EXCLUSIVE: RCMP in Ottawa to raise security posture amid Middle East tension, source says

BY MERCEDES STEPHENSON AND MARYAM SHAH GLOBAL NEWS
Posted January 9, 2020 8:35 pm

 WATCH: U.S., Canadian intelligence indicate Iran shot down Ukrainian plane, killing 176 people

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are planning to adopt a higher security posture in Ottawa as of Thursday, Global News has learned.

The force is expected to use the elite tactical officers of the Emergency Response Team to provide increased protection and security in the national capital.

Emergency Response Team (ERT) officers are trained to deal with high-risk firearms and counter-terrorism calls. At times, they also provide VIP protection, including that of the prime minister alongside his protective detail.

The change comes at the request of high-level authorities, in response to recent events in Iran and Iraq, according to a security source.

Global News was told the move does not indicate an anticipated or imminent attack, but rather is out of an abundance of caution.

It comes after indications the national security establishment was preparing to ramp up the security posture in recent days, according to multiple sources.

This information came the same day as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement on Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 that crashed just outside Tehran, in which he said an Iranian missile likely brought down the jet.

“We have intelligence from multiple sources, including our allies and our own intelligence, that indicates the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile,” he said.

“This may well have been unintentional.”

All 176 passengers and crew on board died in the crash, including at least 138 people who were supposed to catch connecting flights for Canada, as well as at least 63 Canadians.

The plane crash on early Wednesday came hours after Iran launched missiles targeting two Iraqi bases housing U.S. forces. Those missiles were launched in retaliation for the U.S. airstrike that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani last week.

No one was injured in the missile attacks on the Iraqi bases, which also housed Canadian soldiers. The Canadian Forces flew dozens of Canadian, American, and other allied troops out of Iraq ahead of the missile strikes.

Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization has denied the allegations, calling them “illogical rumours,” according to Iranian state-run news.

“Scientifically, it is impossible that a missile hit the Ukrainian plane, and such rumours are illogical,” the head of the organization, Ali Abedzadeh, said, as reported by ISNA.

— With files by Global News staff

‘We love it’: Meet the man behind one of the most dazzling Christmas light displays in B.C.

BY SEAN BOYNTON GLOBAL NEWS

Posted December 25, 2019 4:51 pm

 The dazzling light display seen at 3313 Rae Street in Port Coquitlam on Dec. 24, 2019. Global News

If you visit Rae Street in Port Coquitlam around Christmas, you may want to bring sunglasses — even at night.

The street is home to one of the most dazzling light displays in the Lower Mainland, where thousands of strings, ornaments and rooftop installations intermingle with a fully lit-up Christmas tree that stands taller than the house.

The property is so extensively decorated that it’s separated into sections, each one with its own theme, from Star Wars to Disney to a working fire pit.

Homeowner Dale Brindley says the project started 10 years ago when he and his family moved into the home.

After he got his neighbours and family involved, he says the house has shone brighter and brighter every Christmas.

“We just started adding lights year after year, and got to the point where we all started doing it every year and it got bigger and bigger,” he said.

“I never thought it would be this big. It’s a big project and we love it.”

Brindley says he and four others start shopping for new additions throughout October. The actual installation takes about six weeks during weeknights and weekends.

“It pretty much takes every weekend through November, a couple weeks in October,” he said. “We have to bring stuff out of storage, too. That’s a whole weekend right there.

“About a two-month process.”

Brindley estimates anywhere between 175,000 to 200,000 individual lights end up adorning his home for the holiday season, based on a rough count two years ago.

The lights are all LED, he adds, which makes the power draw the equivalent of cooking a turkey every night.

“Otherwise I would not have done this,” he said.

Brindley adds it took a few years for the rest of the neighbours to get on board, but that they’ve since come around.

“At first they were worried I was a ‘Griswald neighbour,'” he said, referring to Chevy Chase’s holiday-loving dad in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

“Now everyone’s on board and helping each other out. They bring their families now too, so it’s almost like a block party.”

