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Ottawa Homicide Unit taking over crime scene with multiple victims confirmed deceased – CP24

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Stephanie Taylor and Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press


Published Thursday, March 7, 2024 5:38AM EST


Last Updated Thursday, March 7, 2024 4:31PM EST

OTTAWA – Blood spattered the sidewalk Thursday outside a suburban Ottawa home where police recovered the bodies of a mother, her four young children and a family friend from the aftermath of a vicious and unexplained attack.

Febrio De-Zoysa, a 19-year-old international student who had been living with the family, was to appear in court Thursday. Police say he faces six charges of first-degree murder.

“This was a senseless act of violence perpetrated on purely innocent people,” said Ottawa police Chief Eric Stubbs, who said a knife or other edged weapon was used in the attack.

De-Zoysa, a Sri Lankan national, was in Canada as a student, police said. He also faces one count of attempted murder in connection with the family’s father, who survived the rampage.

 

De-Zoysa appeared in an Ottawa courtroom Thursday afternoon in what looked like a clean, shiny black track shirt.

He mumbled his assent as the justice of the peace Andrew Seymour ordered him not to speak to the father who survived the attack, or to four other witnesses who provided statements to the police.

His case was adjourned until March 13 to give him time to find a lawyer.

The dead include Darshani Ekanyake, 35, along with her seven-year-old son, Inuka Wickramasinghe, and her three daughters: Ashwini, 4; two-year-old Rinyana; and Kelly, a two-and-a-half-month-old baby.

Amarakoonmubiayansela Ge Gemini Amarakoon, 40, was also killed in the attack. He was also living with the family and had recently arrived from Sri Lanka, Stubbs said.

The chief said two emergency calls came in at 10:52 p.m. Wednesday describing a man in distress outside in his driveway, screaming for someone to call 911.

Stubbs later identified that man as the family’s husband and father, who is identified in court documents as Dhanushka Wickramasinghe.

He was injured and remains in hospital in serious condition, but his injuries are not life-threatening, authorities say.

Shanti Ramesh, who lives across the street from the family, said she heard a commotion late in the evening. From her balcony, she saw a man sitting in the driveway, yelling.

When police arrived they helped carry him away, though it did appear that he was able to walk on his own, Ramesh said.

The killings took place inside a townhome in Barrhaven, a fast-growing suburb about 20 kilometres south of Ottawa’s downtown core. The brick rowhouse sits on a relatively busy through street, which Thursday morning was crawling with police and onlookers, as well as parents and kids heading to one of the two elementary schools nearby.

A trail of blood droplets was still visible on the sidewalk in front of the row of brick townhomes Thursday afternoon. The door of the townhome immediately beside the victims’ residence was also smeared with blood.

A vigil has been set up in a nearby park but some residents, feeling the grief of the event, left bouquets of tulips on the front lawn of the townhouse.

Stubbs said the first officers on the scene identified and arrested the suspect very quickly, before entering the home to find the bodies of all six victims.

He said police are limited in the details they can provide to protect the integrity of the investigation.

“We know there are a lot of questions about why this tragedy occurred. This is the focus of our homicide unit as they diligently investigate this tragic crime.”

De-Zoysa is the only suspect in the case, Stubbs took pains to note.

Stubbs could not say how long the family or the accused had been in Ottawa, but that the baby was born in the city. Police had no interactions with any of the victims or the accused before Wednesday, he added.

Don Perera, who lives nearby, said he met the father at a Halloween party at the kids’ school last fall, and Ekanyake was pregnant at that time. He said they got to talking because he too is from Sri Lanka.

A spokesperson at the Sri Lanka high commission said they are in touch with family members of the deceased in the country’s capital of Colombo.

Police remained at the home throughout the night, and a heavy presence was in still in place as the neighbourhood began to wake up Thursday.

Multiple police cars and a coroner’s van were parked in the driveway, on the street and in neighbouring driveways Thursday morning. Forensic investigators in white jumpsuits moved in and out of the home.

Uniformed police officers held a white sheet to block the view of the door as the investigators carried the bodies out shortly after 9 a.m.

Neighbours walking their kids to school were horrified by the scene unfolding before them.

“This is unbelievable for the whole neighbourhood,” said Ahmed Saed, as he walked his 11-year-old son to school.

Katie McNelly, who lives a short drive away, said she considered keeping her kids home until the police made clear there was no ongoing threat. She said she is in disbelief that it happened.

“What could cause someone or people to do this, you know, annihilate six people that had their lives to lead,” she said. “I’ll definitely be hugging my family a bit tight tonight.”

