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CTV News
a day ago
- CTV News
‘It's chaotic': B.C. community plagued by public disorder gets help
A promise of help for a B.C. community plagued by public safety issues has the city council holding off on imposing a local state of emergency, at least for now. A promise of help for a B.C. community plagued by public safety issues has the city council holding off on imposing a local state of emergency, at least for now. But will more police officers be enough to tackle the public disorder the community is facing? 'It's chaotic, it's (a) crisis and its fearful,' said Williams Lake Coun. Scott Nelson. 'The province and the feds have just downloaded, really, the crazies onto our streets and made the communities look after them, and we just don't have the resources.' Resident Brenda Weekes has seen her share of problems in the community, including people passed out on her front lawn and even the road. Williams Lake passed out Brenda Weekes shared this photo of a person passed out on her front law in Williams Lake, B.C. She's also dealt with break-ins. 'They've broken into our shop multiple times, into the house,' she said. 'We've seen them start fires. We've found numerous stuff they've stolen in the yard.' Weekes added that she once feared she'd be assaulted. 'Two girls approached the truck with a stick and a broom, so I wasn't going to get out of the truck,' she said. 'Every other day you're calling the RCMP about something.' Williams Lake Mayor Surinderpal Rathor said council considered imposing a local state of emergency until Victoria responded to its cries for help. 'I can not thank enough to the provincial government. They took our request very seriously and considered it and provided us the help,' the mayor said. In a letter sent to council, the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General wrote that it had reviewed the situation. 'The Provincial Director of Police Services directly contacted RCMP E-Division senior leadership to request that they take immediate (action) to supplement the local RCMP detachment's crime-fighting efforts,' the letter reads. 'The RCMP committed to deploying the Cariboo-Chilcotin Crime Reduction Unit to Williams Lake to assess the situation and develop operational plans as required.' The mayor said that hardly a day passes that his office doesn't get a complaint from a concerned resident. 'People are getting broken into, fires (are) being started,' he said. Part of the problem he sees is that even when arrests are made, the accused are often back on the street the next day. But he also said the difficulties Williams Lake is facing are not unique. '(The) issue is not only Williams Lake, as you know. It's not only B.C. It's all over Canada,' Rathor said. Rudy Wassenaar, a dentist in Williams Lake, said the area near his office is plagued with problems. 'I have people next to my office lighting fires, congregating, smoking crack. So, we call police and they come and disperse them. They don't really arrest them, I don't think,' he said. 'One time, (police) confiscated an axe, a machete, and just yesterday, the neighbouring business, they tried to light a fire,' Wassenaar said. 'I think it is an emergency if it affects people's lives every day.' Nelson felt a local state of emergency would have seen faster action on the problems. 'It would do a clean sweep of the city and three things: One, you go to a shelter, two, you go to jail, or you go to involuntary treatment,' he said. Council will review the effectiveness of the promised measures from the province in a couple of months to see if they are working.
CTV News
29-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Lawsuit filed, counterclaim threatened over deadly Lions Bay, B.C., slide
Part of Lions Bay, B.C., remains under a local state of emergency more than five months after a large debris flow claimed two lives when it sent tons of trees, rocks and mud tumbling through a residential neighbourhood. Long-time Lions Bay residents David and Barbara Enns died in the December 2024 slide, which is now at the centre of a civil suit filed in B.C. Supreme Court. Several neighbours, along with representatives of the estates of Barabara and David Enns have named the province, the municipality and Steven Vestergaard, who owns a large plot of land in the area as defendants. The plaintiffs are Michelle Medland, Sean Barry, Fiona Fourie, Barbara Dyer, and Michael Enns, who is listed as the executor of the estates of the deceased. The allegations laid out in the suit pertain to a road and water reservoir the plaintiffs refer to as 'illegal works'. In their statement of claim, the plaintiffs allege the slide was 'caused, or alternatively contributed to,' by construction of the road and reservoir up the slope from where the Enns' home was swept away. Vestergaard denies the infrastructure contributed to the debris flow. 'First, my heart goes out to the Enns family. These were the nicest neighbours that I could wish for, and they didn't deserve this,' he wrote in an email to CTV News. 'The litigation against me is completely frivolous and I will be filing for a motion to dismiss and will be counterclaiming for damages.' The Village of Lions Bay has filed a response to the statement of claim which disputes the allegations against it. Representatives for the village declined a CTV News request for comment. None of the allegations have been tested in court.
