Police watchdog clears Manitoba RCMP in custody death

VICTORIA – B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad has assigned jobs to 41 of his 44-member caucus, including giving a critic’s position to MLA Brent Chapman, who faced calls to step down during the campaign over controversial social media remarks.

Several groups called on Rustad during last month’s election to remove Chapman as his party’s candidate over the posts, including one in which he called Palestinian children “inbred walking, talking, breathing time bombs.”

Rustad said during the campaign that it would be up to voters to judge his party’s candidates and Chapman, who apologized for the remarks, was elected in the riding of Surrey South.

Chapman has been named critic for transit and the Insurance Corporation of B.C.

Other members of Rustad’s shadow cabinet include former members of the Opposition BC United, which suspended its campaign in an effort not to split the right-of-centre vote.

Elenore Sturko is the critic for public safety and solicitor general; Teresa Wat takes on tourism, anti-racism and trade; Peter Milobar will shadow the finance ministry and Ian Paton is the critic for agriculture and fisheries.

Rustad says in a statement that with the talent and dedication of his caucus they will hold Premier David Eby to account for the government’s “out-of-control spending and ongoing failures in health care, public safety and addictions.”

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

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

EDMONTON – The police chief in Alberta’s capital is planning to retire in February.

The Edmonton Police Commission says it would determine the hiring process for Dale McFee’s replacement in the coming months.

McFee was sworn in as Edmonton’s 23rd police chief five years ago.

He delivered a formal apology to members of the LGBTQ+ community in 2019 for past treatment by the service.

The police commission says it hired McFee to make changes.

It says shortly after he was sworn in, he undertook a review to reimagine the force as a public service, balancing traditional law enforcement with community safety and well-being.

McFee told The Canadian Press in a 2023 interview that the force managed to strike a balance between protecting the vulnerable and holding people accountable in the first few years of his tenure. But he said the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing mental health crisis disrupted those efforts.

In a Wednesday statement, McFee thanked the commission for fighting alongside the service “through some tumultuous times.”

“Together we have been impatient for progress but steadfast in a shared belief about the EPS and the community we serve,” he said.

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

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

A salmon task force examining the impacts of the massive landslide that temporarily dammed British Columbia’s Chilcotin River last July says there have been three “significant” slope failures since then, and the site remains unstable.

A statement from the Tsilhqot’in National Government, which is part of the task force alongside the federal and provincial governments, says there is still “significant material” that could move, that would result in future blockages. 

The update says the latest movement on Nov. 8 blocked the river in B.C.’s central Interior for about three hours, stirring up sediment. 

It says the recent slide emphasizes the need for ongoing research, analysis and risk assessment in order to understand the current and future impacts on salmon.

The statement says there is “an extreme conservation concern” for Chilcotin River steelhead and stock assessment information is highly limited. 

Still, it says recent fieldwork confirmed the presence of adult steelhead above the slide site, providing “limited evidence” that the fish have been able to pass.

Steelhead typically enter the river system in October, staying until their spawning period between the following May and June, and the Tsilhqot’in National Government says it will conduct additional fieldwork to gather data next spring.

“Given the months-long period that adult steelhead spend in the Chilcotin watershed, water quality and flow impacts from the initial slide and ongoing sloughing may have specific impacts on this population,” the statement says.

The Nov. 14 update adds that Fisheries and Oceans Canada is leading an assessment to quantify the effects of the slide on migrating salmon, and it’s also planning an assessment to evaluate changes to the river’s channel.

The slide in Farwell Canyon, south of Williams Lake, B.C., dammed the river and created a lake about 11 kilometres long behind the mass of earth and debris.

It took nearly a week before the material broke free, sending a torrent of water and broken trees downstream, while prompting numerous flood advisories.

The Tsilhqot’in National Government says aerial monitoring shows the distribution of Interior Fraser coho in the Chilko River, a tributary of the Chilcotin, is “typical” and there is no evidence of unusual spawning behaviour.

It says another flyover this month will inform the final return estimates.

“Information to date shows no red flags regarding significant impacts to (Interior Fraser coho) migration from the Chilcotin landslide,” the statement says.

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

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.