10-lane bridge plan scrapped by NDP

VANCOUVER — The B.C. government has ditched plans for a 10-lane bridge to ease traffic congestion south of Vancouver in favour of a smaller crossing and improvements to the existing George Massey Tunnel, Transportation Minister Claire Trevena said Monday.

Tens of thousands of motorists who make the daily snail’s pace commute through the tunnel route that links Delta and Richmond and funnels traffic to and from Vancouver will need to be more patient, she said.

Consultations on proposals for a sixor eight-lane bridge or an expanded eight-lane tunnel underneath the Fraser River will start in 2019, Trevena told a news conference.

Murdered woman’s body found in Alta.

ST. PAUL, Alta. — A charge of firstdegree murder has been laid against two people from Edmonton after a woman’s body was found in the North Saskatchewan River.

Lindsay Marie Jackson, who was 25, disappeared Sept. 22.

Her body was pulled from the river on Oct. 3 near the small community of Brosseau, about 150 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.

An autopsy determined her death was a homicide.

The cause of Jackson’s death has not been released.

Jena Lynn Hunter, who is a 26, and a 23-year-old co-accused, Jermaine Eugene Steinhauer, remain in custody.

They are set to appear in a St. Paul courtroom on Thursday.

Killing Saudi deal would cost billions

OTTAWA — The Ontario-based company that is selling $15-billion worth of armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia is warning the Liberal government that cancelling the deal will cost billions of dollars in penalties.

General Dynamics Land SystemsCanada said in a statement Monday that cancelling the contract would also hurt its workforce.

Canada is reviewing all arms sales to Saudi Arabia and won’t issue any new export permits until the review is complete.

The October murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi after he entered a Saudi consulate in Turkey has sparked international condemnation against Riyadh.

Khashoggi’s murder has also renewed public outrage in Canada over Ottawa’s controversial $15-billion deal to sell light armoured vehicles to the kingdom.

Backlog remains as migrant claims drop

OTTAWA — As the number of irregular asylum seekers arriving in Canada appears to be slowing, work is quietly underway to speed up refugee processing and address a major backlog of asylum claims that has been growing since early 2017.

Newly published federal data shows 1,019 irregular migrants were apprehended by the RCMP crossing into Canada between official border crossings last month. That was the third consecutive month of decreases in irregular migrant arrivals and the lowest monthly number since June 2017.

But while the number arriving “irregularly” via non-official entry points may be on a downward trend, the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) — the arms-length agency that adjudicates refugee claims — has struggled to keep pace with the number of new cases being added to its backlog of files.