The lawyer for a man accused in a shooting that left four people dead in Penticton, B.C., says his client plans to plead guilty next week. John Brittain was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder after the shooting in April last year. Rudi Winter, Barry and Susan Wonch and Darlene Knippelberg were all killed. Defence lawyer Paul McMurray told a B.C. Supreme Court judge hearing the case in Kelowna that he's expecting Brittain to plead guilty to all four indictments in court on Oct. 14. Brittain was a former city employee whom Penticton Mayor John

Elections BC has wrapped up an investigation into allegations of corrupt voting by a Liberal candidate, saying it found no evidence to shore up the claims.A probe was launched earlier this week after a complaint from the NDP saying the campaign for Liberal candidate Garry Thind was gathering personal information to illegally request vote-by-mail packages.It's illegal to obtain a ballot on behalf of another voter.A statement from Elections BC says it found no evidence of improper vote-by-mail package requests.It says the complaint against Thind, the candidate in district of Surrey-Fleetwood, h

An election promise by British Columbia Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson to intervene in the city of Surrey's transition away from the RCMP is drawing fire. Wilkinson has promised an elected Liberal government would freeze the transition to the independent police force and hold a referendum to put the final choice in the hands of Surrey residents. Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum was elected on the promise of changing the police force and says in a statement he's appalled the Liberal leader would stoop to this level of desperation to garner votes. McCallum says the B.C. Liberals decision to interfer

British Columbia announced 161 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday and three additional deaths related to the virus. In a statement, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and deputy health minister Stephen Brown say there are 1,302 active cases in the province. 63 people were being treated in hospital, with 16 of them in intensive care. The province has had a total of 9,381 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began and the number of people who have died stood at 238. The statement says there were 3,114 people being monitored because they have been exposed to a known case. On Thursday, Henry

An outbreak of COVID-19 has been declared at Surrey Memorial Hospital. Fraser Health issued a statement this morning saying there is evidence of transmission in a medicine unit at the hospital. It says one patient and one staff member have tested positive for the new coronavirus but the outbreak is limited to a single unit, which has been temporarily closed to admissions. The hospital has implemented enhanced infection prevention and control measures, including additional cleaning, and is also using contact tracing to halt any further spread of the virus by those who may not be showing sympto

New Democrat Leader John Horgan was in Squamish at Carbon Engineering (BC-based clean energy company) today to announce a plan to commit BC to net-zero carbon emissions in 30 years if his government is re-elected on October 24th. "The unprecedented challenges we face today, from the economic shock of a global pandemic to the threat of a changing climate, also present opportunities," said Horgan. "As a leader in clean energy, British Columbia is uniquely placed to seize these opportunities. Meeting this ambitious target of net-zero emissions will help us create good jobs through the recovery wh

The real estate market in Vancouver had its best September on record this year in terms of the number of homes sold. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says 3,643 were sold in September this year, up 56.2 per cent from the 2,333 sold in September 2019. Sales were also up 19.6 per cent from the 3,047 homes sold in August. The MLS home price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties hit $1,041,300 in September, up 5.8 per cent from September 2019. Real estate board chairwoman Colette Gerber says that while a wave of homes hit the market last month, it was not enough

Police say a man has been killed and another wounded in what appears to be a targeted shooting in North Vancouver. Sergeant Frank Jang of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the two men were sitting in a vehicle outside a duplex when they were shot late last night. Jang says neither man lived in the duplex and police don't know why the men were at that location. He is asking the public for any information that may help their investigation.

Two people in Metro Vancouver are accused of colluding with foreign nationals to make fraudulent claims for refugee protection in Canada. The Canada Border Services Agency says Roger Bhatti of Delta and Sofiane Dahak of Vancouver face more than two dozen charges, including forgery, counselling misrepresentation of facts and use of forged documents. The agency alleges the offences involved people originating from Central Europe and took place between 2002 and 2014.It says in a news release that Bhatti, who is 61, practised as a lawyer and Dahak, who is 52, was an interpreter when the alleged of