Rodents' Paradise Vancouver Named B.C.'S 'Rattiest' City

Pest control company Orkin has released its list of the top 20 B.C. cities with the most mouse and rat calls and Vancouver tops the list, followed by Victoria, Burnaby, Richmond and Surrey -- in that order.

Kelowna takes sixth spot, while Vernon and Kamloops rank 18th and 20th respectively -- but those three cities are the only ones outside of the Greater Vancouver area and southern Vancouver Island to make Orkin's list.

The company says, as spring arrives, homeowners should take steps to keep rodents out by sealing any cracks in the home's foundation, trimming bushes and trees to eliminate hiding places and removing water sources that rats and mice need to survive.

bit.ly/2tqI7zv via @CTVVancouver

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson Repeats Call For Canada To Drop Criminal Penalties For Drug Possession

The mayor of Vancouver has issued another call for the Canadian government to eliminate criminal penalties for the personal possession of illegal narcotics.

“We are losing our friends and family to a poisoned drug supply and a legal framework that treats addiction as a criminal issue, not a life-threatening health condition,” Gregor Robertson said today (April 6) in a media release. “People are dying from poisoned drugs every day in Vancouver and we cannot accept this preventable catastrophe—we need to ensure people with addictions can access safe drugs and effective treatment options.

“Decriminalizing possession, combined with health care supports including prevention, harm reduction, and treatment, will save many lives,” he added.

bit.ly/2Q13JeQ via @georgiastraight

Gurpreet Singh Now It’s Time For Canada To Exonerate Mewa Singh For A Century-Old Murder In Vancouver

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's exoneration of six Tsilhqot'in Indigenous chiefs—who were executed by the colonial government more than 150 years ago—should be followed by a similar move to right another historical wrong: the hanging South Asian political activist Mewa Singh.

Singh was executed in 1915 for assassinating a controversial immigration inspector, William Charles Hopkinson, in Vancouver.

Singh was the first Sikh activist to be hanged on Canadian soil for a political murder.

bit.ly/2TVFOjv via @georgiastraight