News
Canadian man arrested after death of Dawson Creek, B.C., woman at Mexican resort
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A Canadian man is being held in connection with the death of a Dawson Creek, B.C., woman at a resort south of Cancun.
Mexican prosecutors said the woman was found dead Friday at a hotel, but did not name the man or the hotel. The victim’s family later confirmed that she was Kiara Agnew, 23, of Dawson Creek in northeast B.C.
CBC News has reached out to police forces to confirm the suspect’s identity.
Prosecutors said the death occurred in the Mayan Riviera, the stretch of coast south of Cancun. Local media said it happened at a hotel in the resort town of Playa del Carmen.
“I didn’t want it to be true — I still don’t want it to be true,” Agnew’s aunt Katlyn Levesque told CBC News. “It’s being tried as a potential femicide.”
It is unclear if the man has a lawyer. A tweet from a Mexican police force stated that a foreign national is being investigated for the crime of femicide, in a community within the Mayan Riviera.
Global Affairs Canada said in a statement they are aware of the death of a Canadian citizen, as well as the detention of another Canadian in Mexico.
“Consular officials are providing consular assistance to the families and are in contact with local authorities,” said spokesperson Marilyne Guèvremont. “Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be disclosed.”
According to Agnew’s aunt Katlyn Levesque, the 23-year-old grew up in the New Brunswick village of Plaster Rock and moved to Dawson Creek when she was a teenager. She was in Mexico with her boyfriend at the time of her death.
Agnew worked at the Lake View Credit Union, which has an office in Dawson Creek.
“All at Lake View Credit Union are mourning the loss of our teammate and friend, Kiara Agnew,” a Facebook post from the credit union read. “We send our love and faith to all others who have been impacted.”
Agnew was an animal lover
A fundraiser run by Agnew’s family to bring her body back to Canada has raised over $17,000 as of 1 p.m. PT Sunday. According to Agnew’s aunt, the couple was in Mexico for a birthday celebration.
“Kiara loved to travel, she has wanted to travel since she’s been little,” Levesque said. “She was really excited about [the trip] … she had a heart of gold. She was vibrant, courageous, driven.”
Levesque says the family is still waiting for autopsy results to confirm the cause of Agnew’s death. She last spoke to her niece — who was set to turn 24 on March 11 — on Thursday.
“She was an animal lover,” Agnew’s aunt recalled. “She’s the kind of girl that would stop on the side of the road and need to rescue whatever animal’s there — a bird, a cat, a baby raccoon, it wouldn’t matter.”
Levesque, who says she was very close to her niece, called her death “beyond tragic for every single person involved.”
The Canadian Down Syndrome Society (CDSS) is sharing a new awareness campaign featuring photos of older people with Down syndrome.
The ‘Here I Am’ photo gallery was launched today, to mark World Down Syndrome Day, and showcases portraits of older Canadians living with the condition.
“People age 40 and over are hugely underrepresented in all aspects of media, social media pictures, they’re just not visible,” Laura Lachance, executive director of CDSS told CTV’s Your Morning on Tuesday. “So we embarked on this campaign to bring these faces to the front.”
According to the organization, the life expectancy of Canadians with Down syndrome has doubled in the past 40 years, from 25 years in 1983, to more than 60 years in 2023.
“What’s changed is advances in medical technology, both in diagnostics and in treatment,” Lachance said. “So a lot of children who used to die in their early years are now surviving, taking advantage of all the interventions and living a long healthy life.”
Although many are living into adult life, Lachance said the challenge of finding caregivers who understand Down syndrome remains.
“As more of the Boomer parents are living longer, there’s going to have to be some kind of initiative by employers to perhaps take a look at how they can support their employees who need to take time away from work or work differently in order to care for their loved one,” Lachance said.
The photo gallery features only people over the age of 40 who are living with Down syndrome. The portraits were captured by Hilary Gauld from One for the Wall and CDSS.
Hear the full interview with Lachance by clicking the video at the top of this article.
Politics·New
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it had protested to Canada’s top diplomat in Moscow over comments by Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly about “regime change” in Russia.
Russia called Joly’s comments a ‘Russophobic attack’
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it had protested to Canada’s top diplomat in Moscow over comments by Foreign Minister Melanie Joly about “regime change” in Russia.
The ministry said it summoned Canadian charge d’affaires Brian Ebel on Monday and told him Joly’s comments were unacceptable.
Canadian media quoted Joly as saying at a news conference on March 10: “We’re able to see how much we’re isolating the Russian regime right now — because we need to do so economically, politically and diplomatically — and what are the impacts also on society and how much we’re seeing potential regime change in Russia.”
The Russian statement condemned the “Russophobic attack” and said it would have serious consequences for relations. Russia reserved the right to take “appropriate counter-measures” depending on Ottawa’s further steps.
Canada, a member of NATO and the Group of Seven (G7) leading economies, has joined its Western allies in imposing sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
On Friday, it welcomed the International Criminal Court’s move to issue arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his children’s commissioner over the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia since the start of the war.
A Canadian city has just been named the worst in the country for bed bugs for the third year in a row.
Orkin Canada, a pest and wildlife control services organization, revealed in a release Tuesday that Toronto was the city in which it carried out the highest number of commercial and bed bug treatments in 2022.
Following Toronto in second is Vancouver, B.C. then Sudbury, Ont. in third.
London, Ont., which went unranked in 2021, is new to the list this year, clinching the eighth spot in the top 10 “buggiest” cities in the country in 2022
Ontario dominated the top 10 list with a total of eight cities across the province being ridden with bed bugs, including Oshawa, Ottawa, Scarborough, Sault Ste. Marie, London, and Hamilton.
“Contrary to popular belief, bed bugs are visible to the naked eye, but are excellent at hiding. Involving a trained professional to identify bed bugs that have been introduced or are in the early stages of an infestation is recommended,” Dr. Alice Sinia, a Ph.D. Entomologist at Orkin Canada, said in the release.
“Bed bugs are extremely resilient, making them difficult to control. As people begin to ramp up their travel plans this year, it’s important they know how to protect themselves through pest identification and proper control.”
Sinia explains bed bugs can hide in taxis, buses, trains, and airplanes, so travellers should regularly check their clothes and luggage for any unwanted passengers.
To avoid a bed bug infestation while travelling, Orkin recommends the SLEEP method – survey your hotel room for any bed bug symptoms, lift and search typical bed bug hiding spots like mattresses and underneath cushions, elevate your luggage, examine your personal items, and place your clothing in the drier for up to 45 minutes on the highest setting.
At home, Orkin recommends decluttering your space, and thoroughly inspecting second-hand furniture for dark ink-like blot marks or whitish egg clusters.
These are Canada’s 25 “bed buggiest” cities, in order:
- Toronto, Ont.
- Vancouver, B.C.
- Sudbury, Ont.
- Oshawa, Ont.
- Ottawa, Ont.
- Scarborough, Ont.
- Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
- London, Ont.
- St. John’s, N.L.
- Hamilton, Ont.
- Winnipeg, Man.
- Montreal, Que.
- Windsor, Ont.
- Edmonton, Alta.
- Timmins, Ont.
- Moncton, N.B.
- North York, Ont.
- Etobicoke, Ont.
- Calgary, Alta.
- Mississauga, Ont.
- Whitby, Ont.
- Prince George, B.C.
- Regina, Sask.
- Brampton, Ont.
- Halifax, N.S.
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