Latest news with #Chilliwack
CBC
a day ago
- Sport
- CBC
Joy of playing soccer returns for Canada's Jordyn Huitema after harrowing U.S. home invasion
Social Sharing The smile was wiped from Jordyn Huitema's face as quick as the forward's stride on a soccer pitch. She was discussing her and the Canadian national women's team's long-standing rivalry with the United States when a Toronto reporter asked Huitema about being victim to a home invasion last month. With a night off on May 1, the fourth-year member of the National Women's Soccer League's Seattle Reign FC locked all doors of her home in Mercer Island, Wash., at 8:30 p.m. PT and went to bed. Soon, Huitema heard noises downstairs but the home alarm didn't sound. She quickly entered survival mode, grabbing clothes, her phone and barricading herself in the bathroom by hiding in a locked water closet. WATCH | Huitema returning to normalcy after traumatic home invasion scare: CanWNT star Jordyn Huitema on finding her game after frightening home invasion 8 minutes ago Duration 1:56 "I was sitting on the floor with my back against the door and my feet on the toilet, pushing against the door," Huitema, from Chilliwack, B.C., later told the Seattle Times. "But then … there was one person that came into the bathroom with me, and his flashlight was shining, and I could see it going under the door. I knew he was right beside me, and I was just hoping that he didn't touch the door. "That's when I put my hand over my mouth and nose and was just trying to hold in all the tears, trying to hold in all the sounds, just trying to be as quiet as possible." Huitema called 911 and eventually reached a dispatcher, whispering details in a bid to stay hidden. She doesn't know whether the robbers realized she was home but was never spotted. They intruders stole nearly $200,000 US worth of belongings, according to court documents. Weeks later, Huitema and her Canadian teammates are preparing for Friday's Pride Celebration friendly against Costa Rica, a 7:30 p.m. ET start at BMO Field in Toronto. 'It's a journey' Huitema now has more jump in her step. She's having fun hanging out with her teammates on the national squad. And she's excited to play before a home crowd. "A work in progress," is how the 24-year-old Huitema described her return to soccer in a Zoom call this week with Signa Butler of CBC Sports. "It's a journey. I've got my routine back of sleeping and eating; the basics to be a professional [athlete]. "The joy being on the field brings me is something you don't feel anywhere else. I feel like a different person than where I was at [a few weeks ago]." Following the home invasion, Reign head coach Laura Harvey gave Huitema the option to sit out, but she chose to play. "I tried to give everything," the player said, "and that wore me down more without realizing I was slipping away from myself. I was exhausted. "I was struggling so much that when it was time to step on the field my head was in a different world. "I'm very bad at choosing myself in situations where I should," continued Huitema, "but I'm learning." After an "amazing" conversation with Casey Stoney, first-year head coach of Canada's national women's team, Huitema returned to Chilliwack and spent about a week with her parents and siblings. "She agreed I should step away," Huitema said of Stoney, the 42-year-old former England captain hired by Canada Soccer in January. "I never like to wave the white flag and say that I'm down. WATCH | Holly Ward, Evelyne Viens lead Canadian sweep over Haiti: A pair of goals by Viens leads Canada to another win over Haiti 23 days ago Duration 3:08 Made senior national team debut at 15 "[But] it was a good reset. Had I let [the situation] spiral, it could have turned into something where it needed to be a longer-termed [absence] but all I needed in that moment was a week." These days, Huitema is excited about the number of fresh faces with the national team. In March 2017, she made her debut with the senior club as a 15-year-old in Canada's 1-0 Algarve Cup final loss to Spain in Portugal. She was the third-youngest woman to play for Canada behind only record-holder Kara Lang and Jessie Fleming, who were also 15. "We need to start developing the future of Canada soccer," said the five-foot-10 Huitema, who won 2021 Olympic gold in Tokyo and was a member of last year's team in Paris. "You see yourself in [the younger players]. You can relate to them, so you try to give a helping hand or be supportive to make them feel comfortable." After Friday's friendly, the eighth-ranked Canadians travel to Washington to face the top-ranked U.S. on July 2 at Audi Field. Canada, which hasn't won in America since Nov. 11, 2000, has a 4-53-9 record against the U.S. that dates to 1986 when the Canadian women's program was established. "Yeah, we all hate [the U.S. team]," said Huitema, smiling. "It's the rivalry we have. It's funny because I've been playing with so many of [their players] the last three, four years. I'm close friends with 95 per cent of them. "I'll have brief conversations with them, and they'll say, 'We hate you guys. You're so nice, and we love you as people, but we hate you.' It's probably the most exciting game we get to play. It's the [one] you want to win, for sure."
