The fourth person who died in the Canada Day weekend glider and plane mid-air collision near Pemberton has been identified as a 21-year-old man from India.

The Indian news network TNN has confirmed Mohnish Paul as the fourth victim in Saturday’s accident, in which a Cessna 150 plane and a glider crashed into each other over the Nairn Falls campground. Two people and a dog from 100 Mile House were in the Cessna.

Debris from the two planes fell down on the 90 campers staying in the area for the long weekend, but no one was injured on the ground.

Nagpur businessman Gagan Paul and his family were in Pemberton when Mohnish died in the mid-air accident on Saturday. He was in B.C. with his parents and younger sister, the network reported.
Mohnish was flying in a glider along with instructor Rudy Rozsypalek when it was in collision with the Cessna.

Rozsypalek, 49, who owns the Pemberton Soaring Centre, is a longtime Pemberton resident and hockey coach in Whistler. He had been a driving force behind the Pemberton Regional Airport and his glider business was located at the airport.

The other family members were scheduled to go up in the glider after Mohnish.

B.C. Coroner Barb McLintock confirmed the fourth victim was from India. She said they are awaiting official confirmation before making the name public. “Yes, he was a tourist, but we are not naming him yet,” she said.

And while the bodies of all four victims have been located, Mohnish’s body has not been turned over to the family for the funeral.

The rest of the family too was to take the 35-minute ride in the glider once Mohnish returned, said a relative.

Bhishma Uberoi, Mohnish’s maternal uncle, said on TNN the family began to worry when he was late returning from the flight.

“When the glider did not return for nearly an hour they got worried. They were later informed of the accident,” Uberoi said.

“This was the family’s first trip to Canada,” Sonu Paul, Mohnish’s uncle, told TNN.

“Canadian authorities are very thorough and will not give us the body until all investigations are complete,” Paul said and added that his brother was in touch with the Indian Consulate, too.
Transportation Safety Board spokesman Bill Yearwood said the investigation into the crash will take months.

He also said a similar accident has never been recorded in that part of B.C.

The couple from 100 Mile House have been identified as Terrence “Terry” Gale and his wife Rita.

Gale, who retired from the military a few years ago, was on a sightseeing tour into the Whistler-Pemberton area and was scheduled to be back home later that day.

Calgary officials say it will cost at least $256.5 million to repair damage from the flooding that devastated parts of the city last month.

The preliminary estimates were discussed by aldermen on the finance committee, which met Tuesday in a temporary space in the city’s northeast because city hall in downtown Calgary is not yet fully open.

Damage to the city hall complex will cost $26.5 million to repair, officials said. The historic sandstone building will not reopen until late July or even August.

Committee members were told the Calgary Zoo suffered $50 million worth of flood damage, the Central Library needs $10 million in repairs, and the Talisman Centre, a multi-sports complex on the Elbow River, sustained $6.2 million in damage.

Structural damage to the Calgary Police Service’s downtown administration building will cost more than $31 million to fix, the committee heard.

The tally so far for damage to Calgary Transit facilities is $11.7 million, including $8.2 million to repair the south C-Train line.

Flooding at the McDougall and Civic Centre parkades will cost $33.9 million to fix, transportation department officials said.

According to a city report, repairing flood damage will significantly affect future budgets, although the city is expected to recover some costs from other levels of government.

An 18-year-old Montreal woman is recovering after she was attacked by a lion at a wild animal rehabilitation centre in South Africa.

“This young lady sustained multiple bites to her legs and to her lower body,” said Robyn Baard, client services manager at Medi-Clinic Nelspruit, where the woman was treated.

“I can’t go into too much detail about that, but she is certainly not in any critical condition.”

Baard identified the woman as Lauren Fagen. She was brought to the clinic Monday.

“We’re happy to say that she’s upbeat, and we’re expecting one of her parents to arrive in South Africa soon,” she said.

“At this stage, she is not in any danger.”

According to The Canadian Press, the five-year-old lion grabbed the young woman’s leg and tried to drag her into the cage.

Fagen is a volunteer at the Moholoholo rehabilitation centre, which cares for wild animals that are injured or orphaned.

The centre is located in the country’s northeast, near Pretoria.

Bashir Ahmed of Edmonton, Alberta is the recipient of the 2013 Paul Yuzyk Award for Multiculturalism, announced Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism.

“For more than 20 years, Mr. Ahmed has worked tirelessly in both Ottawa and Edmonton to advocate the importance of multiculturalism and help integrate Somali newcomers, particularly youth, in Canada,” said Minister Kenney. “I am happy to announce him as the recipient of this year’s Paul Yuzyk Award for Multiculturalism.”

The award is bestowed annually on an individual or a group who demonstrates dedication to advancing diversity, multiculturalism and the integration of newcomers into Canadian society. Individuals are nominated in one of two categories: Outstanding Achievement or Lifetime Achievement. Mr. Ahmed was recognized in the Outstanding Achievement category.

A Somali immigrant himself, Mr. Ahmed arrived in Toronto in 1989. In 1992, he began working as a volunteer with Carleton Community and Health Services in Ottawa where he would soon become a member of the Board of Directors. Mr. Ahmed later founded the Association of Somali Teachers and initiated the Multicultural Liaison Program in Ottawa. He is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Somali Canadian Education and Rural Development Organization in Edmonton, which aims to enhance the immigration experience of the Somali community and break down cultural barriers. As a result of his outstanding community leadership and advocacy on behalf of multicultural issues in Alberta, Mr. Ahmed received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Award in 2012.

Mr. Ahmed, the fifth recipient of the Paul Yuzyk Award for Multiculturalism, was selected from 58 nominations that Citizenship and Immigration Canada received from across Canada. As the recipient, he receives a certificate of honour signed by the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. In addition, a grant of $20,000 will be directed to an eligible, registered, not-for-profit Canadian organization or association of his choice. Mr. Ahmed has chosen the Somali Canadian Education and Rural Development Organization.

The Award was named for Senator Yuzyk who was a member of the Senate of Canada from February 1963 to July 1986 and played a key role in the development of Canadian multiculturalism policy. He has been called the architect of multiculturalism for his early role in achieving policy recognition for the “third force” of Canadian society; that is, those who were of neither British nor French descent.

Canada has made an initial commitment to resettle up to 1,300 Syrian refugees this year and next Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney has announced.

“The Government of Canada is deeply concerned about the crisis in Syria and was ready to respond immediately to those identified by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as being most in need of urgent protection,” said Minister Kenney. “As the UNHCR has stated repeatedly, only a political solution can end the violence and the humanitarian crisis in Syria and Canada continues to work with the international community toward this.”

In response to the UNHCR’s appeal for Canada to resettle a limited number of extremely vulnerable, urgent cases, Canada will resettle 200 extremely vulnerable Syrian refugees through the Government-Assisted Refugees Program in 2013 and 2014.

In addition, Canada has been working with Sponsorship Agreement Holders and has committed to accepting up to 1,100 Syrian refugees in 2014 through the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program. This number is over and above the current number of resettlement spaces available to Sponsorship Agreement Holders.

In addition to $68.5 million already committed through the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada, on June 17, 2013, Prime Minister Harper recently announced an additional $115 million in assistance to address the needs of Syrian refugees both in Syria and in neighbouring countries.