While the display attracts hundreds of visitors every year, Brindley doesn’t let the attention go to waste, collecting food and cash donations for the Shared Food Bank.

“It’s going very well, people have really been stepping it up,” he said.

While the display has already gotten massive, Brindley says he’s not stopping his plans for expansion next year.

“We’ve got a couple ideas,” he said.

“We’ll be doing this for a while, until the wife says she’s had enough.”

Sixty-nine Canadians giving up holidays to help with Australian wildfires

The Canadian PressStaff Contact

Published Sunday, December 22, 2019 5:01PM EST

In this Saturday, Dec. 21, 2019, photo, NSW Rural Fire Service crew fight the Gospers Mountain Fire as it impacts a property at Bilpin, New South Wales state, Australia. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP Images via AP)

TORONTO -- Sixty-nine Canadians are giving up their holidays at home to join the battle for the first time against the deadly wildfires devastating vast tracts of several Australian states.

The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre says a contingent of 21 highly trained staff from a variety of agencies left Canada on Dec. 3, for a 38 day deployment in New South Wales after the centre received an official request for assistance.

On Dec. 19 a second group of 30 Canadians was sent in for a 38 day deployment in the fire zone, and @a further 18 are leaving on Dec. 30 for about a month.

Kim Connors, the executive director of the Winnipeg based CIFFC, says that Canada has called on Australian firefighters four times since 2015, and the "agreements are reciprocal in nature so it was the first time that Australia has needed help from Canada."

"Our Canadian firefighters and their families have volunteered their time to be away for the holidays, which is different for the northern hemisphere to be dealing with wildland fires over Christmas and New Year's so we're very proud of them for doing that," he said in an interview.

The CIFFC says crews from Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Yukon, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. are assisting with a variety of tasks including roles in command, aviation, planning, logistics and operations.

"So they're not on the front line, they're in the overall management of the fires," said Connors.

"They've been in a period of drought for quite a long period and it's not a very good situation down there and obviously their summer is just started as our winter starts."

Record high temperatures and strong southerly winds are fanning more than 100 fires in New South Wales alone.

Two volunteer firefighters have been killed and dozens of homes have been lost since Thursday in the massive fires, including the Gospers Mountain blaze, which covered more than 460,000 hectares.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 22, 2019

Metro Vancouver SkyTrain workers issue 72-hour strike notice

BY SIMON LITTLE GLOBAL NEWS

Posted December 6, 2019 12:18 pm

Updated December 6, 2019 1:15 pm

Click here to watch video: Breaking: The union representing 900 SkyTrain workers has issued a 72-hour strike notice.

The union representing 900 Metro Vancouver SkyTrain workers has issued 72-hour strike notice.

CUPE Local 7000 says after four days of mediation with TransLink’s BC Rapid Transit Company (BCRTC) “no significant progress was made on the key issues.”

“We are still committed to reaching an agreement at the table, and our committee will make itself available day and night, over the weekend, to reach a fair deal without any interruption of service,” said CUPE 7000 President Tony Rebelo in a statement.

READ MORE: Metro Vancouver transit workers approve new contract deal, officially ending job dispute

“We will need to work very hard to reach a deal that addresses our concerns about wages, forced overtime, staffing levels and trades adjustment language, among other issues.”

In a statement, BCRTC president Michel Ladrak said the union has not told the employer what form job action would take.

“While we are disappointed by this development, BCRTC and CUPE will continue bargaining throughout the weekend,” said Ladrak.

“We are hopeful and committed to reaching a fair deal without disrupting the valuable service we provide to the region.”

CUPE 7000 confirmed that despite the strike notice, bargaining is ongoing.

It says it will issue an update on its planned job action Saturday at 11 a.m.

The union, which has been without a contract since the end of August, held a strike vote on Nov. 21, where members gave the leadership a 96.8 per cent strike mandate.

Any job action would not affect the Canada Line, which is operated independently of the SkyTrain system.

READ MORE: SkyTrain workers union, TransLink staying silent amid mediated contract talks

The strike notice comes just one day after Unifor, the union representing 5,000 bus, SeaBus and maintenance workers, ratified a new contract with the Coast Mountain Bus Company.

