Almost eight months after a strike halted Western Forest Products operations across Vancouver Island, workers at the Duke Point sawmill near Nanaimo are preparing to head back to the job. The union representing workers at the sawmill confirms employees have been recalled and have been taking part in safety training, prior to startup at the mill -- which is set for Monday. Western Forest Products and the United Steelworkers Union reached a deal earlier this month resolving the job action that began last July 1st. Steelworkers Local president Brian Butler says the company still hasn't announced

Police in Vancouver are investigating after a float plane was badly damaged in what appears to have been a botched theft. Const. Tanya Visintin says officers were called to the city's waterfront about 3:30 a.m. after a report of a plane.She says a man had begun moving the Harbour Air float plane, but crashed it into a second aircraft.Visintin doesn't say if the first plane ever got into the air, but she says its wing was torn off in the collision. No one was injured and no arrests have been made.Visintin says police are looking for a suspect.

Another case of the coronavirus has been diagnosed in British Columbia. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says a woman in her 30s has been diagnosed with COVID-19 after returning from Iran. Henry says the woman's case is relatively mild and a number of her close contacts have already been put in isolation. This brings the number of cases of COVID-19 in B.C. to six. Henry said earlier this week that four of the five people already diagnosed with the virus were symptom free. The fifth person, a woman in her 30s who returned from Shanghai, China, is in isolation at her home in B.C.'s In

The Independent Investigations Office has cleared officers in the RCMP's University of B.C. detachment of any wrongdoing in the death of a UBC student two weeks ago. The student had been arrested early in the morning on February 5th and was briefly held at the UBC detachment but was released about 2:30 a.m. and taken back to his residence on campus. Just hours later a security guard found the unnamed student dead under the Lions Gate Bridge. The office, which examines all incidents of police involved death or serious injury in B.C., says the student's death was not the result of RCMP action o

A man with mobility challenges has died after being trapped in his burning home in Vancouver. Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services says in a statement that the fire broke out Sunday evening in a home on the city's west side. Crews found the 55-year-old victim in the home as they arrived. He had been badly burned and was rushed to hospital but the statement says he did not survive. Investigators say the fire was caused by smoking materials. The man's death marks the first fatal fire in Vancouver in 2020.

B.C.'s medical health officer, Doctor Bonnie Henry, says the first person in the province who developed a case of the new coronavirus after returning from a trip to China earlier this year is now fully recovered and out of isolation. Five cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in this province since the outbreak began late last year in China and Henry says four of the five other sufferers are also likely to be declared free of the disease when tests are expected to come back negative later this week. She says B.C.'s most recent case a woman identified in the Interior Health region on Friday re

Hundreds of forestry workers staged a rally on the lawn of British Columbia's legislature Tuesday, reminding the government about how important the industry is to the economy and to the survival of rural communities. Many of the workers arrived in logging trucks and parked their rigs near the legislature, temporarily shutting down a busy thoroughfare. Among the crowd of about 500 people were many who carried placards saying, ``Forestry Feeds My Family.'' Forests Minister Doug Donaldson spoke to the crowd, saying he will take their message to the government. Port McNeill Mayor Gaby Wickstrom t

Budget 2020 moves British Columbia forward by building the infrastructure the growing province needs, supporting thousands of new jobs, strengthening investments in health and education and making life more affordable for everyone. "From new roads, hospitals, housing, schools and child care centres to better, more affordable services in every community, we're seeing fundamental changes that are making life better for British Columbians," said Carole James, Minister of Finance. "Together, we've made a lot of progress and we can't turn back. Budget 2020 keeps our province moving forward by foc

RCMP say a driver is in critical condition following a three vehicle crash in Surrey, B.C., that closed roads Sunday night. Mounties say in a news release that a grey pickup truck was heading south when it collided with a white van and a small privately owned bus. They say the man driving the pickup was taken to hospital in critical condition. The three occupants of the bus and five occupants of the van received either minor injuries or no injuries. None of those drivers or passengers went to hospital. The RCMP says impairment and speed have not been ruled out as contributing factors in the c