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Saturday, May 17, 2014

RCMP Conducting Traffic Stops This Holiday Weekend

While you might feel like letting loose this long weekend, RCMP reminding you to adopt a different attitude if you're getting behind the wheel. 

As part of Road Safety Week, police in New Brunswick will be conducting traffic stops on roads and highways throughout the province as there's usually more traffic on holiday weekends which increases the likelihood of car crashes. 

Staff Sergeant James Bates of Traffic Services says you should wear your seat-belt, drive sober and put down the cell phones and iPods to reduce the risk of a crash. 

Of the 38 fatal crashes that New Brunswick RMCP responded to last year, seven of them involved alcohol or drugs.

Canadians Experiencing More Extreme Weather Events

As devastating wildfires rage in Southern California, Canadians might be feeling pretty lucky that we don't see those kind of natural disasters very often.

But the fact is that unusually severe weather events are a fact of life North of the border as well.

In 2013, major flooding, fires, and other natural disasters across Canada caused insurers to pay out a record 3.2 billion in claims,and 2014 could be another record-breaker. Canada gets about 5,000 earthquakes every year, and flooding has been a major issue throughout the Maritimes as well as the prairies.

While extreme weather obviously isn't in your control,you can make a plan  of what to do if you hear a storm is coming your way, because educating yourself is the best way to protect yourself and your family.

NB Woman Dead After Water Mishap In Marshville

A 66 year-old New Brunswick woman is dead after an incident on the water last night.

The woman was using an inflatable dingy in Marshville, Nova Scotia. Police say she got caught in the current and changing tides which began carrying her out into the Northumberland Strait.

Fire crews, paramedics and the Canadian Coast Guard were each called in to help but by the time they located the woman she was unconscious. The woman, believed to be from Moncton, was later pronounced dead at a hospital in New Glasgow.

Police are not releasing her name or any other details. They are trying to make sure the family has been notified.

Eliminating Hatred Against LGBTQ Community

May 17 is the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia.

The observance celebrates lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. It originated in Quebec in 2003 and is now marked in countries around the world.

Homosexuals are still treated as criminals in 77 countries, and being gay carries the death penalty in six countriesand in parts of Nigeria and Somalia. Brunei introduced death by stoning this year.

A recent poll showed 74% of Canadians know someone who is lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.