Neighbours believe some of the family’s children attended a nearby Catholic school.

Sharlene Hunter, a spokesperson for the Ottawa Catholic School Board, said she had not been told if the children attended one of the board’s schools but said students and staff will be provided with any assistance or support they need.

“We at the Ottawa Catholic School Board want to express our deep sorrow for the tragic events that occurred in the Barrhaven community,” she said.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with all affected by this loss.”

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe joined Stubbs for the afternoon news conference and said Barrhaven and Ottawa are safe and welcoming places.

“It’s hard to believe that something like this could happen there or anywhere else in our city,” Sutcliffe said.

Police said nobody can remember a murder involving this many victims in the city.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called it a “terrible tragedy.”

“Our first reactions are all ones of shock and horror at this terrible violence,” he said in Toronto.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford also offered his condolences.

“This morning’s news is heartbreaking,” he said on X. “My thoughts are with the family and friends of the six victims and the entire Ottawa community who is reeling from this terrible tragedy.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2024.

– With files from Mickey Djuric.

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Frozen waffles from Whole Foods join Canadian recall list over listeria concerns

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OTTAWA – Whole Foods Market is joining the growing list of brands whose frozen waffles have been recalled in Canada this week because of possible listeria contamination.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says the newest recall spans the Amazon-owned grocer’s organic homestyle and blueberry waffles sold under the 365 Whole Foods Market label.

The agency says the waffles recalled by Horizon Distributors Ltd. were sold in British Columbia, but may have also made their way to other provinces and territories.

It adds there have been no reported illnesses associated with the waffles, but the agency is conducting a food safety investigation, which it says may lead to the recall of other products.

Dozens of frozen waffles from brands like Compliments, Great Value, Duncan Hines and No Name were recalled earlier in the week over similar listeria concerns.

Food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes may not look or smell spoiled but can cause vomiting, nausea, persistent fever, muscle aches, severe headache and neck stiffness.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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People with disabilities ask feds to restore ‘hope’ and raise benefit amount

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TORONTO – Heather Thompson would love to work.

The 26-year-old dreams of going back to university to study politics and environmental science, and ultimately pursue a career to “try and make things better” in society.

“I’m not the person I want to be yet and I want to be able to achieve certain goals and be a well-rounded, well developed person. But I’m prevented from doing that because I live in legislated poverty,” they said.

Thompson is one of 600,000 working-age Canadians with disabilities that the federal government said it would help lift out of poverty with the Canada Disability Benefit, which takes effect next July. The program is meant as a top-up to existing provincial and territorial income supports.

“We had huge expectations and we had all this hope, like finally we can escape poverty,” Thompson said.

But after last spring’s federal budget revealed that the maximum people will receive per month is $200, the hopes of people like Thompson were dashed. Now, advocates are asking the federal government to reconsider the amount in the months before the benefit rolls out.

Thompson, who uses they/them pronouns, has worked at Tim Horton’s, Staples and a call centre, but said their physical and mental disabilities — including osteoarthritis, which “heavily impacts” their mobility, along with clinical depression and generalized anxiety disorder — have forced them to leave.

They look for jobs, but many require the ability to lift or stand for long periods, which they can’t do. So Thompson lives on $1,449 a month from the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and shares a house with three roommates in Kingston, Ont., along with Thompson’s 12-year-old emotional support cat, Captain Kirk.

Thompson went to university in 2017, but their mental health issues flared and they had to leave after a semester. Seven years later, they’re still trying to pay that student loan back.

When Bill C-22, which mandated the creation of a Canada Disability Benefit, was passed into law last year, Thompson was “so excited.”

A news release issued by the federal government on June 22, 2023 called the legislation “groundbreaking,” saying the disability benefit would “supplement existing federal and provincial/territorial disability supports, and will help lift working-age persons with disabilities out of poverty.”

It said the benefit would be part of the government’s “disability inclusion action plan” that would “address longstanding inequities that have led to the financial insecurity and exclusion” experienced by people with disabilities.

The government simply hasn’t lived up to its promise, said Amanda MacKenzie, national director of external affairs for March of Dimes Canada, one of the organizations that supported the creation of the benefit.

Now that a public consultation period on the benefit ended last month, she is hoping the government will reconsider and increase the benefit amount in its next budget.

”These are people that are living well under the $30,000 a year mark, for the most part,” MacKenzie said.

“These are the people that you hear about all the time that are saying, ‘I can only have two or one meal a day. I can only afford to take my medication every other day … I can’t support my kids. I can’t help my family. I can’t do anything because you know, I can barely pay my rent,'” she said.

