Victoria police officers are investigating after a suspicious incident near a school yesterday afternoon. Police say shortly after 12 pm, they were called to the area of SJ Willis School for a report of a man holding what appeared to be a firearm in Topaz Park. Officers contained the area surrounding SJ Willis School and nearby Quadra Elementary School and both schools were placed in lockdown. Police say they searched the area for over an hour and did not find a man similar in description to the suspect. Officers are continuing to investigate the incident but do not believe there is a risk to

The Opposition Liberals say rebates promised to BC drivers due to the decline in crashes during the COVID-19 pandemic fall short of those in other jurisdictions. Premier John Horgan announced yesterday that rebates will average about 190 dollars each. Liberal critic Mike Morris says other insurers in Canada gave rebates averaging 280 dollars. Morris says the rebates are welcome news for drivers, but it should have happened months ago and it's confusing why it will take another six weeks to deliver. Horgan says ICBC will return 600 million dollars in net savings to about three million drivers

The RCMP Dive Team has found a body in the North Thompson River in Kamloops, after a days-long search. Constable Crystal Evelyn says the discovery came five days after witnesses reported seeing a man trying to swim across the river before disappearing. She says the body matched the description of the man who went missing. The man was found in shallow water near the area he was last observed. The missing person was described as Caucasian, slender, and likely in his 30s, but the identity of the body found has not been provided at this point.

The Centre has issued a notice to Twitter to comply with its order to remove contents/accounts related to "farmer genocide". Twitter may face penal action for not complying with government orders, according to the sources. Content with the 'ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide' hashtag was posted on Twitter which was designed to inflame passions and hatred and is factually incorrect, according to the sources. Twitter had unilaterally unblocked accounts/tweets despite the government order for blocking. Twitter is an intermediary and it is obliged to obey the direction of the government, refusal to do s

A longtime labour and human rights leader in British Columbia has died. The family of Charan Gill say he died in hospital on Feb. 2, following a battle with cancer. Gill was 84. Born in Hong Kong and raised in India, Gill moved to Canada in 1967, settling in Surrey, where he co-founded the Canadian Farmworkers Union and the British Columbia Organization to Fight Racism. The farm workers union led to improved pay, benefits and working conditions for farm and ranch workers across Canada while the organization to fight racism was instrumental in stemming the growth of racist groups in B.C. Gill

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says "rare exceptions" to new travel restrictions will be made on compassionate grounds, but that more contagious COVID-19 variants now taking hold in Canada mean tough rules must be implemented in the next few weeks.Trudeau announced last week that passengers returning from abroad will have to quarantine at a hotel for up to three days after taking a PCR test at the airport, but no date has been set for when this will take effect.The move is one of several measures meant to choke off entry of the virus into Canada, but comes after case numbers of more transmissib

British Columbia health officials say there's an encouraging trend in the COVID-19 curve in the province with the efforts of residents making a difference. It comes as the state of emergency was extended again in B.C. on Tuesday, allowing officials to use its extraordinary powers to respond to the pandemic. In a joint statement, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix reported 429 new cases and eight deaths, bringing to 1,218 the number of fatalities liked to COVID-19. The statement says with people in B.C. following the restrictions, the COVID-19 spread is s

After international pop star Rihanna showed her support to the protests, many international personalities have come forward in support of on going farmers protests in Delhi. Rihanna extended her support to farmers protesting on the borders of India's capital against the three agriculture laws introduced by the Central government last year and asked why people were not talking about it. The 32 year old pop star shared a news story by CNN on the internet shutdown in several districts of Haryana, New Delhi's neighbouring state. "Why aren't we talking about this?!", wrote Rihanna, as she added t

A man convicted of second-degree murder and interfering with a body in the death of a Japanese student in Vancouver will receive a new trial. The British Columbia Court of Appeal ruled in a split decision Tuesday to allow an appeal filed by William Schneider, who was convicted of killing 30 year old Natsumi Kogawa. Schneider pleaded guilty to interfering with her body, admitting that he disposed of her remains in the city's West End in 2016, but denying that he killed her. He was convicted on both counts following a jury trial and filed an appeal, arguing the judge erred in admitting an overhe