In the news today: Eby ready to take campaign bus on test drive

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…

Eby ready to take campaign bus on test drive

A day before the official start, British Columbia’s election campaign sees B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad and Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau speaking to municipal leaders, while NDP Leader David Eby is gearing up to get his campaign bus rolling.

Eby spoke to local politicians yesterday at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention, as they presented a laundry list of concerns for the provincial government at the meeting, from homelessness to the overdose crisis and more support funding.

Eby’s speech to the municipal leaders focused on his recent announcement to implement plans to introduce involuntary care of people struggling with mental health and addiction issues.

He says several city governments have already indicated they are on board with having a “secure site” to house and treat severely mentally ill and drug addicted people.

The decriminalization of possession of small quantities of hard drugs and open drug use in public areas is expected to be a major issue in the Oct. 19 election, which officially starts Saturday.

Here’s what else we’re watching…

PCs hold onto seat in Ontario byelection

The Progressive Conservatives have won a provincial byelection in eastern Ontario, retaining a seat previously held by a popular cabinet minister, though the result was much closer than the riding has seen in the past two elections.

Tyler Allsopp, a municipal councillor in Belleville, will now represent the Bay of Quinte at the legislature after winning Thursday’s byelection.

It was a race with a rapid turnaround, as Premier Doug Ford announced Allsopp as the Progressive Conservative candidate and called the byelection just five days after the seat became vacant.

Todd Smith, who was education minister at the time he resigned but had held several other cabinet portfolios including energy, represented the region through four elections. He won the last two in Bay of Quinte with nearly 50 per cent of the vote.

Allsopp’s margin of victory was not quite as wide — capturing about 39 per cent of the vote — but still decisive.

‘Huge victory’: Toronto tenants laud interim order

Tenants at two residential buildings in north Toronto have been celebrating what they call a rare victory after the Landlord and Tenant Board issued an interim order in their favor compelling their corporate landlord to fix units in need of repair.

The Landlord and Tenant Board had issued an interim order requiring Barney River Investments, which managed the properties at 1440 and 1442 Lawrence Ave. West, to do immediate maintenance work on long-needed repairs.

The decision, which the tenants’ lawyer said might be the first of its kind, came after a 10-month rent strike.

Other tenants are taking the same gamble: since May 2023, Toronto has seen a wave of such strikes in which hundreds of renters have withheld rent across the city.

First, the residents of 71, 75 and 79 Thorncliffe Park Dr. in the city’s east end stopped paying their rent. Then, tenants at 33 King St. and 22 John St. on the west side of the city did the same.

N.S. woman seeks MAID amid battle for treatment

A Nova Scotia woman has applied for a medically assisted death, saying after years of battling to receive out-of-country surgery for an illness that causes “indescribable” pain, she struggles to maintain the will to live.

Jennifer Brady completed her MAID application in June. She has lymphedema in her legs, a condition in which tissues swell from the accumulation of fluids normally drained through the body’s lymphatic system.

In an interview Thursday, the 46-year-old mother of two said she has intense daily pain, skin infections that resemble a sunburn intensified “1,000 times,” and blood infections that exhaust her to the point “you feel like you’re dying.”

However, Brady said that after she received treatment in Japan in 2022 — at her own expense — her swelling decreased, particularly in her right leg, and some symptoms were relieved. She said she believes that if she can receive the funds to pay for more surgery, her condition can improve — as will her desire to remain alive.

The possibility that her health can improve is what led to her MAID request being denied.

In a letter sent to Health Minister Michelle Thompson on July 7, Dr. Gord Gubitz, the clinical lead of Nova Scotia’s MAID program, said his team is rejecting Brady’s application because her condition is not considered “irremediable.”

Buck Shot memorial being held in Calgary

It will be the last show for longtime children’s TV star Ron (Buck Shot) Barge as a memorial is held Friday in Calgary.

For 30 years, Buck Shot and his sidekick Benny the Bear entertained Calgarians with songs, puppets, the birthday book and his nifty battered cowboy hat.

Barge died at home last month just 10 days short of his 88th birthday.

The memorial is set for noon at the Centre Street Church.

“Buck Shot” was one of the longest-running children’s shows in Canada, surpassing “Mr. Dressup,” which ran for 29 years, and “The Friendly Giant,” which aired for 27.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published September 20, 2024.

The Canadian Press