News for Youse: Path to Wreck Beach closed, BlackBerry asks for support, and marches against Monsanto

Help for renters  Beginning today (October 15) the Vancouver Rent Bank will host five information sessions for tenants facing financial hardship. Details about when and where the events are scheduled to occur can available here.

Demand for homeownership spikes  September saw a jump in home sales in British Columbia that indicates consumer demand for new housing was the greatest it’s been in four years. According to the B.C. Real Estate Association, sales were 43 percent above what they were during the same month of the previous year.

Path to Wreck Beach closed  Unfortunate news for sunbathers who were hoping to enjoy one more trip to Vancouver’s nude beach before the onset of winter. A landslide that occurred on Sunday (October 13) has destroyed much of the path that connects Northwest Marine Drive to Wreck Beach.

Oil pipeline protest  Yesterday (October 14) members of the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation paddled traditional canoes across the Burrard Inlet in a demonstration against the proposed expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline. Kinder Morgan wants to expand the pipeline’s capacity to carry heavy crude oil from Alberta’s tar sands to tanker terminals in Vancouver from 300,000 barrels per day to 850,000.

Marches against Monsanto  On Saturday (October 12) some 400 Vancouver residents took part in a protest against genetically-modified food and agricultural corporations such as Monsanto, CBC News reports. The demonstration was one of hundreds held across Canada and around the world.

New B.C. bishop  The head of the Catholic Church has promoted a Vancouver clergyman to the post of bishop for the Diocese of Mackenzie-Fort Smith. Pope Francis named priest Monsignor Mark Hagemoen to the position, which is based out of Yellowknife and covers an area of 1.5 million square kilometres across three provinces.

BlackBerry asks for support  Yesterday, BlackBerry Ltd. published an open letter requesting that customers stick with the wireless telecommunications corporation as it makes “difficult changes”. The Canadian company posted a US$965-million loss for the second quarter of 2013 and recently announced it was reducing its global workforce by 40 percent.

Canucks back from Thanksgiving break  This evening, the Vancouver Canucks will return from a weekend off and take on the Flyers in Philadelphia. The Canucks lost 4-1 to the San Jose Sharks on October 10 and 4-1 to the Montreal Canadians on October 12.

U.S. debt ceiling talks  Today, President Barack Obama is hosting negotiations with congressional leaders in an attempt to see the United States government avoid defaulting on its debts. While Republicans in the Senate have said they are optimistic a deal will be reached ahead of an October 17 deadline, hardline right-wingers in the House of Representatives continue to oppose any deal that does not repeal or defund the Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law in 2010.

NSA collects “sizable fraction” of world’s contact info  The U.S. government has collected the contact information of millions of people around the world, documents leaked by the former NSA contract worker Edward Snowden reveal. The program, reported on for the first time by the Washington Post, is large enough to include “a sizable fraction of the world’s e-mail and instant messaging accounts”.

Country star tells of radical preachers  TMZ has reported that American country music star Blake Shelton has told the Westboro Baptist Church that it can “blow me”. The Baptist church, infamous for holding homophobic demonstrations at funerals, has called for the boycott of Shelton’s concerts because the musician supports gay rights.