Lotto 649 winning numbers for Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023

VANCOUVER – Geoff Johnson and fellow storm watchers in Ucluelet, B.C., were concerned on Tuesday about the so-called “bomb cyclone” taking shape off Vancouver Island — not for safety reasons, but because they wondered if it would be “disappointing.”

Winds had been light throughout the day. But they need not have worried about any lack of drama as night fell, and the howling winds were punctuated by the sound of trees snapping “like gunshots.”

“Last night, around 8 o’clock, a tree fell on my friend’s boat, narrowly missing the RV that he lives in,” said Johnson on Wednesday. “I know another friend’s car was completely crushed by a fallen tree overnight.

“I’m actually standing in a house that had a large tree in its yard that luckily fell (in) the other direction, across the neighbour’s driveway instead of onto their second storey,” said Johnson, a weather enthusiast who runs the YouTube channel UkeeTube.

The massive storm battered parts of coastal British Columbia with winds up to 170 km/h, equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane. A bomb cyclone is caused by rapidly dropping atmospheric pressure at the centre of a weather system.

More than 200,000 homes and businesses were plunged into darkness as the winds and downed trees brought down power lines.

Ted Olynyk, BC Hydro’s manager of community relations for Vancouver Island, said winds in Nanaimo were unlike anything he had experienced in the area before.

“And we know as a result of climate change unfortunately, we’re going to get more storms — and they’re going to be more intense like this,” he added.

The BC Hydro outage map showed about 75,000 customers remained without power on Wednesday afternoon, mostly on Vancouver Island.

A wind warning remained in effect for the west coast of Vancouver Island, where gusts were expected to weaken overnight as the storm system — located about 500 kilometres off the coast — moved north.

Environment Canada data show remote Sartine Island, off the northern tip of Vancouver Island, was hit by the most powerful gusts late Tuesday, recording the storm’s top wind speed of 170 km/h.

But gusts of more than 100 km/h were still being recorded on Wednesday at several northern and central weather stations. 

In Metro Vancouver, winds peaked at 87 km/h at the Tsawwassen ferry terminal.

While just one location set a new record for wind speed — the Port Hardy Airport, which recorded winds of 122 km/h at their peak — Environment Canada meteorologist Brian Proctor said wind records are difficult to compare historically, and the power outages demonstrate the severity of the weather event.

“I think one of the things to emphasize with this system is we were somewhat lucky for coastal British Columbia with this system and the track it took,” Proctor said.

“If it was closer to Vancouver Island, a lot of those really super strong winds might have been hitting and impacting some of our more populated areas — we think about the east side of Vancouver Island, Greater Victoria, Metro Vancouver.”

Johnson said he was not aware of any injuries among his friends in Ucluelet or nearby Tofino, but they remained without power on Wednesday. He said he would be surprised to see the lights come back on before Friday given the severity of the storm and the high number of trees it knocked over in the area.

“We heard a few of them, and they almost sounded like gunshots from a distance last night,” Johnson said of the trees snapping under the strong winds.

“Our friend with the RV, he was actually inside it at the time and thought that the wind was ripping the side off of the RV at first,” he said.

About 270,000 BC Hydro customers were without power at the peak of the storm.

BC Hydro crews have made significant progress addressing the outages, but Olynyk said ongoing winds pose challenges. He asked those without power to be patient, report downed lines and stay far away from any damaged infrastructure.

“We’ll have crews out there,” he said, adding they were working through “harrowing” conditions. “But at the bottom line, we’re not putting crews out where it’s going to be dangerous for them — if there’s big branches coming down (or) a potential for trees just to fail while they’re working.”

B.C.’s Transportation Ministry said multiple highways on Vancouver Island were closed Wednesday because of downed power lines, fallen trees and debris.

BC Ferries cancelled morning sailings on its major routes again Wednesday morning due to high winds, citing safety concerns for crew and passengers. It said conditions had since improved on some routes, enough to restart services on the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay route between Metro Vancouver and Greater Victoria.

The ferry operator had cancelled numerous sailings Tuesday between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.

An advisory from Environment Canada said the storm was expected to remain offshore but “curl northward,” bringing strong winds to the north and central coast. 

The weather office said winds would gradually ease throughout Thursday as the low pressure system weakens and moves farther offshore.

The office had previously warned that elevated ocean levels combined with significant wind and waves would push water levels to exceed the “highest astronomical tide” for parts of the south coast during Wednesday’s high tide.

The storm also wreaked damage south of the border as it swept over the northwestern United States, causing widespread power outages.

In Washington state, South County Fire said on social media that a woman died Tuesday night when a large tree fell on a homeless encampment in Lynnwood.

The Seattle Fire Department also reported that a tree fell on a vehicle Tuesday, temporarily trapping someone inside, but later confirmed the person was in stable condition after being extricated.

— With files from Brieanna Charlebois and The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2024.

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – An international group led by a Canadian is in Rome this week to push the Catholic Church to adopt a zero-tolerance policy on abuse by clergy.

