Daily Digest — British Columbia (2026-03-13)

Shocking sentencing twist: Everton Javaun Downey, who stabbed Melissa Blimkie 15 times at Metrotown on Dec. 19, 2021, was convicted of second-degree murder on Aug. 21, 2025, but a judge set parole ineligibility at 12 years (the range is 10–25 years) after an Impact of Race and Culture Assessment (IRCA) partly mitigated his long criminal record. This decision has drawn criticism from victims’ advocates who say intimate-partner killings must stay the focus, especially after Downey committed a bank robbery the day after he turned himself in.

After Tumbler Ridge: regulators and privacy experts met in Victoria to weigh AI rules, online safety and privacy following the Feb. shooting in Tumbler Ridge; Canada’s privacy commissioner Philippe Dufresne and others stressed the need to protect Canadians from imminent harms while preserving privacy. The gathering highlighted a lawsuit filed Mar. 2026 by the family of 12-year-old survivor Maya Gebala against OpenAI, concerns about chatbots giving mental-health advice to teens, and calls to update laws like the Online Harms Act and give regulators stronger tools.

Wet spring break ahead: a strong atmospheric river is forecast to hit coastal B.C. starting midday Sunday (Mar. 15), with rain totals through Mar. 18 of 150–200 mm for Howe Sound/Sea-to-Sky, 60–120 mm for Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley, and 120–180 mm for North Shore mountains. Freezing levels could climb to 3,000 m, snowmelt will add runoff, and the B.C. River Forecast Centre warns people to avoid fast-moving rivers and unstable banks.

Arrest in Montreal killing: Xavier Gellatly, 35, was charged with first-degree murder after 55-year-old convenience-store owner Chong Woo Kim was found dead; police arrested Gellatly after a metro-area manhunt. Court records show Gellatly was previously convicted in B.C. in 2015 for manslaughter in the 2012 stabbing death of Chelsea Holden and received a seven-year sentence; his new case returns to court May 4.

Family overwhelmed by support: Cia Edmonds, mother of Tumbler Ridge survivor Maya Gebala, says the family has received more than 1,500 pieces of mail and is asking people to stop sending more as Maya, shot in the head and neck, remains hospitalized in Vancouver and is "deteriorating mentally and physically." The family has launched a GoFundMe to help with expenses.

MLA recall movement grows: Kelowna-area MLA Tara Armstrong, who tried to repeal B.C.’s Human Rights Code and blamed the Tumbler Ridge shooting on "transgender ideology," faces a recall campaign that could seek 18,000+ signatures if a petition is approved Apr. 20. Constituents say Armstrong abandoned campaign priorities like affordability and health care; Armstrong insists she’ll keep pushing her agenda, while Premier David Eby supports the recall calls.

Experts warn old-growth protections slipping: all five members of a 2021 provincial advisory panel say B.C. is still allowing logging in forests they mapped as high-risk old-growth, and that deferrals meant to be temporary haven’t stopped proposed cut blocks in areas like Nahmint Valley and Tsitika on Vancouver Island. The panel urges the province to fund conservation and respect First Nations priorities as forest landscape planning continues regionally.

Canadian found dead off Belize: local authorities say a man found dead in a drifting catamaran off Belize’s coast has been identified as a Vancouver man; apparent wounds were seen on the decomposed body and a woman on the boat was rescued by a cruise ship. Belize police treat the vessel as a potential crime scene, the man’s son has arrived in Belize, and investigators say the man left Livingston, Guatemala about a week earlier with the woman.