CBC Vancouver News at 6 May 8: Family of suicide victim urges better postpartum depression support

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:02:14]Heat. Heat.

[00:05:03]Coming up on CBC Vancouver News.

[00:05:07]Guilty of firstdegree murder.

[00:05:10]>> Felt like my heart was going to come out of my chest. Um, there was joy in that knowing that the judge saw this for what it was. Three men now convicted after the killing of an Abbottzford couple.

[00:05:23]Plus the push for mental health support for women in crisis.

[00:05:30]There's just no help. There's no help for her.

[00:05:32]>> The family and friends honoring their loved one and asking the province to do more. And a major construction milestone.

[00:05:42]>> Those eight stations are going to be beautiful. They're going to serve generations of people south of the Fraser >> as work on the Suriri Langley sky train project accelerates.

[00:05:54]>> This is CBC Vancouver News.

[00:06:03]>> Thanks for joining us. I'm Michelle Gassub. The family of a Vancouver woman who died by suicide after a struggle with postpartum depression is speaking out about the lack of mental health supports as Katie D. Rosa reports they're calling on the government to increase the specialized inpatient options for mothers in crisis.

[00:06:23]>> There's just no help. There was no help for her.

[00:06:25]>> Jenna Dorman's husband looks back on all the ways he tried to get his wife help.

[00:06:30]The 42-year-old Vancouver mother was struggling with postpartum depression after the birth of their second child in early 2024.

[00:06:39]Medical complications and worries about her new baby caused stress and anxiety for Dorman that spiraled into depression and by the summer of 2024, multiple suicide attempts. Her husband and friends frantically looked for treatment options. They immediately were faced with long wait lists or the prospect that Dorman would be separated from her baby. As soon as a woman a mother is having suicidal tendencies, they don't ac some of these facilities don't even accept them. They're at risk. So, they they won't take that risk on.

[00:07:13]>> The only option was to take her to Vancouver General Hospital. Separated from her children, Dorman spent several days on a bed in the corner of the emergency room with just a curtain for privacy.

[00:07:24]>> It's not very loving. It's not very warm for a mother to be tossed around in in a medical system where this is she should be with her baby getting help.

[00:07:36]>> Jenna's best friend says the mental health support came too late.

[00:07:40]>> The week that she committed suicide.

[00:07:43]It was very tragic.

[00:07:45]>> Bird has launched a campaign to raise $32,000 to fund dropin postpartum support through the Pacific Postpartum Support Society. She is also pushing for a dedicated space for mothers and babies in BC women's hospital perinatal mental health unit. This BC conservative MLA's private members bill calls on government to create a strategy for universal access to mental health care for women before and after they give birth. It became law last May and set a one-year timeline for action. It's disappointing to see that it's been a year and we haven't seen much work on uh my bill yet.

[00:08:25]>> It is so incredibly important to be able to provide uh those kinds of supports for people. That work is actively underway. The bill obviously has passed and uh and we are hard at work on it.

[00:08:35]>> Jenna's husband and friends envision a place where mothers can be with their children getting the care they need. a place where she could um be with other mothers and be able to just feel loved.

[00:08:54]>> Katie D. Roza, CBC News, Victoria.

[00:08:59]Three men have been found guilty of firstdegree murder in the killing of an Abbottzford couple in 2022. The CBC's Kier Juno's followed the case and heard from the family at the courthouse today and a warning some of the details are disturbing.

[00:09:15]>> Yeah, Michelle. It's it's really a momentous day for everyone who's been waiting for this decision. Uh Justice Brenda Brown ruled today uh that uh Guran Singh, Abjet Singh, and Kushvir to uh were all found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the 2022 killings of Joan and Arnold D. Young. Uh this ruling comes uh four years almost to the day that the D Youngs were found dead in their Abbottzford home. And I just want to take you back to those days. What the court has heard through the process of a trial was that Arnold and Joanne they were found in separate bedrooms dead and their hands and feet uh were bound. The three men in their 20s they knew the f they knew the D Youngs uh through previous work they had done for them through Abjet's cleaning company. And in the process of what happened, they they stole credit cards.

[00:10:05]Uh they stole checks and more. Uh they tried to make uh transfers of money maybe amounting in in the thousands. And uh today in the ruling, Justice Brown uh also agreed with crown prosecutors that the motive behind uh these killings uh was was financial gain. uh Sandra Bartell, one of the Dy Young's daughters, uh speaking to media after the ruling, flanked by throngs of family and friends, and she's described uh the moment that she heard that ruling come down in court this afternoon.

[00:10:37]>> Felt like my heart was going to come out of my chest. Um, just I think there was joy in that knowing that the judge saw this for what it was and that she was able to act upon it.