CTV News
3 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
Measles spikes across Canada due to anti-vax ‘recklessness,' B.C. premier says
VANCOUVER — British Columbia Premier David Eby says the growing spread of measles across Canada is 'the sadly predictable outcome' of the 'recklessness' of anti-vaccination politicians. Eby says the disease is 'no joke,' given the potentially serious impact on those infected, and it's preventable with two vaccine shots. He told a Vancouver news conference that the focus for provincial public health authorities now is to make sure that people who are not protected receive full vaccination. The premier's response comes after Fraser Health said this week that three residents in Chilliwack have been confirmed as being infected and all appear to have contracted the disease locally since they have not recently travelled. Health authorities elsewhere in the province have also reported cases in Kamloops and the community of Wonowon in northeastern B.C., northwest of Fort St. John. Ontario reported its first death in the measles outbreak on June 5 when a premature baby died after being infected in the womb of its unvaccinated mother. Thousands in Ontario have been infected since October, while Alberta's government said last week that it has also surpassed a thousand confirmed measles cases, most of them in children age five to 17. Health Canada says measles was eliminated in the country in 1998, and the spike in Alberta has been the most severe in almost 40 years. 'This is the sadly predictable outcome of some recklessness, frankly, on the parts of some politicians in terms of questioning vaccine safety and ensuring that people are supported in accessing vaccines,' Eby said without naming people or provinces. 'I will encourage all British Columbians to ensure that they are vaccinated. Measles is no joke. It kills kids. It's a preventable disease, and we don't want that to be the story of the summer for our province.' This report by Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press, was first published June 25, 2025.
CTV News
3 days ago
- General
- CTV News
TSB rules out weather, mechanical issues in B.C. plane crash that killed 3
On Saturday, crews could be seen removing the wreckage from the forested area where the plane crashed. (CTV) The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has ruled out weather and mechanical performance as potential contributors to a small plane crash that killed a flight instructor and two students in British Columbia in 2023. The federal agency says the fatal crash near the Chilliwack airport was instead likely the result of conducting 'asymmetric thrust exercises' without enough altitude or airspeed, causing the plane to nosedive into the ground. The exercises involve flying on one engine – either exclusively or predominantly – to practise controlling the aircraft in the event of partial engine failure. The twin-engine Piper PA-34 Seneca aircraft crashed at approximately 2 p.m. on Oct. 6, 2023, killing all three people on board and narrowly missing the Chilliwack Motor Inn. The TSB investigation report released Wednesday says the small plane was approaching the Chilliwack airport less than 100 feet from the ground when it banked and turned to the right. The aircraft continued to bank hard until it was pitched 'nose down' and crashed in a 'close-to-inverted' orientation, according to the report. The collision was captured on the dash-camera of a vehicle passing the airport at 1:59 p.m., allowing air safety investigators to recreate the aircraft's final moments. An examination of the video and the aircraft wreckage indicate the plane entered a 'minimum control speed roll' before striking the ground. The minimum control speed for the Piper Seneca aircraft is approximately 129 km/h, according to the airplane operating manual, and that minimum speed should not be approached with only one engine operating, the TSB said. The manual also states that demonstrations of uncontrolled flight conditions in the Piper Seneca aircraft should only be attempted with a minimum altitude of 3,500 feet, the report said. Investigators who inspected the wreckage determined the plane's left engine was producing power at the time of impact with the ground, while the plane's right engine was producing 'low or no power.' The investigation found the SkyQuest Aviation Ltd. instructor was appropriately licensed and rated with more than 1,000 hours of total flight time, including 52 hours of multi-engine flight time, at the time of the crash. SkyQuest Aviation a flight school that operates out of Langley Regional Airport. The TSB report concluded by recommending that asymmetric thrust exercises should always be performed with enough altitude and airspeed to recover in the event of a minimum control speed roll.
CBC
3 days ago
- General
- CBC
Transportation Safety Board releases report into fatal 2023 Chilliwack plane crash
Investigators with Canada's Transportation Safety Board say it appears a small plane was not going fast enough when it rolled and crashed into trees near the airport in Chilliwack, B.C., killing all three people on board. A report into the October 2023 crash that killed a flight instructor and two students says investigators could not determine the specific exercise that was being conducted when the Piper PA-34-200 Seneca plane approached the airport, rolled to the right and crashed into trees behind a casino. The report says dashcam video from a passing vehicle and the post-accident wreckage examination are consistent with the aircraft entering a "minimum control speed" roll before the crash. It says rolls happen when there is uneven power between a plane's two engines and the aircraft's speed falls below the minimum required. The report says the investigation did not discover any issues with the flight controls that would have led to the loss of control, or anything mechanical that would have prevented either engine from producing power. The agency says its aim is to promote transport safety, rather than to find fault.
CTV News
3 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
New measles cases confirmed in B.C.
Vancouver Watch Three people in Chilliwack are among the 17 new cases of measles to have arisen in B.C. since last week.
