British Columbia is celebrating the start of this year's Filipino Heritage Month in a more sombre mood than usual. The celebrations come a little over a month after the deadly attack on the Lapu Lapu Day Festival in Vancouver that killed 11 people and injured scores of others. Premier David Eby says while the province continues to grieve, the community coming together to heal demonstrates how ``strength in unity'' has enriched B-C's cultural fabric. New Democrat legislative member Mable Elmore, who is of Filipino descent, says her community is healing and will emerge stronger from the trage

A Vancouver Police homicide investigation has led to the arrest of a suspect in the murder of a man in Crab Park in March. Brett MacDonald, 51, was shot on the north-west side of Crab Park along the gravel path just before 8:30 a.m. on March 22. He was found by a passerby who called police. Jason Hnatyshyn, 47, was arrested on April 10 in Red Deer, Alberta, by VPD homicide detectives. The BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against Hnatyshyn. He remains in custody until his next court appearance.

A suspect has been arrested by Vancouver Police and charged with the sexual assault of a teenaged girl in a public bathroom – part of an alleged crime spree that included a bank robbery and the assault of a second woman who escaped serious harm Wednesday afternoon. The series of violent incidents began around 5:15 p.m. on May 28, and occurred inside an office building at Cambie Street and West 41st Avenue, near Oakridge Centre. A 58-year-old woman was leaving a medical appointment when she was grabbed in the hallway and assaulted by a stranger. She screamed and managed to get away without se

The BC government is launching a new Community Safety and Targeted Enforcement program. It aims to increase police capacity to tackle street crimes that affect businesses and communities, such as robberies, shoplifting and property damage. The province is providing up to $5 million in funding for the initiative, which will help police increase their resources. The government says it has seen the Vancouver Police Department see its biggest two-year reduction in violent and property crime in Hastings Crossing in January 2025, thanks to a special investigation and targeted enforcement program.

A 20-year-old University of British Columbia student, Matthew Hutchings, was found dead in Vancouver. The body found near the tracks of the Commercial-Broadway Skytrain station yesterday has been confirmed to be of Hutchings. Police have ruled out any foul play in his death. Hutchings had been missing for about a week. He was last seen leaving the University area on a B-Line bus at around 2 a.m. on Saturday, May 24. Surveillance footage showed him near the Safeway on Commercial Drive and Broadway about an hour after leaving the university. A search of the area was unsuccessful. Metro Vancouv

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

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