In the news for today: Ottawa looks for a solution to rising car thefts

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to
bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…

Feds seek ideas to put brakes on auto theft

Officials from various levels of government are set to gather with police and industry leaders in Ottawa today to brainstorm on fighting the scourge of automobile theft.

The federal government says an estimated 90,000 cars are stolen annually in Canada, resulting in about $1 billion in costs to Canadian insurance policy-holders and taxpayers.

It says auto theft increasingly involves organized crime groups, and the proceeds of these crimes are used to fund other illegal activities.

Ottawa says most stolen autos shipped abroad are destined for Africa and the Middle East.

On Wednesday, the government earmarked $28 million in new money to help tackle the export of stolen vehicles.

Automakers in ‘cat-and-mouse game’ with thieves

Carmakers say they’re caught in a game of “cat and mouse” with criminals as auto thefts surge.

Although they’re taking steps to improve security features, the companies say every update is eventually countered by new efforts from bad actors.

Honda Canada is one of the automakers at the centre of the storm, as its CRV is among the most frequently stolen models, according to a November report from insurance fraud prevention group Équité Association.

Other Honda models popular with thieves include the Accord and Civic, which both made the association’s top-10 list of most frequently stolen vehicles.

Honda Canada spokesman John Bordignon says the company knows theft is a significant problem and is continually improving its theft recovery technology.

Some non-emergency services resume in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia Health says the situation in the province following last weekend’s big winter storm has improved enough that some non-emergency services are resuming.

Officials say that includes facilities in the Eastern Zone, such as Cape Breton Island, Antigonish and Guysborough counties.

As efforts to clear the deep snow continue, they say people should not travel to a scheduled care appointment if it is unsafe.

They say people in areas where treacherous conditions remain should, instead, consider rebooking any non-urgent appointments.

For several days now, schools and most government offices were closed across Cape Breton.

Event to mark Quebec daycare bus crash anniversary

Balloons are to be released today in a ceremony marking one year since a bus smashed through the front of a Montreal-area daycare, killing two young children and injuring six more.

The commemorative event will take place in a park near the Garderie Éducative Ste-Rose in Laval, which became the site of the tragedy on Feb. 8, 2023, when a city bus turned off the street and roared down the daycare’s driveway during the busy morning drop-off period.

Five-year-old Maëva David and four-year-old Jacob Gauthier died in the crash, while six other children were sent to hospital.

Former city bus driver Pierre Ny St-Amand is charged with two counts of first-degree murder as well as seven other charges, including attempted murder and aggravated assault.

A preliminary hearing is set for March, and Ny St-Amand’s lawyer says he plans to argue the 52-year-old did not have the necessary criminal intent for first-degree murder.

Alberta report shows little progress on caribou

An Alberta government document suggests the province has made little progress in protecting its 15 threatened caribou herds, despite signing an agreement with Ottawa that promised it would.

The recently released document sums up the progress from the first two years of a deal under which the province was supposed to protect threatened critical caribou habitat.

It finds that between 2020 and 2021, industry’s footprint actually increased on most of those lands, with hundreds of square kilometres of new activity.

It says that on average, Alberta caribou ranges have less than a third of the undisturbed habitat herds need to sustain themselves.

Although overall caribou numbers remain stable, the report attributes that to a program that has shot or poisoned more than 800 wolves over the two years the report covers.

As the sun sets a swarm of rats rises in Vancouver

B.C. pest control experts say they’re seeing an increase in rat problems across Metro Vancouver as a viral video shows a mass of swarming rodents outside a SkyTrain station.

The rats of Burrard station in downtown Vancouver come out when the sun goes down, scurrying up and down the stairs and through a small park.

Surrey-based pest controller Bill Rough says he’s experienced an increase of 30 to 40 per cent in rat-related calls over the past year and a half.

He says a provincial ban on a type of rat poison last year is one of the main reasons for the rat boom in B.C.’s Lower Mainland.

The government says the anticoagulant rodenticides posed a risk to wildlife and animals that eat poisoned rats.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2024

The Canadian Press