That deal gave a workers retroactive two per cent pay bump for work dating back from Dec. 5, 2019 to April 1, 2020.

Drivers will then get a one per cent raise for work up until April 1, 2020, while maintenance workers will see their pay rise by $1.95 per hour to achieve parity with SkyTrain maintenance workers.

After that, operators will see a three per cent raise in each of the next two years. Maintenance workers will earn two per cent raises each of those years, also achieving parity with SkyTrain.

The deal between Unifor and the Coast Mountain Bus Company came at the 11th hour, after three weeks of job action by workers and 30 minutes after a deadline that could have seen workers walk off the job for three days, paralyzing the Metro Vancouver transit system.

This is the list of the top 10 stolen vehicles in Canada

BY ERICA ALINI GLOBAL NEWS

Posted December 3, 2019 2:01 am

Updated December 3, 2019 8:04 am

With key-less entry, GPS and mobile apps, vehicles are getting smarter and smarter — and auto thieves are keeping up, according to a new report by the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC).

Sophisticated thieves are using technology to “bypass security systems,” IBC, which represents Canada’s private home, auto and business insurers, warned in a press release on Tuesday.

Auto theft these days is less and less about stealing keys and manual hot-wiring and increasingly about intercepting the signal between your vehicle and your entry fob, said IBC’s Vanessa Barrasa. As long that the two are in close proximity, thieves can capture the signal, she added.

That may explain why, despite ever more sophisticated technology, auto theft has held remarkably constant over the past few years. The IBC estimates thieves steal a vehicle every six minutes in Canada, something that collectively costs owners close to $1 billion every year, with insurers paying out around half that to fix or replace the stolen trucks, SUVs and cars.

As for the top 10 stolen vehicles in Canada, here’s the list from IBC:

1. Ford 350SD AWD 2007
2. Ford 350SD AWD 2006
3. Ford 350SD AWD 2005
4. Ford 350SD AWD 2004
5. Ford 250SD AWD 2006
6. Ford 350SD AWD 2003
7. Lexus RX350/RX350L/RX450h/RX450hL 4DR AWD 2018
8. Ford F250 SD 4WD 2005
9. Ford F350 SD 4AWD 2002
10. Honda Civic Si 2DR Coupe 1998

What’s so special about the Ford 350?

While the list is dominated by the popular Ford pickup truck, that’s hardly an indication that Ford 350 owners are more likely to suffer theft, Barrasa said. Rather, the data is a reflection of “what’s available” for thieves to steal.

The truck is very common in populous provinces like Alberta, which weighs heavily in the national data, she added.

Still, pick-up trucks in general, as well as some SUVs, are being shipped for resale overseas, which is part of a larger organized crime problem, Barrasa said.

Global News reported in 2018 that organized crime was behind a surge in Canadian vehicle thefts, with some provinces, such as Ontario, seeing double-digit increases in theft even as the national average remained roughly steady.

Organized auto theft rings are involved in international trade-based money laundering and raising money for drug-trafficking and terrorism, the IBC told Global News. Transnational gangs are even sending SUVs stolen in Canada to carry out terrorist bombings in the Middle East.

Still, owners of small, less expensive vehicles can’t rest easy either, as thieves also may target vehicles in order to steal parts or take them on a joyride, according to Barrasa.

“These are thieves: they’re picky, but they’re not too picky.”

TWEET THIS

How to protect your vehicle

Some of the steps Canadians can take to reduce the risk of theft are just commonsense precautions. For example, leaving your vehicle running while unattended — even if it’s really cold outside, Barrasa said.

Always locking your doors and making sure the windows are closed is another simple step that can help you ensure your vehicle isn’t an easy target. Other deterrents include steering wheel or brake pedal locks and visible or audible devices that let thieves know the vehicle is protected.

But as auto thieves turn into something closer to hackers, there is more vehicle owners need to know. Thieves can use wireless transmitters to intercept the signal of your key-less entry fob if you leave it at the front entrance of your house, the IBC warned.

That doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t keep storing your fob near your front door, Barrasa said. But instead of dropping in into a generic bowl along with your gloves, and spare change, put it in a metal box with a lid, she suggested.

Another way to protect yourself from electronic auto theft is to install an immobilizing device, which prevents thieves from bypassing the ignition and hot-wiring a vehicle. This includes devices that require wireless ignition authentication as well as starter, ignition and fuel pump disablers, according to IBC.

Some vehicles already come with this type of device installed, but if yours doesn’t, you can do your own research or contact your manufacturer or dealer, Barrasa said.

IBC also suggests installing a tracking device, if your vehicle isn’t already equipped with one. While this won’t thwart a theft, it may help authorities to retrieve your vehicle. The device sends a signal to a monitoring station or directly to police in case of auto theft.

Finally, Barrasa recommends storing personal information like insurance and ownership papers in your wallet rather than your glove compartments. That helps prevent a tech-savvy auto thief from also stealing your identity.

— With reporting from Sam Cooper, Global News

40-year-old man killed in 2-vehicle collision on Vancouver-Burnaby border

BY SEAN BOYNTON GLOBAL NEWS

Posted November 30, 2019 10:41 am

Fire crews at the scene of a fatal crash on the Vancouver-Burnaby border on Nov. 30, 2019. Global News

A 40-year-old man is dead after a two-vehicle collision on the Vancouver-Burnaby border early Saturday morning.

Vancouver police say the crash happened just after 6 a.m., on Boundary Road at Marine Drive.

One vehicle was driving south on Boundary Road when it went airborne and collided with another vehicle that was driving north, according to police.

Police and fire crews from both Vancouver and Burnaby attended the scene, where they found one driver deceased.

BC Emergency Health Services took the second driver to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Vancouver police have taken over the investigation. The cause has not been officially determined, but police say speed was likely a factor.

Police add the collision is Vancouver’s 13th motor vehicle fatality of 2019.

Anyone who witnessed the crash or has dashcam video is asked to contact Vancouver police.

10 tips to avoid being scammed shopping online this holiday season

BY ANNE DREWA GLOBAL NEWS

Posted November 25, 2019 7:06 pm
Updated November 25, 2019 7:08 pm

Click here: WATCH: Consumer Matters: avoiding scams during the holiday shopping season

From identity theft to phishing scams, fraudsters are gearing up for the holiday season.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) says 90 percent of consumers have engaged with a scam on social media and more than 50 percent of people fell for them.

The BBB says scammers love to create lookalike websites that, at first glance, appear to belong to a trusted retailer.

READ MORE: 4 scams to watch out for while holiday shopping online

It’s the reason why the BBB is urging consumers to think before they click.

“We are seeing online purchase scams, we are seeing fake websites, we are seeing identity theft and credit card theft and credit card details being compromised,” said Karla Davis from the Better Business Bureau of Mainland B.C.

Here are 10 of the BBB’s top tips to avoid being scammed while online shopping:

1. Shop with reputable and trustworthy retailers that provide an actual street address and phone number : If you cannot find a privacy or return policy, contact information, an address or customer service details, avoid shopping on that platform. If in doubt, contact the retailer directly.

2. Read customer reviews from several sources: Be wary of businesses you are not familiar with.

3. Beware of false advertising and phony websites: Watch out for false advertising and keep a close eye on the web address in your browser. Scammers love to create lookalike websites that, at first glance, appear to belong to a trusted retailer.

4. Understand return/exchange and privacy policies.

5. Beware of amazing deals that appear too good to be true and items which are considerably lower than market price.

6. Avoid using public WiFi when making purchases to safeguard your personal information.

7. Avoid emails and websites containing poor grammar and spelling mistakes.

8. Use your credit card: Be wary of businesses and individuals that request payment by wire transfer, prepaid debit or gift cards, cash only or through third parties.

9. Look out for fake shipping notices: Beware of emails stating there is an issue with your order and requests personal or financial information. If in doubt, go to the retailer’s website to track the status of your order.

10. Keep your antivirus software up to date.

You can find the BBB’s full list of tips here.