[00:10:53]>> Now, just like throughout the 8week trial, dozens of family members and friends were here to support the Dy Young's daughters and and and other friends and family uh as as they heard this come down. Certainly, they feel satisfied. they were looking for this kind of conviction. Um, and what really struck me was how uh throughout the 8week trial there there were so many people every single day coming and sharing baked goods, sharing hugs, sharing uh tears and and just words of support as they go through probably the hardest thing they have to go through in their lives. Um, while this part of the saga is over, the you know, it's there's a lot of healing uh in the many years to come after this. Uh but sentencing is is the next thing they're looking forward to and that's that scheduled Michelle for May 28th.

[00:11:42]>> K Juno is reporting for us in Abbottzford. Thank you.

[00:11:46]>> The Suriri Langley Sky Train extension project has reached a major milestone.

[00:11:51]As Amelia John reports, the next phase of the nearly $6 billion project has begun. These uh unassuming metal piles that you can see behind me are the footings, the foundation for the eighth of eight stations along the Langley Suri Sky Train project.

[00:12:11]>> The premier marking a construction milestone Friday at the future Willowbrook Station in Langley.

[00:12:17]>> Those eight stations are going to be beautiful. They're going to serve generations of people south of the Fraser. Construction is now underway at all of the new stations along the expo line. The project will extend Sky Train 16 kilometers into the Fraser Valley with riders from downtown Vancouver able to get to Langley City Center in just over an hour. Transit advocates say there is a dire need for more service. I think these big shiny projects like the sky train to Langley get a lot of the attention when the boring old bus network still moves the majority of people in Metro Vancouver, especially south of the Fraser and it needs help.

[00:12:55]>> The transportation minister acknowledging the area is one of the fastest growing in the region and the need for more planning.

[00:13:01]>> It's one of the reasons why you're seeing the significant investment in terms of highway one uh going out um in four phases. At the same time, we have been looking at terms of in terms of how we could take commuter rail uh west coast express from where it stands at in in mission uh across the river.

[00:13:18]>> In the meantime, the next phase of the sky train extension is now starting with track work, including the installation of rail underway. The $6 billion project is expected to be complete in the fall of 2029. Amelia John, CBC News, Vancouver.

[00:13:35]He's credited with saving thousands of Jewish lives at the height of the Holocaust. And yet, very few people know that this hero called Vancouver home.

[00:13:44]The city declared a day in his honor this past April. William Burr reports.

[00:13:50]>> In April 1944, 19-year-old Rudolph Verba accomplished what seemed impossible.

[00:13:56]With his friend Alfred Vetsler, he escaped from Oshvitz, a rarely accomplished feat. The two men then wrote a detailed report of the horrors they witnessed at the Nazi concentration camp where more than a million Jews were exterminated.

[00:14:12]A report that landed on the desks of Winston Churchill and Franklin D.

[00:14:16]Roosevelt and that forced Hungary to halt the deportation of its Jewish population, saving, according to several historians between 100 and 200,000 lives.

[00:14:29]After the war, Rudolph Verba became a professor of pharmarmacology at the University of British Columbia. But his name is little known in Vancouver where he lived for more than 30 years.

[00:14:40]>> The city of Vancouver should have something somewhere that recognizes easily one of the greatest whistleblowers of the 20th century.

[00:14:50]>> And now it does, or it did. The city quietly proclaimed April 7th, 2026 as Rudolph Verba Day. There's hopes that next year the day might be repeated, but also a desire that this hero should be given much more.

[00:15:06]>> In Vancouver, I think there should be some form of uh a monument.

[00:15:12]>> How do we remember our heroes? That's a good question. Um, a monument would be nice, a street, a square.

[00:15:19]>> Friends of Rudolph Verba recently worked with a synagogue and the Vancouver Holocaust Education Center to create a monument in his honor in a Jewish cemetery. History is ahead of us. This is just a beginning. The impact is so major. We predict, we believe that many generations from now on should know and will know.

[00:15:40]>> One of the reasons Rudolph Verba remains so little known worldwide, according to this writer, is that he was extremely critical of the Jewish authorities who did not do more to warn Jews during the war. This made him unpopular, especially in Israel. And that's why Rudolph Verbber is such a controversial figure because he wouldn't be quiet and he said, "Look, I wrote the report. You guys have the report. You didn't tell them."

[00:16:04]>> Now, 20 years after his death, Verba's friends remember his resiliency and his humanity. This was the peculiar the firm smile on his face almost ironfaced type of smile which intensified as he spoke about the most severe stories.

[00:16:23]>> You heard the approaching queue of the search docks and >> and they hope that the courage of a young man who saved thousands of lives will never be forgotten in Vancouver.

[00:16:35]William Burr, CBC News, Vancouver.

