B.C. MLA Bowinn Ma's constituency office targeted with explosive device
The constituency office of North Vancouver MLA Bowinn Ma has been targeted with an explosive device, CBC News has confirmed.
Police tape could be seen on Friday morning cordoning off the cabinet minister's office space at 221 Esplanade Ave. West.
Two sources who spoke with CBC News on background, as they're not in a position to comment on the matter, said legislative security sent out an email to MLAs and constituency assistants around 7:30 a.m. Friday.
The email said there was "an explosive device that detonated and caused damage."
It said the explosion caused damage to the property, but no one was hurt.
CBC News spoke with Ma and her husband in person, who said they're reeling from the incident and do not wish to comment.
In a statement, Ma said all meetings and appointments at her office are cancelled for the day.
"Thankfully, nobody was injured, but incidents like this can be quite frightening," she said. "Due to the active police investigation, I will not be able to provide more details at this time."
The Office of the Premier told CBC News they did not order B.C. NDP offices to close, but they've advised caution and want staff and MLAs to do what they feel comfortable with.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Canadian who died in ICE custody lived a 'simple life,' his lawyer says
The Canadian man who died while in custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this week was a "very polite, quiet, unassuming man with a very simple life" who did not pose a danger to anyone, says the lawyer who represented him. Dan Leising represented Johnny Noviello, 49, who died in a detention centre in Florida on Monday. The cause of death is unknown and is under investigation, says an ICE news release. In 2023, Noviello was convicted of a number of offences — including racketeering and drug trafficking — and had been sentenced to 12 months in prison, according to the ICE release. But Leising says Noviello never actually went to state prison. Being sentenced to 364 days, he served time in county jail and was out on probation when he was arrested by ICE in May. Leising says Noviello had not violated the terms of his probation. LISTEN | As it Happens speaks with Noviello's lawyer: Leising described the charges against Noviello as "very, very serious." He said Noviello had worked as a cashier and did some janitorial work, and had no prior criminal record. "Is he violent or anybody that you'd be afraid of if you walked by them on the street? Absolutely not," said Leising. Leising says he stayed in contact with Noviello's family during his detention and after his death. The family once called Leising when they were unable to get in contact with Noviello during his detention. He said the family was concerned about Noviello getting the medication required to treat his epilepsy. Leising said he has no knowledge of Noviello's access to that medicine while in detention. Despite having Canadian citizenship, Noviello had been in the U.S. since 1988 and became a lawful permanent resident in 1991, the release says. Noviello was being detained by ICE "pending removal proceedings," the agency's news release said. In an interview with CBC's Power & Politics, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said consular officials had been in touch with Noviello as soon as they heard of his detention. "At this point we are also seeking additional information relating to the circumstances of his passing away, and I'd like to extend my condolences to his family," she said. U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra posted a statement on social media saying his team is following the investigation into Noviello's death. "We will keep the Canadian government informed as ICE completes its investigation," he wrote in a post on X. Noviello's death comes as ICE agents are making sweeping arrests across the United States. Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and the main architect of U.S. President Donald Trump's immigration policies, has pushed ICE to aim for at least 3,000 arrests a day, up from about 650 a day during the first five months of Trump's second term. Lawyer and policy analyst Richard Kurland says Noviello's criminal history means that he meets Trump's profile for priority removal. He says the president's focus on deporting criminals and "mass detention" comes with "great risk" to those in custody. "You do not enjoy the luxury of isolated cells," said Kurland. "You're going to have physical interactions between detainees." Noviello isn't the only Canadian to have been arrested in the U.S. since the ICE sweeps began. Global Affairs Canada told CBC News in a statement that it is aware of "several dozen cases of Canadians currently in immigration-related detention in the U.S." One Canadian, Jasmine Mooney from B.C., was arrested and held for nearly two weeks after trying to get a work visa renewed. She was released and returned to Canada in mid-March. WATCH | Canadian describes ICE detention: U.S. immigration lawyer Len Saunders, who represents Mooney, says he was surprised to hear of Noviello's death. "You don't see a lot of Canadians in immigration detention in the United States," he said. Saunders says the detention system is complex — detainees can't just say they want to be sent home. "They have to go through the formal deportation proceedings, they have to see an immigration judge," he said. Saunders says when Mooney was detained, one of her friends wanted to know how to speed up the process. His response was to go to the news. "That's the only reason I think Jasmine Mooney was released so quickly," he said. In the case of Noviello, Kurland says there's nothing Canada could have done to prevent his death. But he says Canada must try to negotiate an overall deal with the U.S. when it comes to the detention and deportation of its citizens — because the numbers of Canadians held by ICE will only grow. "We need to act now to create a special protocol just for Canadian detainees," he said. "That would relieve a lot of people in a bad situation."