March of Dimes Canada and many people with disabilities all participated in early government consultations about how the federal benefit could be effective in topping up provincial disability support programs to provide a livable income.

”Who were they listening to?” asked Thomas Cheesman, a 43-year-old in Grande Prairie, Alta., receiving provincial disability benefits due to a rare disorder that causes his bones to break down.

“Not one single disabled person would say that this is an adequate program,” he said.

Cheesman was born with Hajdu-Cheney Syndrome and knew he wouldn’t be able to work as long as most people, but managed to work as a chef until he was 39.

At that point, his physical symptoms became so debilitating he had to stop.

“It was just too dangerous between either taking medications to handle pain and being distracted from that, or not being able to function because of the pain,” he said.

Cheesman and his wife, who works as a supervisor at Costco, have three children. Before the Canada Disability Benefit became law, he “did a lot of math” and calculated it would need to total almost $1,000 a month for his family “to have a life outside of poverty.”

In an emailed response to The Canadian Press, the office of Kamal Khera, minister of diversity, inclusion and persons with disabilities, said it was making a $6.1-billion investment “to improve the financial security of over 600,000 persons with disabilities.”

“This is a historic initial investment … and is intended to supplement, not replace, existing provincial and territorial income support measures,” said Khera’s press secretary, Waleed Saleem.

“We also aspire to see the combined amount of federal and provincial or territorial income supports for persons with disabilities grow to the level of Old Age Security (OAS) and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), to fundamentally address the rates of poverty experienced by persons with disabilities.”

That would mean people with disabilities would get a total monthly income equal to what low-income seniors get from the federal government.

MacKenzie said the lack of adequate financial support for people with disabilities is “not OK,” noting that the money they spend goes back into the economy.

“We tell people with disabilities that what they deserve and what we can afford to give them in society is an existence. It’s not a life,” she said.

For Thompson, that’s “a really hard pill for me to swallow.”

”A lot of people don’t see us as human. They see us as a drain on society,” they said.

”We’re worth investing in.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2024.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.



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Quebec Liberals call to investigate closures of French-language classes for newcomers

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MONTREAL – The Quebec Liberal Party has called for the French language commissioner to investigate the cancelling of some French-language training courses for newcomers to the province.

Citing an “ongoing series of closures of francization programs,” the Opposition party announced Saturday morning in a news release that its critics for the French language and French classes, André Albert Morin and Madwa-Nika Cadet, sent a letter to the Commissioner of the French Language.

The letter asks commissioner Benoît Dubreuil to “investigate to ensure that the right to French language learning services, included in the Charter of the French Language, is respected,” the release said.

The Liberals are blaming the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s budgetary decisions, which it says, “jeopardize the possibility for immigrants to become French speakers within a time frame that would facilitate their integration into the job market and into Quebec society.”

In several interviews this week, Quebec’s Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge blamed school service centres for the closures, saying his government has actually increased budgets for French-language courses.

However, media reports this week described education centres forced to cut back on programming because of budget constraints imposed on them by the province, which have also resulted in teachers losing their jobs.

“These cuts have led, in recent weeks, to the cancellation of French courses, particularly in the regions of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, the Capitale-Nationale, Estrie, Laval , the Laurentides, Mauricie and Montreal,” the release said.

Aside from cancellations, the Liberals say average wait times for full-time French study has recently doubled to four months while people who are enrolled are sometimes forced to travel hundreds of kilometres to attend class.

“There is an impression of disorder that suggests the government is unable to meet its obligations under the Charter of the French Language,” the letter sent to the Commissioner late Friday stated.

The closures come at a time of increased demand for the classes, with Quebec currently hosting around 600,000 temporary immigrants. Quebec has repeatedly asked the federal government for more power and funds to deal with the surge in newcomers, but the CAQ leadership has also come under fire from Ottawa.

Federal Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said Friday that the $750 million the federal government is spending to help the province with newcomers is not being fully used.

“We absolutely must invest the necessary sums in francization,” said Duclos. “If we want new arrivals to be able to reach their full potential, we have to offer them appropriate services.”

Cadet told The Canadian Press in an interview the government is clearly struggling to provide the right to learn French.

“So in our opinion, the commissioner should have the mandate to investigate this, and that’s why we wrote him this letter,” Cadet said, but would not say whether her party would increase French-language budgets.

Last February, Dubreuil stated it would cost between $10.6 and $12.9 billion for all temporary immigrants to complete intermediate-level training in French.

Cadet responded by saying, “I don’t think we’re in that type of scenario. I think there’s a way to better deploy the offer and make sure there are no service breakdowns.”

–With files from La Presse Canadienne

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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