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SOOKE, B.C. – A British Columbia provincial court judge has handed a six-year prison term to a man who “simply refuses to obey the law,” and was impaired while behind the wheel in a crash that killed his seven-year-old son.

Judge Ted Gouge imposed the maximum sentence the Crown had asked for, saying 49-year-old Matthew Darlington poses a “serious threat to public safety” if he isn’t held in custody.

RCMP say Darlington was driving along Sooke Road on southern Vancouver Island at around 2 a.m. on Sept. 7, 2021, when he crashed into a concrete curb before running into a tree.

The court ruling issued this week said the man’s wife and his three children, aged seven, eight and 10, were in the vehicle and the youngest died hours later in hospital.

Darlington pleaded guilty last month to operating a vehicle with methamphetamine in his blood, causing death.

He has no memory of the crash, and appears to have been unconscious at the time, the ruling said.

The judge noted Darlington had been convicted of driving while prohibited nine times, including once in 2022, just months after the crash that killed his son.

“His lengthy and serious driving history demonstrates that, when driving, he puts others at constant risk. As a consequence, the only way in which I can protect the public from him is to order his incarceration,” the judge said in the ruling.

Darlington and his wife have now divorced, but he told the court he wanted to nurture the relationships he has with his surviving children.

“With that acknowledged, I am not satisfied that he provides a good role model,” Gouge said. “Shortly put, he has been, over a period of many years, a man who simply refuses to obey the law.”

The Crown had asked for a 15-year driving prohibition on top of a five- to six-year prison term, while Darlington’s lawyer proposed a conditional sentence of under two years, allowing him to serve his time in the community.

Gouge said he felt an eight-year sentence would be more appropriate, but thought it unwise to impose a longer sentence than the Crown had recommended.

However, the judge said the suggestion of a 15-year driving ban was “manifestly insufficient.”

“Mr. Darlington should never again drive a motor vehicle,” Gouge said.

He imposed a 35-year driving prohibition along with the six-year sentence and ordered Darlington to provide a DNA sample.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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SURREY, B.C. – Police say an officer in Surrey, B.C., was stabbed during an arrest linked to a vehicle theft investigation.

RCMP say officers working on a number of alleged motor vehicle thefts found a man and a woman connected to the case near a storage facility on Tuesday.

Police say the pair was arrested, but a male officer was stabbed by the male suspect when he attempted to escape.

They say the officer suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to hospital, treated and released.

The male suspect received minor injuries in the arrest but was treated and released into police custody.

He is facing multiple charges, including assault, possession of property obtained by crime and failure to comply with the conditions of a release order, and remains in custody.

The 35-year-old woman faces a charge of possession of property obtained by crime and was released on conditions. Both of them are to appear in court on Nov. 26.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index moved lower Friday, weighed down by base metals and energy stocks as the price of oil fell, while U.S. markets cruised to close Wall St.’s best week this year on a wave of post-election bets.

President-elect Donald Trump is perceived as being market-friendly and pro-business, said Kevin Burkett, portfolio manager at Victoria-based Burkett Asset Management.

That’s why the biggest beneficiaries of this week’s rally have been sectors or specific companies seen as benefiting from Trump’s promised policies, he said.

“It’s financials, it’s energy, it’s Tesla, and all of those are just continuing to run as people wrap their heads around four more years of Trump.”

In New York, all three major indexes reached new heights. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 259.65 points at 43,988.99. The S&P 500 index was up 22.44 points at 5,995.54, while the Nasdaq composite was up 17.32 points at 19,286.78.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 86.53 points at 24,759.40.

While the short-term effect of Trump’s election on the markets is clearly positive, Burkett said it’s less clear what his effect will be over the medium term. Some of his promised policies, chief among them large tariff hikes that particularly target China, will likely be inflationary, he said.

That will make the U.S. Federal Reserve’s job harder, he said. The central bank has been cutting its key rate after successfully tamping down inflation — cutting again on Thursday — but a resurgence in inflation could change its trajectory.

In Canada, where the economy is weaker and the central bank’s cutting trajectory steeper, things could also get more complicated, said Burkett.

“Our economy really is so tied to the U.S. economy,” he said.

If the loonie weakens against the U.S. dollar due to Trump’s policies, that will in turn be inflationary for Canada, said Burkett.

“I think you’re going to start to see volatility coming into markets. You’re going to see uncertainty around rate trajectory. And I think that could be a really interesting 2025,” he said.

Canada’s unemployment rate held at 6.5 per cent in October, largely supporting the Bank of Canada’s current rate trajectory. The central bank’s key rate is now at 3.75 per cent, down from five per cent in June.

The Canadian dollar traded for 71.88 cents US compared with 72.12 cents US on Thursday.

The December crude oil contract was down US$1.98 at US$70.38 per barrel and the December natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.67 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$11.00 at US$2,694.80 an ounce and the December copper contract was down 12 cents at US$4.31 a pound.

— With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

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