer.

"On the whole, life expectancy has been steadily increasing in Canada over many years and it is comparable to other high income countries," the document reads. "Alarmingly, this is expected to change. For the first time in recent decades, life expectancy in British Columbia is decreasing, due to harms associated with opioid overdoses."

B.C.'s epidemic of drug-overdose deaths is now so severe that illicit narcotics are single-handedly responsible for dragging down the average life expectancy for the population of the entire province.

"Recent data from B.C. show that life expectancy dropped by 0.12 year from 2014 to 2016 due to deaths involving substances, with over 90% of these related to opioids," the report continues. "This dip in life expectancy was more pronounced in men and in poorer neighbourhoods."

bit.ly/2SqQmqp via @georgiastraight

East Hastings Vancouver (BMX In The Hood)

Today I was riding my BMX in the hood through east Vancouver a dangerous neighborhood! The BMX in East Hastings Vancouver in the hood videos will keep coming if you subscribe like and comment. East Vancouver Down Town East Side. This was filmed in Vancouver, Canada from POV GoPro set up. They call this place Skid Row on the DTES *Down Town East Side*.

bit.ly/2sRePK8 via @YouTube

This Week In History, 1920 The Masses Reject Prohibition

Ninety-eight years ago, British Columbians rejected Prohibition.

“Moderates Sweep Province; City and Country Alike Ask For Government Control,” said the front-page headline in the Vancouver World on Oct. 21, 1920. “Almost Two to One Majority (Against) Prohibition Act Recorded.”

The vote was recorded in a referendum on alcohol, four years after a previous referendum had approved Prohibition, albeit in a controversial vote.

In 1920, there was no controversy — 76,165 people voted “wet,” while 45,478 voted to keep B.C. dry.

The anti-alcohol forces were shocked.

“Unexpected as was this development in many quarters, still more unexpected was the universality of the demand for a change of law,” the World reported.

bit.ly/2AfnCK7 via @VancouverSun

Downtown Eastside Alcohol-Replacement Program Faces Closure

Outside the PHS managed alcohol program‘s lounge in Vancouver, a passed-out woman lies on a patch of grass while others nearby keep an eye on her to make sure the situation doesn’t deteriorate.

Inside, another woman hurls obscenities and accusations at a man while members continue sanitizing bottles and stirring homemade wine as though they’ve heard it all before.

There are days when fights break out and when people are asked to go cool off elsewhere, but the little program on Princess Avenue beats the other options that usually include jail, the emergency room or, in recent years, fentanyl poisoning, according to those who run and use it.

Tyler Bigchild, 38, was part of a small group of drinkers involved in the program’s earliest days, before it became official in 2013. Back then, they called it the Drinker’s Lounge and it was part of Portland Hotel Society’s defunct Drug Users Resource Centre.

“My alcohol use was hardcore, I’d be drinking anything I could,” said Bigchild, listing rubbing alcohol, mouthwash, gel hand sanitizer and bottles he stole from liquor stores.

bit.ly/2DNAhGg via @VancouverSun

Here's The Audio Of Kennedy Stewart's Campaign Manager Threatening A Man On The Phone This Week

Mayoral candidate Kennedy Stewart’s campaign manager, Neil Monckton, is attempting to scrub the internet of mentions of union support for his guy. And it seems to be working.

Founder and president of the Vancouver company Provident Security, Mike Jagger – who just happens to be a close friend of and a volunteer for the NPA’s candidate Ken Sim – posted the audio clip below of an interesting phone conversation he recently had with Monckton.

bit.ly/2FQ7Dqa via @VIAwesome

Sons Of Former East End Hell's Angel Linked To Assault Of Vancouver Cop

Two of three men charged with assaulting a Vancouver police officer Tuesday are sons of an original member of the East End Hells Angels, Postmedia has learned.

A Vancouver police officer was taken to hospital Tuesday night after he was beaten during a routine traffic stop in downtown Vancouver.

It happened at around 10 p.m. when two plainclothes officers pulled over a Dodge Durango on Robson Street after they spotted travelling through an area of Granville Street closed to private vehicles.

