🏛️ Government & Politics
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BC Conservative candidate Joachim Agou expelled after social posts targeting Pakistani and Palestinian communities. Interim leader Lorne Doerkson announced Agou’s removal on Thursday and said Agou “will not serve in the Caucus” if elected; Agou’s X account and party website listing were deleted and he declined comment when approached in Victoria. NDP candidate Amna Shah called the posts “horrific racism,” prompting the party statement from Doerkson.
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BC NDP pledges a three-year freeze on basic ICBC car insurance rates if re-elected. Leader David Eby announced the Richmond campaign promise on Thursday, saying the freeze would apply to basic rates through the Insurance Bureau of B.C. The promise follows public debate over the 2021 no-fault insurance model and a Sept. 29 letter from interim Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson weighing alternative models.
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BC Conservatives camp again in Surrey as Oct. 24 vote approaches, with new policy rollouts. Interim leader Lorne Doerkson returned to Surrey on Thursday for a second day of campaigning and a promised policy announcement, after signalling PST cuts for some business equipment the previous day; Surrey contains 10 provincial ridings and was pivotal in 2024 when Garry Begg won Surrey-Guildford by 22 votes. The Conservatives won six Surrey seats in 2024.
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Party leaders trade competing small-business promises across B.C. during the campaign. Multiple parties offered measures for small businesses this week, including David Eby’s loan program of up to $1 million for small and medium firms affected by tariffs and Conservative promises on PST relief for equipment; those announcements were rolled out at separate events this week in Vancouver and Surrey.
🚨 Crime & Public Safety
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Parole Board approved a 60-day unescorted temporary absence for child killer Shane Ertmoed, prompting political calls for rule changes. Ertmoed, serving a life sentence for the 2002 sexual assault and killing of 10-year-old Heather Thomas, was granted the absence in late September to take cooking classes before it was delayed; victim’s mother Jody Aspin met Conservative MP Frank Caputo this week to seek changes to temporary absence rules. The Parole Board denied him day parole last year.
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Homicide investigator testifies at trial of Adam Mann in Tori Dunn’s June 16, 2024 death. Const. Ryan Gerlinski of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team testified Thursday that he seized a bloodied chef’s knife with a broken tip on June 17 and collected DNA swabs from the Port Kells home and from Dunn’s boyfriend; defendant Adam Mann, 42, pleaded not guilty on Monday to second-degree murder.
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Lone suspect in Surrey fire attack that left a victim seriously burned found dead, police say. Surrey police reported the lone suspect in the attack was located dead after the incident that left a victim with serious burns; investigators continue to treat the matter as a targeted attack, according to the report released this week.
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Alleged use of Discord to plan the Tumbler Ridge shooting comes under scrutiny in ongoing investigation. Officials reviewing the Tumbler Ridge file are examining reports that Discord channels were used to plan the Oct. 2024 shooting; the probe is focusing on online communications and potential coordination tied to the event, per investigators quoted this week.
📰 Also Today
- SFU study finds climate-driven wildfires could cost $2.1 trillion globally by 2100.
- Permanent daylight time in Alberta, Manitoba and B.C. creates eight 9 p.m. Flames games.
- Explainer: whether it’s better to buy or rent for Vancouver-area residents.
- Vancouver sets single-day early voting record with over 25,000 ballots cast.
- Indigenous leaders respond to Carney pipeline plan, citing water and toxic-waste concerns.
- Archivist releases recordings cataloguing orca family dialects for public listening.
- Kristi Miller named interim chair of Hockey Canada’s board of governors.
- Multiple horses killed on B.C. highway while en route to horse championship.
- Average asking rent in B.C. fell 2.9% in September, marking two years of decreases.
