Experts have described Premier David Eby's 10-day Asia tour starting June 1 as very important. Kristen Hopewell, professor and director of the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of BC, said that due to our geographical location, it has been much easier for our BC and Canadian companies to trade with the US compared to the Asian market, and about 50 per cent of our trade has been going to the US, which is our biggest weakness at the moment. She said that with Eby's Asia trade mission, we hope to get access to other markets, which will allow the province to reduce its dependenc

A wildfire in northeastern British Columbia that prompted an evacuation order on Thursday has quadrupled in size. The BC Wildfire Service is reporting that the blaze in the Peace River Regional District near the community of Kelly Lake is now about 46 square kilometres in size, up from 11 square kilometres Thursday afternoon. The out-of-control fire was burning close to the Pembina Steeprock gas processing facility and Highway 52 E, also known as the Heritage Highway. The Peace River Regional District issued the evacuation order for homes around Kelly Lake and areas north of Campbell Lake, wes

Statistics Canada says the economy outperformed expectations in the first quarter of the year as businesses raced to get ahead of looming tariffs from the United States. The agency says real gross domestic product grew at an annualized pace of 2.2 per cent in the first quarter, a tenth of a point higher than the previous quarter.That topped StatCan's own early estimate of 1.5 per cent growth and a Reuters poll of economists calling for a gain of 1.7 per cent. The agency says goods exporters were propelling the Canadian economy forward in the first quarter. Statistics Canada points to businesse

Durham Regional Police say a 14-year-old boy has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder after an elderly woman was fatally stabbed outside her home in Pickering, Ont., yesterday afternoon. Police say it happened just after 3 p.m. on Lynn Heights Drive, where the suspect allegedly stabbed the woman in what they call a ``sadistic and cowardly unprovoked attack.'' Police initially said the suspect was 13 when they announced his arrest.They have not released the name of the victim, but organizers of a vigil set to take place in the neighbourhood tonight have named her as Elenor in soc

Sikh organizations are calling on Ottawa to break with a five-year tradition by not inviting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 summit. Canada is hosting the G7 leaders' summit next month in Kananaskis, Alta. with the leaders from those nations expected to attend — France, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, along with the president of the European Commission. But Ottawa has been tight-lipped on which leaders it has invited outside that core group of like-minded liberal democracies. The South African high commission told The Canadian Press Canada invited Pres

An Alberta woman who Crown prosecutors say was wrongfully released from an Edmonton area jail with allegedly fake release papers has been arrested in B.C. RCMP say Mackenzie Dawn Hardy was taken into custody this week by officers in Revelstoke, along with a 27-year-old man accused of being an accomplice in her release. David Joseph Wood has been charged with assisting in the escape of a prisoner, identity fraud and uttering a forged document. Both Hardy and Wood will be brought back to Alberta, where they are to appear in court at later dates. Crown prosecutors have said Hardy wa

Former British Columbia minister Melanie Mark is accusing Premier David Eby and his cabinet of "turning their backs" on First Nations, local governments and environmentalists by passing controversial bills to fast-track infrastructure projects. Mark, the first First Nations woman elected to B.C.'s legislature and a former cabinet colleague of Eby, says it's "astounding and disheartening" behaviour by the government. Both bills passed in the legislature Wednesday night, with Bill 15 that fast-tracks public and private infrastructure projects getting through thanks to a rare tiebreaking vote by

Police are issuing a plea for information nearly six years after a British Columbia notary public was found dead in his office in what investigators say was a targeted homicide. The Society of Notaries Public of B.C. is also offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and charging of those responsible for the killing of Stephen Chong in Richmond, B.C., on Oct. 18, 2019. Sgt. Freda Fong with the province's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says Chong had no criminal record and investigators believe his death was an isolated incident. Fong says investigators are still

The Edmonton Oilers have the opportunity to close out the Western Conference final and head to a Stanley CupFinal rematch. Edmonton takes a 3-1 series lead into Game 5 at Dallas on Thursday night. Edmonton has won three games in a row while holding the Stars to only two goals. Defending Stanley Cupchampion Florida is awaiting the West winner after closing out the East final with a 5-3 win at Carolina in Game 5 on Wednesday night. The Panthers beat Edmonton in a seven-game Stanley Cup Final last June. That was after the Oilers beat Dallas in a six-game West final.