CTV News
28-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Unprecedented': Nearly 200 ER closures in two B.C. health regions this year
There's growing worry that lives are being put at risk by the lack of emergency health care in some B.C. communities. There's growing worry that lives are being put at risk by the lack of emergency health care in some B.C. communities. There are growing concerns over lives being put at risk over the lack of emergency health care in some B.C. communities, say local health authorities. Interior and Northern Health combined have seen close to 200 temporary emergency room closures just this year. Among them, the ER at Lakes District Hospital and Health Centre in Burns Lake, which has faced 30 closures since January. 'This is unprecedented here as far as closures go,' said Village of Burns Lake Mayor Henry Wiebe. 'People are worried. The seniors especially are worried,' he explained. The next closest emergency room is an hour-and-a-half drive away in Vanderhoof. 'When we have the diversions, that puts an extra load on the Vanderhoof and Smithers ER's, which then it's just a domino effect from there,' said Wiebe, who said he recently met with B.C.'s health minister. Northern Health alone has seen 125 temporary emergency room closures this year, 38 of them at Mackenzie and District Hospital. 'Emergency department service interruptions are always a last resort, when all options to keep the ER open have failed,' Northern Health said in an email to CTV News. In Interior Heath, there's been a total of 65 closures this year, including 31 in Lillooet. And there's more expected. 'The shortage of health professionals locally, and nationally, does continue to impact a number of our emergency departments, and although we are successful at filling many vacant shifts, we do anticipate service interruptions will continue to occur,' Interior Health said in an email to CTV News. 'When we have a closed sign on the door and you have a huge distance between communities, the risk to patients is significant. So how do we keep that door open?', asked Paul Adams of the BC Rural Health Network. Adams said instead of shutting down ER's, at least for the short-term, the province should ensure there are paramedics or other healthcare workers at hospital emergency rooms. 'If it requires a reduction in the care to be provided within that place, it's better to be reduced care than no care,' Adams said. B.C.'s health minister said she's looking at both long and short-term solutions. 'We are at work right now looking at how to better address emergency room shortages in particular,' said Health Minister Josie Osborne. 'Again, I come back to the need to train and recruit more physicians, nurses, and other healthcare workers. But also looking at scopes of practise and the way people come together in emergency rooms,' she said. 'We've added two physician assistants at Saanich Peninsula Hospital over on Vancouver Island as one way of extending the services that emergency rooms can provide. We're going to continue to do everything that we can to expand that,' the minister explained. Meanwhile, Adams said the minister should review the provincial privileging system for doctors, which allows them to work in specific hospitals. He said it is duplicative and has become an obstacle for doctors who might otherwise take on additional ER shifts in rural hospitals. Emergency room closures are less frequent in the Lower Mainland, but they do happen. There have been three temporary service interruptions at Mission Memorial this year and two at Delta Hospital. 'When a physician gap is identified, we work hard until the very last moment to fill it before we implement our temporary service interruption protocol,' said an email from Fraser Health. 'Our efforts to fill shifts, and prevent emergency department service interruptions, are almost always successful,' the email read. The Ministry of Health told CTV News in an email that, 'In the first quarter of 2025, BC has seen a 26% decrease in ER closures (total hours) compared to the same period in 2024.' But for those living in communities facing ongoing closures, it certainly doesn't feel that way.
CTV News
07-05-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
Planned burn could have killed trapped firefighters, says B.C. safety report
A hot spot from the Lower East Adams Lake wildfire burns in Scotch Creek, B.C., on Sunday, August 20, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
