Vancouver Police and a firework to form new emergency taskforce for extreme cases of public violence. (Source: Vancouver Police Department,)
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Emergency responders in Vancouver are improving the way they work together in cases of extreme public violence, a week after a terrorist attack in New Zealand claimed 50 lives.
Vancouver Police Department and Vancouver Fire Rescue Services are creating a new “rescue taskforce” which will use new training programs to better prepare responders in case of an emergency.
VPD Spt. Steve Eely says the goal of the task force is to save lives.
“We know that active deadly attacks are rare in Canada, but emergency service providers must prepare for that possibility,” he says.
In emergencies, the VPD will continue to take the lead. The Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services will “stabilize and extract” people out of dangerous areas and an effort to get help from B.C. Emergency Health Services faster.
Cpt. Jonathan Gormick with Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services says the emergency responders’ ability to delegate will help them be more successful in their responses.
“Each agency brings skills knowledge and perspective,” he says.
“We not only fill the gaps in each other’s capacity but together provide a faster, safer and more effective intervention that could be done operating independently.”
The fire department will also have access to bulletproof vests if necessary.
Attacks like the 2017 Quebec mosque shooting made police officers around North America rethink the way they respond, Eely says.
“We have taken a number of steps to improve our operational readiness,” he says.
“But we saw an opportunity to further improve our response protocols. If we coordinate better with our emergency service partners, there’s an opportunity to treat and transport the wounded in a more timely manner that will ultimately save lives.”
CBSA looking to collect information as people leave the country but raises privacy concerns
Immigration lawyer fears ID technology will lead to personal information being picked up in places besides the border
CBSA says the info is needed to identify high-risk travellers and people trying to defraud the government
VANCOUVER (NEWS 11:30) – Canada is moving to make it easier to find out who, when and for how long people are leaving Canada.
According to a lengthy report released by the Canada Border Services Agency earlier this month, the government doesn’t currently have access to reliable exit information on everyone leaving Canada.
It cites a number of reasons why the information would be helpful. For example, exit data would facilitate investigations into people who might be leaving to participate in illegal activities.
“In recent years, the Government of Canada has seen a number of individuals travelling to foreign destiny have left open the idea of pardons. Along the way, Trump lawyers and advisers repeatedly evolved their public defences to deal with the onslaught of allegations from the investigation. Where once Trump and his aides had maintained that there were no connections between the campaign and Russia, by the end of the probe Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani was routinely making the argument that even if the two sides did collude, it wasn’t necessarily a crime. The goalpost shifting reflected the administration’s challenge in adopting a singular narrative to fend off allegations.
Equally central to Mueller’s work is his inquiry into whether the president tried to obstruct the investigation. Since the special counsel’s appointment in May 2017, Trump has increasingly tried to undermine the probe by calling it a “witch hunt” and repeatedly proclaiming there was “NO COLLUSION” with Russia. But Trump also took certain acts as president that caught Mueller’s attention and have been scrutinized for possible obstruction.
One week before Mueller’s appointment, Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, later saying he was thinking of “this Russia thing” at the time.
He mercilessly harangued Attorney General Jeff Sessions for recusing from the Russia investigation two months before Mueller was named special counsel, a move that left the president without a perceived loyalist atop the probe. And he helped draft a misleading statement on Air Force One as a Trump Tower meeting between his eldest son and a Kremlin-connected lawyer was about to become public.
The meeting itself became part of Mueller’s investigation, entangling Donald Trump Jr. in the probe. Mueller’s team also interviewed the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, multiple times.
Even as Trump blasted Mueller’s team, his White House and campaign produced thousands of documents for the special counsel, and dozens of his aides were interviewed. The president submitted written answers to Mueller regarding the Russia investigation, but he refused to be interviewed.
A truck driver who caused the deadly Humboldt Broncos crash has been sentenced to 8 years.
Jaskirat Singh Sidhu pleaded guilty in January to 29 separate counts of dangerous driving
Sixteen people were killed and 13 were injured when Sidhu’s truck collided with the team’s bus last April
SASKATCHEWAN (NEWS 1130) – Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, responsible for killing 16 people and injuring 13 more in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash has been sentenced to eight years in prison.
The decision came down in a Saskatchewan courtroom. Sidhu had pleaded guilty to 29 dangerous driving counts.
He was handed down eight years for each count of dangerous driving causing death and five years for dangerous driving causing bodily harm. The sentences to be served concurrently.
The judge began her decision by reading each victim’s name aloud.
Crown had requested for a 10-year sentence while Singh’s lawyers had argued for a one-and-a-half or four-year sentence.
Here’s Sidhu driving away in custody after being sentenced to 8 years. #humboldt #HumboldtBroncos
Sidhu barrelled through a stop sign and into the path of the junior hockey team’s bus at a rural Saskatchewan intersection last April.
A sentencing hearing in January heard that Sidhu was going between 86 and 96 km/h when he passed four signs warning him about the upcoming intersection before he came up to an oversized stop sign with a flashing light.
“The Humboldt Broncos organization is thankful that this legal matter has been resolved and that Mr Sidhu is being held to account for his careless actions,” read a statement from the Humboldt Broncos. “As was stated before, it is appreciated that Mr Sidhu took responsibility for his actions and that he spared the survivors, families and the community from reliving this tragedy during a trial.”