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump wants Canada's digital services tax gone before trade talks resume
U.S. President Donald Trump says he's ending all trade discussions with Canada to hit back at Ottawa for slapping a tax on web giants — and he wants it removed before negotiations can begin again. Canada and the U.S. have been locked in talks to get Trump to lift his punishing tariffs on Canadian goods, levies that have already led to major economic dislocations, job losses and a drop in southbound exports. Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed at the G7 last week to reach some agreement on the trade dispute within 30 days. Speaking in the Oval Office on Friday afternoon, Trump said the U.S. has "such power over Canada," and that he's upset the country is following a taxation strategy similar to Europe's. "It's not going to work out well for Canada. They were foolish to do it," he said of imposing the DST, which was passed into law last year with a delayed application."We're going to stop all negotiations with Canada right now until they straighten out their act," he said. Asked if there's anything Canada can do to appease him, Trump said Ottawa could remove the tax. "They will," he said. "They do most of their business with us. When you have that circumstance, you treat people better." Earlier Friday, Trump posted on social media he may impose some sort of blanket tariff on Canadian goods as retribution for the DST, which will primarily hit U.S. firms since it targets only the biggest earners. Speaking briefly to reporters before Trump's Oval Office comments, Carney said he hadn't talked with Trump that day. "We'll continue to conduct these complex negotiations in the best interest of Canadians," Carney said. He did not address a reporter's question about whether his government is prepared to drop the DST — something the Business Council of Canada is calling on Ottawa to do in exchange for U.S. tariff relief. Set to take effect on June 30, the DST would have U.S. companies like Amazon, Google, Meta, Uber and Airbnb pay a three per cent levy on revenue from Canadian users. The policy will apply retroactively, leaving U.S. companies with a $2-billion US bill due at the end of the month. These global digital firms are often able to skirt paying taxes in the countries where they operate, and the last Liberal government pitched the DST as a way to bring the tax code up to date and capture revenues earned in Canada by firms located abroad. U.S. long opposed DST It's been a bone of contention between Canada and the U.S. for years, with former president Joe Biden's ambassador to Canada warning during his tenure that, if a DST was enacted, the U.S. would hit back. While Canada and other Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries had been discussing some sort of global DST, the Trudeau government decided to move ahead with its own tax rather than wait for co-ordinated action. Carney's finance minister, François-Philippe Champagne, said last week Ottawa planned to enact the tax even while negotiations with Trump are ongoing. That's what's prompted the president's ire. "We have just been informed that Canada, a very difficult Country to TRADE with, including the fact that they have charged our Farmers as much as 400% Tariffs, for years, on Dairy Products, has just announced that they are putting a Digital Services Tax on our American Technology Companies, which is a direct and blatant attack on our Country," Trump said. WATCH | Foreign Affairs minister on the trade war: As he has done in the past, Trump mischaracterized Canada's tariff regime on U.S. dairy products. The high tariff rates Trump frequently cites are only applied if U.S. exports exceed a set "tariff-rate quota," something that has never happened. Trump's own Department of Agriculture noted earlier this year that almost all agricultural products traded between the United States and Canada are free of tariffs. In an interview with CBC's Power & Politics, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said supply management, which places limits on certain products, including dairy, to ensure stable prices, is a "cornerstone" Canadian economic policy that is "extremely important." Anand said that despite Trump's threats, Canada will push ahead with trying to broker a deal that's in the best interest of workers and businesses, "while at the same time ensuring we diversify our supply chains so we are never again dependent on one economy." She touted the New EU-Canada Strategic Partnership of the Future that Carney brokered with the European Union earlier this week. Trump's abrupt decision to call off negotiations may have caught Canadian officials off guard. Speaking to CBC Radio's The House hours before Trump's post, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Canada's negotiators "continue to be optimistic about the constructive tone" between the two countries. Still, Candace Laing, president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said there have been signs the "tone and tenor of talks has improved in recent months." Trump and Carney have had two friendly meetings in that time, and she hopes to see "progress continue" despite Trump's apparent attempt to derail the talks. "Negotiations go through peaks and valleys. With deadlines approaching, some last-minute surprises should be expected," Laing said.
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Man charged over vandalism of National Holocaust Monument
The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) has charged a man for the vandalism earlier this month of the National Holocaust Monument. On Friday afternoon, the police service announced a 46-year-old man has been accused of mischief to a war memorial, mischief exceeding $5,000 and harassment by threatening conduct. Police did not name the man. The charges stem from an incident on June 9 when the concrete memorial on the Kichi Zibi Mikan near Lebreton Flats was found splashed with red paint, including the words "feed me" painted in capital letters. The slogan appeared to be a reference to Gaza, which the United Nations had recently described as the "hungriest place on Earth." Iddo Moed, Israel's ambassador to Canada, decried the vandalism as antisemitic. The accused man is scheduled to appear in court on Saturday.