Forecasters are warning of swollen creeks and rivers as heavy rain sweeps over southern British Columbia.High streamflow advisories have been posted for all of Vancouver Island, the south coast and the southern Interior, warning that the possible rapid rise in rivers poses a risk to public safety.Environment Canada says a Pacific frontal system washed over Vancouver Island and the south coast over the weekend, bringing up to 90 millimetres to Haida Gwaii and more than 80 millimetres on Saturna Island.The River Forecast Centre says streams and rivers on Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, Fra

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's chief of staff, Katie Telford, will appear before a parliamentary committee on Friday.The Prime Minister's Office says Telford will testify at the procedure and House affairs committee on the issue of foreign interference in Canadian elections.The office says an exact time has not been scheduled.Telford agreed to meet with the committee last month, but not before the Liberals launched a filibuster that spanned several meetings in an attempt to keep her from appearing.At the time, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh had said his party would back a Conservative motion to cal

Montreal police say a 32-year-old man is facing a mischief charge after allegedly smashing his way into a downtown mosque early Sunday morning.Const. Véronique Dubuc says investigators don't believe the incident was a hate crime, adding that the suspect will appear in court at a later date.A national Muslim group posted surveillance videos to social media showing someone using a rock to break into the mosque and to smash into the prayer room.The video by the Canadian Muslim Forum also shows an altercation involving the perpetrator and a handful of worshippers at the Al-Omah Al-Islamiah mosque

WorkSafeBC is reminding employers of their obligation to prevent violence in the workplace and ensure the safety of their workers. Over the last five years, acts of violence have increased by 25 per cent in B.C., from 2,292 accepted claims in 2018 to 2,868 in 2022. WorkSafeBC regulations require that employers conduct a risk assessment, have policies and procedures in place to protect workers from the risk of violence, and to provide instruction to workers. Employers must identify potential hazards and implement measures to eliminate or minimize the risk of harm for workers who work alone or i

A handful of homeless people set up tents overnight along a stretch of Vancouver's Hastings Street that was cleared Wednesday in a co-ordinated effort by city officials and Vancouver police.Mayor Ken Sim ordered the long-standing encampment removed after the city's police and fire chiefs warned of escalating crime and an unacceptable fire risk.At the camp's peak, about 180 structures covered the sidewalk along the busy street.Now there are questions about where the displaced residents will go, and many have vowed to return to the only place they feel safe as soon as enforcement lifts.Vancouver

The federal government says today it is bringing home four Canadian women and 10 children from prison camps in northeastern Syria.The Canadians are among the many foreign nationals in Syrian camps run by Kurdish forces that reclaimed the war-torn region from the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.The long-anticipated flight to Canada had been expected to bring more people home.Lawyer Lawrence Greenspon reached an agreement with the federal government in January to repatriate six Canadian women and 13 children who had been part of a court action.Greenspon says today that two mothers

The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear a challenge of a British Columbia law intended to preserve public health care through measures against extra-billing and certain private insurance.Two Vancouver private health facilities and four patients argued that provisions of the Medicare Protection Act violate constitutional rights due to long waits for care in B.C.'s publicly funded system.They said this amounted to a breach of the patients' life, liberty and security of the person under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.Three years ago, the Supreme Court of British Columbia dismissed the const

Akwesasne Mohawk police say are suspending the organized search of local waterways for a man linked to the eight migrants whose bodies were pulled from the St. Lawrence River last week.Police say they believe they have exhausted search efforts on the water for 30-year-old Casey Oakes and are set to resume normal patrol operations, unless they receive "actionable intelligence".Oakes was last seen on the night of March 29 operating a boat found next to the bodies of two migrant families, one from Romania and the other from India.Police say the families were trying to cross into the United States

A former Liberal cabinet minister who has been sitting in British Columbia's legislature as an Independent is the new leader of the provincial Conservatives.John Rustad, the member of the legislature for Nechako Lakes, was acclaimed leader of the Conservative Party of B.C. as the only candidate who entered the race.Rustad, who is 60 years old, replaces former leader Trevor Bolin, who was serving as interim leader.Opposition Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon said he dumped Rustad from the party caucus last August for his public statements and social media posts suggesting climate change is not caused