The VPD says the three men in the vehicle, all in their early 20s and well-known to the police, were confrontational and verbally abusive during the traffic stop.

bit.ly/2T5P8jW via @VancouverSun

Daphne Bramham Back In The Studio, Kennedy Stewart Looks To His Past And Vancouver’s Future

Back in 1991, a local band called State of Mind won CFOX’s ‘demo-listen derby,’ which gave it the chance to record at Vancouver’s Little Mountain Sound Studio.

AC/DC band members were walking out of there along with renowned Canadian producer Bob Rock when the State of Mind guys walked in.

Poison, a glam metal band, was recording there as well, which is how lead guitarist C.C. Deville ended up playing on State of Mind’s tracks.

“Imagine being from nowhere Nova Scotia and AC/DC is right beside you and so is Poison,” said Kennedy Stewart, who at the time was State of Mind’s 24-year-old bass player.

bit.ly/2SjojsL via @VancouverSun

Here Is Just A Partial List Of The Brutal Murderers That Canada Has Set Free

Canadian public opinion has been galvanized this week by the news that Terri-Lynne McClintic, one of the murderers of eight-year-old Tori Stafford, has been transferred to a low-security “healing lodge” after only eight years in federal prison.

Canadians would be right to suspect that this is something that happens relatively often. A Canadian given a “life sentence” for first-degree murder can expect to get out of jail in only 22.4 years, according to 2002 numbers from Corrections Service Canada. The Canadian justice system has freed serial killers, child murderers, mass shooters, cop killers, cannibals and even terrorists. Just as in the case of the transfer of McClintic, these releases have almost always occurred despite the fervent appeals of victims’ families.

Below, a not-at-all comprehensive list of notorious Canadian killers who were released early, got parole or escaped from minimum security or prison leaves.

bit.ly/2LTwQQx via @nationalpost

BC Coroners Service Releases Expanded Findings Of Overdose Deaths

A new report about fatal drug overdoses in British Columbia is overflowing with numbers, however, one statistic stands out in this grim accounting — fentanyl was detected in more than three in every four deaths.

On Thursday, the BC Coroners Service released a 34-page report that provided expanded information on British Columbians who died due to drug overdoses between 2016 and 2017.

The report includes data and information on population, demographics, marital status, housing, employment status and industry of work, medical history (including mental health and pain-related issues), pattern of illicit drug use, overdose location, mode of consumption, drugs detected and people using alone.

bit.ly/2Q4hFoa via @globalnews

Daily Poll Do You Support A ‘Sex Doll Brothel’ Opening In Vancouver

Vancouver’s first sex doll brothel, where patrons would rent a human-looking doll for around $60 for 30 minutes, could open in November.

Read Matt Robinson’s story here.

bit.ly/2Skrv7v via @VancouverSun

VPD Subdue Agitated Man Who Allegedly Jumped Into A Police Cruiser – BC

Vancouver police used a bean bag gun on Saturday in an attempt to subdue a man they say was acting erratically and later jumped into a police cruiser.

The incident happened just before 8 a.m. near Jack Poole Plaza, where witness Jason Mitchell said thousands of people had gathered for the Sea Wheeze marathon.

Mitchell was in a nearby tower, when he said he heard a disturbance from below.

“I heard a little bit of commotion and a bit of screaming, so I looked out the window and I thought maybe it’s the marathon,” he said.

bit.ly/2Cy4CYB via @globalnews

Vancouver Police Say DTES Marijuana Seizure Was Not A Raid

The Vancouver Police Department says last week’s seizure of marijuana from an opioid-replacement kiosk at the Downtown Eastside market was not a raid, but a “very fair and balanced approach” to trafficking of illegal substances in public spaces.

On Friday, Sarah Blyth, a Vancouver city council candidate and founder of the front-line Overdose Prevention Society, said VPD officers entered the market at 62 East Hastings St. and took all the cannabis that was on display at the High Hopes Foundation kiosk.

