A ruling made in Meng Wanzhou extradition proceedings
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📷 Meng Wanzhou pictured middle of photo at Russia Calling! Investment Forum / via Wikipedia Commons
Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou has been dealt a blow by a BC Supreme Court judge today. Madame Justice Heather Holmes has ruled the crime Meng is accused of would also be a crime in Canada. Holmes' ruling says the essence of the crime is fraud, and not that the alleged fraud is related to a company that is on a US sanctions list. Being on the sanctions list is not a crime in Canada, but fraud is. The ruling means proceedings to extradite Meng to the US to face charges will continue.
More grim statistics show another increase in overdose deaths in BC. 117 people died from drug overdoses in April, including 20 in the Island Health Region. 112 people died in March, 18 of them in Island Health. The numbers mark the first time since 2018 that B.C. has recorded more than 100 illicit drug toxicity deaths in back-to-back months. Three British Columbians die of drug overdoses every day, making it the highest for any jurisdiction in Canada. And it’s happening in every region of the province. Almost 80 per cent of the deaths occurred inside, with 80 per cent of the victims being men between the ages of 19 and 49. No deaths have occurred at any safe consumption sites.
The Provincial Health Officer has put the kybosh on overnight summer camps for kids. Dr. Bonnie Henry says there is no way to prevent transmission of the virus in the overnight camps. She points to concerns over a lack of medical care for large groups in small and remote communities, as well as the risk of bringing COVID-19 into more vulnerable regions. Henry says it's an opinion shared by her counterparts across the country, and she expects there will be bans on overnight summer camps in all provinces. However, health officials are encouraging local day camps, where infection control and prevention are possible.
Meanwhile, a northern BC first nation has adopted the provincial health officer, in a ceremony held via Zoom last Friday. Dr. Henry says she is "very honoured and flattered" by the naming ceremony by the Gitksan First Nation. Her Gitksan name, “Gyatsit sa ap dii’m” (Gyat-san ap Dee-Um) means “one who is calm among us.”
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Written and reported by: Lisa Cordasco, News Director for CHLY 101.7FM.
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