Two social advocates, running for left-of-centre civic parties, have been elected to Vancouver City Council in a byelection with near record turnout. COPE’s Sean Orr and Lucy Maloney with OneCity defeated all other candidates by at least a two-to-one margin. Former councillor Colleen Hardwick, the only candidate with elected experience, came in third. The two candidates running for Mayor Ken Sim’s ABC were far behind. A number of Vancouverites have expressed outrage over the hours-long voting lines as the City decided to cheap-out on polling stations and election day staff.

While denouncing any talk of western separatism, Premier David Eby does say he wants to bring in more U.S. immigrants. He says that would help bolster the B.C. economy. The comments come in reaction to Wednesday’s tariff announcement by Donald Trump that left the province mostly unscathed. Eby claims American medical professionals, researchers and entrepreneurs increasingly want to leave the States and work in Canada.

Many business leaders in B.C. and the rest of Canada are expressing tenuous relief as they escape Donald Trump’s additional tariffs. Canada will still be charged 25 per cent tariffs on most autos, steel, aluminum and other non-USMCA goods. The U-S president used his so-called ‘Liberation Day’ speech to list sweeping tariffs on most countries - starting at 10 per cent for those such as the UK and going into the high double digits for some Asian countries.

A Lower Mainland candidate is the third Conservative to quit in a single day. A local Conservative campaign manager has confirmed Lourence Singh is no longer running in New Westminster-Burnaby-Maillardville. No reason has been given. Singh joins Windsor area candidate Mark Mackenzie and Montreal area candidate Stefan Marquis in squashing their bids to become an MP.

A man from B.C. is sitting in a federal jail in Seattle, charged with smuggling military technology from the U.S. to Pakistan. Mohammad Jawaid Aziz was arrested just over a week ago while trying to enter the U.S. at the Peace Arch crossing. The 67-year-old with Canadian-Pakistani citizenship is accused of using his company to obtain American tech for those in Pakistan who are linked to that country’s nuclear and missile programs. He’s been denied bail as a serious flight risk. The allegations have not yet been proven in court.

The federal Liberals continue to lead the Conservatives heading into this second official week of the Canadian election campaign. An Ipsos poll for Global News finds the Liberals up two points to 44 per cent while the Conservatives have 38 per cent - also up two - and the NDP have dropped a point to nine per cent. The statistical margin of error is 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20. Donald Trump and the U.S. tariff threat continue to dominate all other issues so far.

Former long-time provincial cabinet minister Mike de Jong will run as an independent in this federal Election. It comes after the federal Conservative party rejected his bid to run in Abbotsford-South Langley - choosing 25-year-old blueberry farmer and university student Sukhman Gill instead. According to de Jong, party staffers declared him not qualified to run for Parliament as a Conservative.

‘A direct attack on Canada.’ That’s how Prime Minister Mark Carney describes Donald Trump’s newly announced 25 per cent tariffs on most auto imports to the U.S. The tariffs are expected to start April 2 when most other Canadian exports are hit. Carney says the tariffs will hurt the Canadian auto sector but retaliatory action may soon be introduced.

The B.C. carbon tax will be scrapped on April Fools Day. The provincial government is urging gas stations to get ready for the change which will take place on April 1 and comes after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the feds will back-off consumer carbon taxes next week. B.C.’s tax is said to add about 17 cents per litre to the price of regular gas.

The B.C. carbon tax will be scrapped on April Fools Day. The provincial government is urging gas stations to get ready for the change which will take place on April 1 and comes after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the feds will back-off consumer carbon taxes next week. B.C.’s tax is said to add about 17 cents per litre to the price of regular gas.