The Overdose Prevention Society operates a supervised consumption site for drug users in the Downtown Eastside, while the High Hopes Foundation provides opioid users with free cannabis to reduce their dependence on powerful opioids such as heroin and fentanyl.

bit.ly/2rRVqbB via @VancouverSun

Canadian Weed Stocks Are Skyrocketing As Legalization Looms But Should You Invest – National

Investors in Canadian weed shares are having a great start to the week as the cannabis sector continues to soar on the stock market.

Pot shares in Canadian companies Aurora Cannabis and Tilray surged Monday after BNN Bloomberg reported that Coca-Cola is in serious talks with Aurora to develop cannabis-infused beverages (Aurora has since denied these reports).

bit.ly/2rS6WU6 via @globalnews

Homeless Advocates Protest Outside Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson’s Last Council Meeting – BC

Demonstrators gathered outside Vancouver City Hall on Tuesday demanding the city make good on Mayor Gregor Robertson’s promise to end homelessness.

About two dozen protesters were denied entry to sit in on Robertson’s last council meeting as mayor.
READ MORE: Seeking ‘hidden homeless,’ Metro Vancouver kicks off first-ever youth homeless count

Protesters could be heard chanting:

“Hey, Gregor you can’t hide. Hey Gregor, you can’t hide. The Downtown Eastside knows you lied.”
Jen Allen says she voted for Robertson a decade ago, when he promised to fix the problem.

READ MORE: Gregor Robertson’s political peers weigh in on his legacy, as 3-term mayor bows out
“Well, it’s 2018 and the only people who got housing in this city are the rich.”

This year’s Metro Vancouver homeless count shows nearly 2,200 people are living on the streets in the city.

bit.ly/2Fk3IRo via @globalnews

Some Of The 150 Wigs Stolen From Vancouver Store Recovered In Downtown Eastside – BC

Vancouver police say they have recovered some of the 150 wigs stolen from a store on West Broadway a week ago, that were destined for children with cancer at B.C. Children’s Hospital.

Police say they received a call at 10 p.m. Thursday about a bag of wigs located in a hotel hallway on the Downtown Eastside.

Const. Jason Doucette says the person who found the bag immediately linked them to media coverage and called 911.

bit.ly/2CAhOfH via @globalnews

Help Pours In For Children Hit By Wig Store Theft

Global viewers and the public are rallying tonight in many ways to help children who’ve been hit by a major theft from a Vancouver wig store. Aaron McArthur reports.

• Wigs for Kids overwhelmed with support after ‘disgusting’ Vancouver theft

bit.ly/2RmnbYg via @globalnews

Valuable Wigs For B.C. Cancer Patients Stolen

Police are appealing to the public for help in finding the thieves who stole dozens of valuable wigs that had been set aside for cancer patients at BC Children’s Hospital. Aaron McArthur has the details.

• Wigs made for B.C. child cancer patients stolen during break-in

bit.ly/2QPkL4B via @globalnews

How A Bloody Riot And Massive Prison Break Brought Down Oakalla, B.C.’S Most Notorious Jail

On Dec. 11, 1987, three inmates at Burnaby’s Oakalla prison crawled through a hole in the wall, scaled a fence, ran through the streets of a quiet residential neighbourhood to a nearby SkyTrain station and hopped on a train — still dressed in prison garb.

At the time, officials decided not to inform the public of the escape, a decision that angered local residents and politicians.

bit.ly/2CZ7zSr via @globalnews

Former Vancouver Police Officer Sentenced To Jail In Sex Exploitation Case

Former Vancouver Police Department detective James Fisher has been handed 20 months in jail and two years probation for breach of trust and sexual exploitation.

READ MORE: Decorated former VPD detective Jim Fisher pleads guilty to sexual exploitation, breach of trust

He kissed two young women who had been witnesses in a criminal case.

Before he was arrested and forced into retirement, Fisher served 29 years on the force and served as a member of the counter-exploitation team.

That team investigates prostitution.

The Crown had been calling for 18 to 20 months jail time, and the judge has deemed that appropriate.

bit.ly/2s96m4D via @globalnews

B.C. Opioid Crisis Last Week Was Vancouver’s Deadliest Of 2018

After 11 people died of drug overdoses in Vancouver in a single week, advocates for people who use drugs say they expect more of the same until politicians replace the toxic street-drug supply with safer drugs.

