British Columbia Finance Minister Brenda Bailey says there is some back-channel work going on around the escalating dispute between the government and striking public-sector workers, although she has no date for new talks. Bailey's comments come as members of the B.C. General Employees' Union put up pickets in front of more than two dozen liquor stores and at liquor and cannabis distribution warehouses this week. The union says about 14,000 of the 34,000 workers it represents in this contract are now taking some kind of job action, from pickets to an overtime ban, in an effort to force the gov

Someone in British Columbia has won a $31-million jackpot in the latest Lotto Max draw in the province. The B.C. Lottery Corporation says in a statement that a ticket sold online matched all seven winning numbers of the draw on Tuesday. It says the odds of winning the jackpot on a single $5 ticket is 1-in-33-million. The win comes after a Surrey, B.C., man won a record $80 million prize in May. At the time, the lottery corporation described it as the biggest jackpot ever awarded to a single person in Canada. The corporation says lotto players in B.C. have won more than $196 million from Lotto

A gangland killer who escaped from a British Columbia jail in 2022 has been captured in Qatar. Police say Rabih Alkhalil is in custody, three years after he escaped from the North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlam, B.C. At the time, Alkhalil had been on trial for the 2012 shooting death of a rival gang member in a busy Vancouver restaurant. He was later convicted in absentia for first-degree murder. He was previously convicted in 2017 for the murder of a man at a Toronto coffee shop. Authorities in Canada say they're working with Interpol and other agencies to bring Alkhalil back to Can

Emily Lowan, a 25-year-old climate activist, is the new leader of the British Columbia Green Party. Lowan won on the first ballot with 3,189 votes, ahead of second-place Jonathan Kerr with 1,908 votes, while Adam Bremner-Akins finished third with 128 votes. She doesn't have a seat in the legislature but says she plans to run in the next ``viable'' byelection or in the next general election. Lowan says the Greens will become a ``force of nature'' and promises that it will be a ``bold and critical'' opposition party. She says her decisive mandate is a ``clear message'' that the party nee

Striking public service workers in British Columbia have expanded their picket lines to 25 Liquor Distribution Branch retail stores in the latest escalation of job action. The B.C. General Employees’ Union says more than 600 workers at the liquor stores have walked of the job across the province in an effort to push the government back to the negotiating table. The union says the store locations were chosen because they are a "significant source of government revenue."

Burnaby RCMP’s Strike Force Unit investigated a series of residential break and enters that occurred between September 2023 and June 2024. After an extensive investigation, on May 21, 2025, the BC Prosecution Service approved 18 charges against Shane Conrad Takakenew. On August 27, 2025, Burnaby RCMP’s Strike Force Unit arrested Takakenew on 14 warrants. Takakenew now faces the following charges: 7 counts of break and enter9 counts of possession of stolen property2 counts of breaching a release orderAs a result of the investigation, 34-year-old Burnaby resident Fabiola Diaz is also fac

The Supreme Court of Canada has granted a last-minute stay over the destruction of a flock of ostriches until the court mulls an application for leave to appeal. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has been on the farm in northeastern B.C. for days preparing for the cull of nearly 400 birds. The high court's document, supplied by the farm's lawyer Umar Sheikh, says the order stays the enforcement of the CFIA's ``stamping-out policy'' until the application for leave to appeal is dismissed or, if leave to appeal is granted, until the case is disposed of. The news came on the farm

A coordinated investigation led by the RCMP Federal Policing – Pacific Region (FPPR) Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET) with the assistance of partner law enforcement agencies, has resulted in the dismantling of a clandestine drug lab and the seizure of illicit drugs and a firearm. On September 17, 2025, IBET officers with assistance from the Island District Emergency Response Team (ERT), Victoria Police Department’s Strike Force Unit, Sooke RCMP and the FPPR Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement and Response (CLEAR) team executed a search warrant at a property in the 3800 area of T

Four new buildings in B.C. are each receiving $500,000 — totalling $2 million — to demonstrate and showcase the benefits of mass-timber construction. “Mass timber represents a transformative, locally sourced solution that’s generating significant employment opportunities, spurring cutting-edge innovation, and revitalizing rural economies across British Columbia,” said Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs and Economic Growth. “Through our continued strategic investments in projects throughout the province, we’re positioning B.C. as a leader in mass-timber construction, while building the