BC—B-C Update–, 2nd Writethru

THE CANADIAN PRESS

(BC-Jobs-Bell)

B-C’s Asian trade strategy is getting the credit for the 600 jobs created in this province last month.

Jobs Minister Pat Bell says most — if not all — the jobs are linked to increased trade with China and India.

He made the comments while discussing the December jobless rate, set at 6.5 per cent in B-C for December — a modest dip from the 6.8 per cent setting in November.

Bell also notes that all the jobs are full-time — which he says is a sign that employers are gaining confidence. (The Canadian Press)

—

—

(BC-Northern-Gateway-Hearings)

Uniformed police officers and private security guards are stationed at a Victoria hotel as a week of oral presentations opened today before the panel reviewing the Northern Gateway pipeline proposal.

There’s concern that opponents of the multi-(b)-billion dollar project could try to disrupt the proceedings — so only confirmed presenters are allowed into the hearings, while everyone else must watch remotely from a location several kilometres away.

Hearings have been under way in B-C and Alberta for the past year on the plan to pipe Alberta oil to Kitimat for shipment overseas by tanker.

One of the first presenters this morning told the panel he rejects Enbridge’s plan, in part because of the poor environmental record of the Alberta-based pipeline company. (The Canadian Press)

—

—

(BC-Teacher-Drug-Charges)

Drug charges have been laid against a Surrey teacher after police said they witnessed a drug deal near an elementary school.

The R-C-M-P say 41-year-old Eugenio Alfonso Bahamonde was arrested on November 7th after Mounties from Richmond saw the driver of a vehicle appear to sell some drugs to a pedestrian in Vancouver.

Police say a subsequent search found marijuana and evidence of drug trafficking.

Bahamonde, who was a substitute teacher, has been suspended by the Surrey school board. (The Canadian Press)

—

—

(BC-Mandatory-Minimum-Ruling)

A provincial court judge in Surrey says Canada’s mandatory minimum sentence for possession of a loaded, restricted weapon violates the Charter of Rights.

But Judge James Bahen wants to hear the Crown’s views on that matter later this month, before he sentences 29-year-old Glenn Sheck for carrying a loaded Glock 9-millimetre semi-automatic.

Mandatory sentencing requires a three year prison term but Bahen says the law violates Section 7 of the Charter because of a disagreement between sentence length if a suspect faces a summary or an indictable charge.

The Criminal Justice Branch says there have been two previous challenges of the mandatory sentencing provisions in B-C courts and both were unsuccessful. (The Canadian Press)

—

—

(BC-Serial-Robber)

A suspect in a series of armed robberies in Vancouver, Burnaby and on the North Shore has been arrested in the U-S.

Sixty-eight-year-old Thomas John Schwartz was apprehended by American border officials on December 15th while trying to cross into the U-S.

Schwartz, an American citizen who’d been living in Squamish, was wanted on a 1972 warrant over allegations he deserted from the U-S Air Force.

He’s also a suspect in a series of eight robberies that targeted Metro Vancouver grocery stores last year, and he remains in U-S custody pending his extradition back to B-C. (The Canadian Press)

—

—

(BC-OBIT-Frazer)

A former member of Parliament for the Victoria area has died.

Jack Frazer was the Reform party M-P for the riding of Saanich and the Islands from 1993 to 1997.

Before entering politics Frazer was a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force and flew with an aerobatic team known the Golden hawks, a predecessor of the Snowbirds performance team.

He died in Victoria on December 17th after a brief illness, at the age of 80. (CFAX,CTV)

—

—

(B-C Update by Beth Leighton and David Lang)

14:41ET 04-01-13