The deaths happened from July 23 to 29, making it the city’s deadliest week on record for 2018. Suppliers and dealers continue to cut street drugs like heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine with potent adulterants, typically fentanyl, which coroners detected in 81 per cent of the deaths this year.

In the first half of 2018, 742 people died of overdoses of illicit drugs in B.C., down from 816 during the same period last year (there were 1,451 overdose deaths for all of 2017), according to a new B.C. Coroners Service report. In Vancouver, 193 people died in the first half of 2018.

“It’s exhausting,” said Jordan Westfall, president of the Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs. “Everywhere I go (with our) national group, people I know are just recovering from hearing about someone’s death. It is unending and I think it actually increases the trauma on the streets, the sense of desperation.”

Westfall said the deaths will continue until government fixes “broken policies and failures” to address the opioid crisis. His group has long called for legal access to clean drugs in order to undercut the toxic street supply.

bit.ly/2Q0d7zb via @VancouverSun

Stabbing Snarls Traffic In Vancouver's Downtown Eastside

Rush-hour traffic had to be detoured through Vancouver's Downtown Eastside Thursday afternoon after reports of a stabbing in the area.

The incident occurred before 4 p.m. on Hastings Street between Carrall and Abbott streets.

Video from the scene showed a heavy police presence in the area and at least one person in custody. Cars and buses could be seen backed up along Hastings.

A witness at the scene told CTV News she saw a man who'd been stabbed in the neck, but authorities have provided no details about what happened.

It's unclear if anyone was injured or how many people were involved.

Hastings was closed in one direction, but reopened about an hour later. Carrall Street remained closed to traffic later into the afternoon.

bit.ly/2rShvGU via @CTVVancouver

Insite Co-Founder Takes Fight For Royal Commission On Overdose Deaths To Canada's Governor General

One Vancouver man continues with a lone mission to see the Canadian government investigate the root causes of the country's overdose epidemic.

"I believe that there is a legitimate cause for action in the form of a Royal Commission," Dan Small writes in a letter mailed to Canada's governor general dated July 24, 2018.

"The fact that the failure to scale up supervised injection services across Canada would have saved hundreds, if not thousands, of lives across the nation is as subtle as an open grave," it continues.

"The barriers that have prevented harm reduction service innovations are not scientific, medical or epidemiological. The barriers are, in my view, implicit and explicit values, the bedrock of our culture and institutions, regarding addiction and drug use.

"As such, in the public interest, I ask that you establish a Royal Commission to examine the cultural ideas and overarching institutional variables that have accounted for the dramatic overdose tragedy."

At least 6,965 people in Canada died of an opioid overdose between January 2016 and December 2017, according to the federal government.

Small is a co-founder of the continent's first sanctioned injection facility, Insite, and a medical anthropologist and adjunct professor at UBC. Last May, he wrote a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau requesting the appointment of a royal commission "to examine the variables that have accounted for the dramatic overdose tragedy".

bit.ly/2Nj0sI9 via @georgiastraight

Man Arrested After Allegedly Stabbing Dog In Vancouver’s Kitsilano Neighbourhood – BC

An man was arrested in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood Sunday morning after he allegedly stabbed a dog in the middle of a street.

Police say they found a man in his twenties covered in blood with a stab wound to his chest in the area of Yew Street and West 4th Avenue just after 7:15 a.m., who had approached a woman and stabbed the dog she was walking moments before officers arrived.

After a physical struggle that saw two officers get hurt, the man was brought under control with a beanbag gun.

bit.ly/2ENP9VN via @globalnews

2 B.C. Police Officers Facing Possible Charges In Alleged Sexual Assault In Cuba

A pair of B.C. police officers who have been detained in Cuba since March in relation to an alleged sexual assault are now facing possible criminal charges.

Sources tell Global News an officer from the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) is facing a potential charge of rape, and prosecutors are seeking a sentence of seven years in prison.

WATCH: New details on arrests of two Vancouver area police officers in Cuba

bit.ly/2VhD3KG via @globalnews