[00:16:39]UBC and SFU say its students personal information could be part of a worldwide cyber attack. The schools say hackers may have gotten the information through the Canvas learning platform. The software is used to track grades, access course material, submit assignments, and participate in discussions. One computer science professor says anyone affected by the cyber breach should be cautious of fishing emails. be very very very vigilant that any emails you receive following uh this kind of breach that you're checking to make sure that those actually come from the institution because it's not uncommon for attackers to pretend that they're trying to fix the breach and to get more information that way.

[00:17:19]>> UBC has told students and faculty to not log into Canva until further notice.

[00:17:24]Campa hasn't yet responded to a request for comment and Premier David Eie says he and his team are at the negotiating table with the BC nurses union ahead of a planned strike vote.

[00:17:36]>> I'm uh pleased to note uh that we have recently reached an agreement with the doctors of British Columbia. Uh and I am sure that we will be able to reach agreement with the nurses on crucial issues uh that they are bringing to the table including uh uh conditions of work and uh and compensation appropriate benefits and so on. More than 50,000 BC nurses union members have begun voting on potential strike action. The BCNU says talks with their employers are at an impass. The union is asking for better benefits and wage increases.

[00:18:08]The river forecast center has released its May snow survey. It reveals precipitation totals below normal across most of the province and warns of a coming drought. As of May 1st, the provincial mountain snow pack is at 83% of normal. That's a decrease from 92% of normal on April 1st. Approximately 28% of the total measured snowpack has melted. On average, 6% of the annual BC snowpack is melted by this date. The south coast and southern interior have been identified as particularly dry.

[00:18:42]And Wesla English joins me now with a first look at the weather. Wesa, what are you watching? Thanks, Michelle. I was keeping an eye on the clouds around the south coast this morning, but then we start to see things clear out a little bit and that is a sign of things to come. So, we still currently have a low that is over the Pacific that is directing clouds into BC, but a ridge high pressure is going to build over uh many parts of British Columbia this weekend. And as a result, we are going to see a mix of sun and cloud return to the south coast on Saturday. Our overnight lows, let's take a look at uh what we can expect in detail over the next day or so. Overnight lows around 10 degrees tonight. As we get into Saturday, a mix of sun and cloud. We will see a temperature range though for Saturday and even Sunday as well. A little bit cooler by the water.

[00:19:28]Expecting upper teens for a high tomorrow by the water. Inland sections including the Fraser Valley. I am expecting highs in the low 20s. So go ahead, make those picnic plans. It's going to be a pleasant weekend ahead around the south coast. Michelle, >> thanks Wesa.

[00:19:45]Coming up, 135 years old and going strong, the Cloverdale Rodeo returns to Suriri for the May long weekend. We catch up with the folks behind the fair after the break.

[00:23:37]A blessing ceremony was held earlier today at the Sakwa development to mark the completion of the site's first tower.

[00:23:45]>> We always prepare by talking about the next seven generations. You know, what does that look like? So when we look in today's context of what that is, especially being back in our village and from being out of sight and out of mind for over 100 years, we are back home.

[00:24:03]>> The ceremony led by Squamish knowledge holders signified a return to the ancestral village site of the Squamish nation. The Talnup Tower, known in English as real home, is located near the Vancouver side of the Bard Street Bridge. SWA is expected to welcome its first residents in early June.

[00:24:23]A great horned owl rescued from a trap 26 years ago has fostered over 500 babies while in care. Her name is Casper and according to volunteers looking after her, she's a great mother teaching the Owlets how to catch and kill prey.

[00:24:40]Michelle Gomez has the story.

[00:24:42]>> So, a couple of them have their toughs up. Nothing comes between Casper and her foster fledglings.

[00:24:48]>> We've had her for 26 years. She's fostered probably, you know, 500 babies plus uh over her lifetime.

[00:24:55]>> She shows them important skills like flying, catching prey, and fearing humans.

[00:25:00]>> She's got a little edge to her. Let's say that.

[00:25:02]>> That's awesome.

[00:25:03]>> Skills that will be crucial when they're released.

[00:25:06]>> They look up to her. They follow her.

[00:25:08]They, you know, mimic her. And that's what we want. so that when those babies are in the wild, we know that they've got a good chance of survival.

[00:25:14]>> But let's get these babies rolling through.

[00:25:17]>> She was brought to the rehabilitation society in 1999 after being caught in a trap. With missing talents, Hope says she would not do well hunting in the wild, but she has other talents.

[00:25:30]>> The youngest one we had was just over a week old, and uh literally within 5 minutes, she started feeding him. Um, she gave him three whole mice and then she tried to give him a fourth, but he wouldn't eat it.

[00:25:40]>> This is the one time you're going to fully let go of the leg. So, yeah, you can just fully let go.

[00:25:44]>> She's currently fostering four fledglings, all rescued from different situations, but around the same age.

[00:25:52]>> Okay, good. We're putting on weight here.