Newfoundlander Gemma Hickey is the board president of non-profit Ending Clergy Abuse, which is advocating for the church to adopt widespread rules requiring any priest or deacon found guilty of sexual abuse to be removed permanently from ministry.

Hickey and other group members met today with officials from the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, which is the department of the main governing body of the Catholic Church concerned with canonical law.

Hickey says they discussed changes proposed by Ending Clergy Abuse that would see the permanent removal of any cleric found guilty under canon law of even a single act of sexual abuse of a child or vulnerable person.

The Vatican approved a “one strike and you’re out” policy for the U.S. Catholic Church in 2002, which has long stood out as the toughest in the church.

Ending Clergy Abuse is asking the church to adopt that approach across the globe.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2024.

— With files from The Associated Press.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

OTTAWA – Randy Boissonnault is leaving his post as employment minister in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal cabinet after weeks of questions about the Edmonton MP’s shifting claims of Indigenous identity and his business dealings.

“The prime minister and MP Randy Boissonnault have agreed that Mr. Boissonnault will step away from cabinet effective immediately. Mr. Boissonnault will focus on clearing the allegations made against him,” a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said on Wednesday. 

Veterans Affairs Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor will temporarily take on his cabinet portfolios. He was also the minister responsible for official languages.

The Canadian Press has sent an interview request to Boissonnault but he did not immediately respond.

Boissonnault has been under intense scrutiny after reporting from the National Post that raised questions about his past claims of Indigenous heritage.

The newspaper reported that a company he previously co-owned had applied for government contracts and claimed to be Indigenous-owned.

Boissonnault has been described as Indigenous multiple times in communications from the Liberal party and in 2018 referred to himself as “non-status adopted Cree.” He also said his great-grandmother was a “full-blooded Cree woman.”

He has since clarified that his adoptive mother and brother are Métis. 

Boissonnault apologized for his shifting claims last Friday. 

Both the Conservatives and NDP called on him to resign this week.

On Tuesday, Trudeau said Boissonnault had addressed questions about his identity. 

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre kicked off question period in the House of Commons Wednesday by lambasting the prime minister for standing by Boissonnault. 

The statement announcing Boissonnault’s departure from cabinet was released minutes before question period began.

“Up until a minute ago, (Trudeau) had a minister with a double identity,” Poilievre said, before posing the question, “Why is it he always stands up for corruption on his own side?”

“The member for Edmonton Centre has stepped down from cabinet to focus on clearing these allegations,” Trudeau responded, before launching into an attack of his own on Poilievre.

Métis NDP MP Blake Desjarlais, who called for Boissonnault to resign on Tuesday, told reporters the minister’s resignation is “welcome news” for Indigenous Peoples across the country.

“If you pretend to be Indigenous for the purpose of accessing Indigenous benefits, funding or prestige, you will be found out. We will find you. We will ensure that your reputation and the benefits you’ve received from pretending to be Indigenous are removed,” he said.

“It’s unfair for so many Indigenous people that have done everything right. It’s time that Indigenous people get more justice. This is the time to do it.”

Several Liberal MPs reacted to the news on Wednesday with kind words for Boissonnault, including Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal, who said in French that his colleague had always been an ally to the Liberal Indigenous caucus. 

Health Minister Mark Holland said the allegations had become a distraction in cabinet and that it was a good choice for Boissonnault to step away and focus on challenging them.

MP Jaime Battiste, who is Mi’kmaq from Eskasoni First Nation, accused the Conservatives of “weaponizing” the stories about Boissonnault in recent weeks.

“Their antics have become a distraction in the House,” he said.

As for him leaving cabinet, “It’s probably the right decision,” he said.

“I think things happened the way they were supposed to happen,” Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet told reporters outside the House of Commons, while criticizing the Conservatives for continuing to press the issue in question period even after the news broke of Boissonnault’s resignation.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said in an interview that all MPs need to be held accountable, and that if something “doesn’t seem ethical or doesn’t feel ethical, it’s probably not ethical.”

At the centre of the concerns raised about Boissonnault in recent weeks is the Liberal government’s Indigenous businesses directory.

The directory provides the federal government with names of businesses they could consider using to meet its Indigenous procurement target, which states a minimum five per cent of the total value of government contracts should be held by Indigenous-owned businesses. 

Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu told a House of Commons committee on Tuesday that the company Boissonnault founded was not listed on that directory.

“These loose standards are hurting First Nations,” Woodhouse Nepinak said, adding that the government needs to work toward closing gaps that are allowing people to claim Indigenous identity because they see some kind of economic benefit, despite not having legitimate claims to communities.

“All of a sudden, because there’s an economy — a little, small piece of an economy — attached to that (identity), there’s opportunists out there that are trying to jump on and pull that all apart,” she said.

“And it’s hurtful. It’s hurtful to this country, particularly to First Nations entrepreneurs, people and businesses that are trying to make it in a really tough market.”

MPs passed a motion on Tuesday for Boissonnault to appear as a witness at the House of Commons committee on Indigenous and Northern affairs for at least two hours to discuss his business dealings and claims to Indigenous identity, along with Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos.

Boissonnault is expected to appear at the committee before Dec. 17.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2024.