Harry Bains, Minister of Labour, has appointed Amanda Rogers and Vince Ready as special mediators in the eight-month collective bargaining dispute between Western Forest Products and the United Steelworkers Local 1-1937."This dispute has taken a huge toll on workers and their families as well as the entire coastal forestry community.We want to see everyone get back on the job," Bains said."As Minister of Labour, I have decided to appoint special mediators Ready and Rogers with additional powers under the Labour Relations Code to help the parties reach an agreement as soon as possible."The par

A lawyer for Uber says the position of a British Columbia mayor opposed to ride-hailing is "unintelligible" considering drivers are being denied business licences and are then being fined $500 daily for operating without a licence.Michael Feder is asking a B.C. Supreme Court judge to issue an injunction prohibiting the City of Surrey from fining both drivers and the company, saying he has been receiving tickets from bylaw officers at his office.Feder told the court that Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum is "disingenuous" for saying he supports ride-hailing while maintaining he will neverallow the se

Two people have been killed in a crash along Highway 5 north of Kamloops, B.C. Police say both occupants of a passenger vehicle died in a head-on collision with a transport truck on Wednesday. RCMP Traffic Services Cpl. Mike Halskov says the investigation into the cause of the crash is in its early stages but recent snow and road conditions are being considered as possible contributing factors. Halskov says Highway 5 remains closed in both directions as the investigation continues and drivers can monitor the DriveBC website for updates. Mounties are reminding people that road and weather cond

Talks that were meant to de-escalate a dispute over a natural gas pipeline in northern British Columbia have ended early, with one hereditary chief saying he fears RCMP enforcement of an injunction is imminent. The talks are between the provincial government and the hereditary chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en nation. Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser says the meetings were respectful but he couldn't tell the chiefs that the BC government would pull the approvals it gave to the project.

RCMP confirm the body of a third man has been pulled from a river on southern Vancouver Island, west of Victoria. A statement from Staff Sgt. Brett Sinden says the body was recovered Tuesday afternoon along the banks of the Sooke River. Sinden says criminality is not suspected.Three 20-year-old men, identified by police last week as Cory Mills, Eric Blackmore and AJ Jensen, set out Friday night from a home in the community of Sooke during a torrential rainstorm that led to flood warnings and watches over several parts of Vancouver Island.The truck carrying the trio was found battered and empt

Visitors who were helicoptered out of a Fraser Valley-area ski resort over the weekend had the chance this morning to return to pick up abandoned items -- including their vehicles. The Sasquatch Mountain Resort near Mission was cut off Friday night when a mudslide swept away a section of the only road into the area.Crews had managed to build a single-lane route over the slide by yesterday freeing the remaining guests, staff and area residents who had not left by helicopter on Saturday or Sunday. A pilot-car led vehicles back up the mountain early this morning, providing an opportunity for own

There has been a new presumptive confirmed case of the novel coronavirus in British Columbia. B.C. health officials says the latest case is a woman in her 50s who lives in the Vancouver area. Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, says the woman had family visiting from Hubei province in China, which is at the centre of the outbreak in that country. She says the woman's family members are still in Canada and health officials are monitoring them. For the case to be confirmed, the results must also come back positive from tests done on samples at the National Microbiology Laborato

The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed the latest challenge of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion today. Four First Nations from British Columbia filed court challenges after the federal government approved the project a second time last June. A court hearing in December focused on the government's consultation with the First Nations between August 2018 and June 2019. The consultation took place after the Court of Appeal struck down the first project approval in August 2018 in part because of insufficient dialogue with Indigenous groups. At the hearing last month, the Tsleil-Waututh Nat

Surrey RCMP say the man charged in a 2017 shooting and two of his alleged associates are each facing 15 new charges. Abd'l Malik Loubissi-Morris was arrested in December and Tien Roy Mai Dang was arrested last Thursday. Police say an arrest warrant has been issued for a third man, Noah Didhra, who is described as South Asian, 21 years old, five-foot-ten and 230 pounds. Mounties say the investigation had expanded to include Vernon, and Kelowna, where a search turned up about $177,000 , 6 fire arms, and significant quantities of fentanyl, heroin and other drugs.