Keen voters in British Columbia's provincial election can start casting ballots at hundreds of advance voting locations today. Elections BC says there are 343 advance voting places, although not all will open every day for the two advance voting periods, which run from today until Oct. 13, then on Oct. 15 and 16. Polls suggest a tight race between David Eby's NDP and John Rustad's B.C. Conservatives, and advance voting has played an increasing role in previous elections. Numbers provided by Elections BC show that 35 per cent of ballots cast in the 2020 pandemic election came from advance votin

Political leaders are condemning what they describe as "hateful rhetoric" from a speaker at a pro-Palestinian rally in Vancouver who told the crowd that "we are Hezbollah and we are Hamas." Both groups are listed by Public Safety Canada as terrorist entities. In videos circulated online, the unidentified masked woman led a crowd of hundreds at the Vancouver Art Gallery Monday night in chants of "death to Canada, death to the United States and death to Israel," while some in the group burned Canadian flags. The protest was organized by the pro-Palestinian group Samidoun and held on the annivers

A man from Vancouver Island is facing a criminal charge in connection to a fatal hit-and-run that killed a teenager earlier this year. The North Cowichan-Duncan RCMP says a 28-year-old man from the Cowichan Valley is accused of failing to stop at the scene of an accident causing death. Police were called to the crash site on April 18 along the Trans-Canada Highway in Duncan where they found a 17-year-old girl dead but no suspect vehicle. RCMP say their investigation was long and complex. The Crown prosecution service has approved the charge against the man. The man is due to appear in court on

A U.S. District Court judge in Montana has sentenced a 27-year-old man from Kelowna, B.C., to 18 months in prison for using fake names to buy guns with the aim of selling them in Canada. A statement from the United States Attorney's Office in Montana says Haptei John Kozak pleaded guilty earlier this year to four counts of making false statements during a firearms transaction. Judge Donald Molloy also imposed a $10,000 fine and three years of supervised release, along with ordering that Kozak forfeit 12 firearms. U.S. attorney Jesse Laslovich says in the statement that black-market firearm smu

Canadian border officers in British Columbia made 60 seizures of methamphetamine destined for export to Australia between March and August. The Canadian Border Services Agency says the seizures totalled nearly 400 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine and close to 1,300 litres of a liquid form of the drug. The agency says the liquid was seized in June in a single-day operation at the Fraser Surrey Dock, southeast of Vancouver. The crystal meth was found in separate seizures at the Tsawwassen container examination facility, the international mail centre and international cargo operations, and at

Leaders from the three main political parties in B-C are set to square off today in the only televised debate before election day. The three candidates also took part in a radio debate last week,which saw them joust over affordability, health care and the opioid crisis, while trying to undermine each other's credibility to form the next provincial government. Tonight's T-V debate, which will take place from 6:30 to 8 P-M, comes about a week-and-a-half ahead of Election Day on October 19th. Advance voting goes from October 10th to 13th and October 15th to16th.

British Columbia's Conservative leader says comparing the Nuremberg trials or Nazi Germany to public health measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic is unacceptable and "deeply disrespectful to the memory of those who suffered" in the Holocaust. That's after video surfaced of Rustad saying his party would "certainly be participating with other jurisdictions" after being asked at an online meeting in July about where he stood on "Nuremberg 2.0," which is the idea that people behind public health measures during the pandemic should be put on trial. Rustad now says he wants to "clarify" his comm

A 33-year-old man died after a pickup truck crashed into a bus stop bench in Surrey, B.C., where two people were waiting for a bus. Surrey RCMP say officers responded to the scene on Saturday afternoon after receiving a report of a motor vehicle collision. Police say the Ford F350 hit the bus stop bench after crossing into oncoming traffic, and the crash left two pedestrians injured and caused damage to the surrounding property. A 33-year-old man was declared dead at the scene while another man in his 30s was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries. The driver was arrested at the scene a

Police in British Columbia say one person is dead and four others are injured following a serious single-vehicle rollover near Merritt. RCMP were called to the scene at around 3:50 p.m. Saturday after receiving a report of a serious vehicle incident on Highway 5 north of Juliet Road. Police say a four-door sedan which was carrying five people went off the road at high speed, eventually rolling before coming to a stop. Four people were taken to hospital while one person was declared dead at the scene despite life-saving efforts from first responders. Drive BC indicates the crash closed Highway