B.C. Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau has announced an election policy to make all public transit in the province free. She says the policy, released ahead of the fall provincial vote, would relieve financial strain on families, create more livable communities and reduce carbon emissions. The proposal also calls for hourly services on key regional routes, a doubling of city buses within four years and a tripling within eight years. The party, which currently has two MLAs in the 87-seat legislature, says $720 million in funding for Translink and BC Transit would come from "reprioritizing exis

Greater Vancouver Realtors says home sales in the region dropped 17.1 per cent in August from a year earlier and were more than a quarter below the 10-year seasonal average. The real estate body says sales in the market totalled 1,904 last month, down from the 2,296 recorded in August 2023. The composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver was $1,195,900, a 0.9 per cent decrease over August 2023 and a 0.2 per cent decrease compared with July. There were 4,109 newly listed detached, attached and apartment properties in August, which was 4.2 per cent more than the s

Veteran British Columbia legislator Mike Bernier will run in the fall provincial election as an independent instead of joining several former BC United candidates in running under the B.C. Conservatives banner. Bernier says he did not want to "bend" his morals and values by running with the provincial Conservatives, describing some of the party's candidates as holding views that are "anti-women's rights, anti-climate change" and "anti-First Nations." The Peace River South MLA had said previously that he might run as a B.C. Conservative if asked, but says when announcing his decision to go inde

Vancouver police say extra officers are patrolling an area of downtown after two serious incidents this morning that may be linked. Police say in a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that the crime scenes are on Georgia Street near Homer and Hamilton streets, and investigators are unsure if they are related. The post says the incidents happened between 7:30 a.m. and 7:45 a.m. and no arrests have been made. A white evidence tent was covering a corner of the plaza in front of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre downtown, with the entire plaza cordoned off and several police vehi

B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad says British Columbia needs to have a "conversation" about nuclear power playing a role in the province's energy future, and review educational materials that he says are designed for "indoctrination" of children. Speaking on an episode of Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson's podcast released Monday, Rustad says he also wants to get rid of the carbon tax, which he says taxes people into poverty in "a vain attempt to change the weather." In the episode, which runs just over an hour and 45 minutes, Rustad and Peterson discussed a variety of topics includin

British Columbia is moving ahead with 13 new First Nations primary care centres in the province, with 10 scheduled to start operating this fall. The province's First Nations Health Authority and the Health Ministry say in a joint statement that there will be a total of 15 such clinics in B.C. once the 13 new locations are all opened. Health minister Adrian Dix says in a statement that the expanded slate of First Nations primary care clinics is another step in "dismantling and eradicating Indigenous-specific racism from B.C.’s health-care system." The clinics combine primary care and social s

The union local for Metro Vancouver HandyDART workers says it will hold a rally in Vancouver today to mark the beginning of its strike after members voted down a final offer by employer Transdev Canada last week. The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724 says the rally will begin at noon across from Pacific Central Station in Vancouver. The union local says the majority of its members are "frustrated," and rejected the company's offer after dealing with staffing shortages and "poor compensation" compared to other transit employees. A statement from the union says the rally will feature speakers

The British Columbia Coroners Service says at least 192 people died in July in the province due to unregulated drug toxicity, down 15 per cent from the same month last year. The service says in a release that 1,365 people have died of drug toxicity this year up to the end of July, a rate of death that is also down. The annualized death rate is 41 per 100,000 residents, compared to 46.6 in 2023 and 43.9 in 2021. Chief coroner Dr. Jatinder Baidwan says the current rate equates to about 6.2 people dying every day in the province from the drug toxicity crisis. Coroners service data show the greate

A strike is set to halt HandyDART transit services in Metro Vancouver next week, after the workers' union issued a strike notice. The Amalgamated Transit Union and the company contracted to provide HandyDART in the region both say they are preparing for the workers to go on strike next Tuesday. Transdev Canada says it has received the intention to strike from the union and is "disappointed" staff this week rejected its "last offer," which was made after nine months at the bargaining table. Union local president Joe McCann says workers are preparing picket lines and a potential rally. The compa