[00:25:55]>> Well, good job.

[00:25:56]>> The Owlette still have a few more weeks to go, but as long as Casper has them under her wing, they're going to be owight. Michelle Gomez, CBC News Delta.

[00:26:07]>> One of BC's biggest country events returns to Suriri next weekend. Our Sorb Sandu caught up with the organizers of the Cloverdale Rodeo and Country Fair who say the festival is growing.

[00:26:18]>> Kathy Shepard and Rick Hugh are finalizing preparations for the Cloverdale Rodeo, which they say will have more attractions and will run longer this year.

[00:26:28]>> If we get good weather, we're going to kill it.

[00:26:31]>> My god, you're awesome. For the first time since 2008, the Cloverdale Rodeo and Country Fair is kicking off with a feature concert.

[00:26:39]>> We've brought back the country concert and we've got Brett Kell and Cooper Allen hosting.

[00:26:45]>> Also new this year, a rodeo drone show and activities including a rock climbing wall, biker style bar, and food trucks.

[00:26:53]>> With your cost of admission, most things are free. So you can come for the entire day and see all of our new attractions and spend the evening and there's something for everybody.

[00:27:04]>> Organizers are also leaning into the agricultural side of the fair. We're really excited about enlisting the support of some of the local farms to give families and kids an opportunity to get their hands in the dirt to go home with something that they can actually plant. Last year, Shepard says the May long weekend fair saw 65,000 attendees.

[00:27:27]This year, she expects the event to surpass those numbers.

[00:27:31]>> We're finding that our urban community is wanting a bit more. They're becoming a bit more cowboy curious and they're wanting to see what Cloverdale Rodeo is all about.

[00:27:40]>> Emily Fletcher manages a local pub. She says the event has had a positive impact on business.

[00:27:47]>> We get to see many different things going on. And I think the big one is uh the traffic that we see. So guests coming after the rodeo festivities in for late night. Uh guests coming in before the rodeo activities for brunch.

[00:28:00]>> The exhibition now in its 78th edition is one of the biggest rodeo events in BC which features international rodeo athletes from several countries. Sabandu CBC News. Siri.

[00:28:15]>> An overcast day in Nelson today. A mixed bag in the forecast for the CNEY. Wesley English has your full forecast coming up.

[00:32:03]Hi, I'm Amy Bell and this is your CBC inbox.

[00:32:07]CBC returns as the exclusive media partner of the Doca Documentary Film Festival now until May 10th. Join us for an exceptional selection of films designed to spark curiosity. Festival tickets at doca festival.ca CA and catch a special live edition of On the Island with Gregor Craigy broadcasting from the Spirit of Vancouver Island Ferry on May 15th. Tune in on CBC Radio 1 or join us on board.

[00:32:37]>> Wesley English joins us now for a look at the full provincial forecast. Uh Wesla, what are you tracking?

[00:32:43]>> Thanks, Michelle. We did see a lot more cloud across many parts of British Columbia today. I even had to bring out my long sleeve sweater again today. It was a little bit chilly here in the Okonogan Valley compared to yesterday.

[00:32:54]Now, what we can expect is clearing again for almost all areas across BC with the exception of one region. So, I'll get into that in just a second.

[00:33:03]Let's take a look at your satellite and radar. And we are going to see uh a few showers here and there overnight, but then those showers will taper off and then almost all areas will see dry conditions tomorrow with the exception of the north coast. This is what you can expect precipitation wise. Again, you can see that push from the southwest and it is going to hit the north coast uh with prolonged rain tonight and into tomorrow for areas like Prince Roert, Haidaguay, uh even parts of the central coast will see some rain over the next 24 hours. This is what you can uh expect for tonight. Temperatures down to six degrees in Prince George, six on the board as well for Williams Lake. For tomorrow, the northern half of British Columbia, blue sky will return to Quinnel. Highs near 21 degrees. It will also clear out in Port St. John in the Peace. Highs in the low 20s there.

[00:33:55]Here's a look at the southern half of British Columbia. A sunny Saturday ahead in the in the Thompson region. Mid 20s for a high in Cam Loops. Also seeing mid 20s in the Rebel Stoke area. East Coupney area looking for highs of 21 degrees in Cranbrook. A pleasant day tomorrow in our province's capital Victoria. 15 degrees by the water and 19° inland. Here's a look at the next five days across Metro Vancouver. Mainly cloudy tonight. Chance of uh uh we will see again the chance of showers diminishing overnight and then tomorrow we will see a mix of sun and cloud. In fact, over the next several days, Michelle, we will see sun, clouds, and that temperature range once again. We will see uh highs in the upper teens for areas by the water and then even a few degrees warmer inland. Thanks, Wesla, and thanks for joining us on CBC Vancouver News. Have a great night.