Uber says regulation changes for ride-share and delivery workers in British Columbia will drive up costs and reduce demands for local restaurants. The company says in a statement that it supports some of the new rules coming in September, such as an increased minimum wage and health and safety coverage, but forcing platforms to pay workers for using a personal vehicle is "unreasonable." At the same time, Unifor, the country's largest private-sector union says B.C.'s changes are leading the way to enshrine the basic rights of the gig workers. The Ministry of Labour announced this week the first

British Columbia has finalized regulations to provide a minimum-wage and basic protections for ride-hailing and delivery workers using app-based platforms such as Uber, DoorDash and SkipTheDishes. The Ministry of Labour says in a statement the regulations that will take effect on Sept. 3 are a first in Canada. It says the changes are the result of years of engagement with various stakeholders, and they address workers' top concerns, including low and unpredictable pay, tip protection and lack of workers' compensation. The new rules set the minimum wage for the time a worker is engaged in a job

Premier David Eby is expanding his criticism of what he says is an unfair share of federal funding being given to Western Canada. Eby says Ottawa's "special treatment for Quebec and Ontario" eventually gets "to be too much" and it's "disingenuous" for federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller to suggest that B.C.'s concerns are simply about asylum seekers. Eby and Miller have traded comments this week since the premier suggested at the Western Premiers' Conference on Monday that Ottawa was "showering" Ontario and Quebec with money, after offering Quebec a $750 million deal to help with immigrat

Vancouver police have arrested and charged a 32-year-old man in the stabbing death of a Japanese restaurant chef near the city's Chinatown last week. Police say Timothy Isborn faces a second-degree murder charge following their six-day investigation. The stabbing happened in the early hours of June 5, when 32-year-old chef Wataru Kakiuchi was found injured and died before he could be taken to hospital. Police say the suspect and the victim did not know each other before the fatal attack. VPD spokesman Sgt. Steve Addison says in a statement that the arrest comes after extensive evidence collec

Immigration Minister Marc Miller says British Columbia needs to step up and take on more asylum seekers who come to Canada. He was responding today to criticism from the B.C. premier, who says he's frustrated to see Quebec and Ontario "showered" with federal cash to help cope with an influx of asylum seekers and temporary residents. David Eby says Western provinces deserve a share of the $750-million deal Ottawa recently struck with Quebec to help pay for the services, but Miller says the premier may be confused about what the money was for. Miller says the federal government will help provinc

Vancouver police have arrested five men, and recovered more than 24 kilograms of illicit drugs, after a lengthy investigation into a gang originally from Quebec. A statement from the department says members of the gang known as Zone 43 established operations in Vancouver and were the focus of a 14-month investigation by its organized crime section. The statement says investigators served five search warrants in May three in Vancouver and two in Burnaby. It says police recovered a large amount of drugs, including seven kilograms of fentanyl, 11 kilograms of cocaine and two kilograms of methamph

Parks Canada says a rare white grizzly bear has died of injuries that happened when she was struck by a car on the Trans-Canada Highway in British Columbia's Yoho National Park, on the same day her cubs were killed in an earlier crash. It says the crash that killed the adult bear, nicknamed Nakoda, happened on Thursday about 12 hours after the two cubs were struck and killed on the highway in southeast B.C. that morning. The agency says wildlife management staff had been repairing fencing along the road when the adult bear was startled by a train and ran in front of two vehicles. It says one v

Police and the British Columbia Securities Commission say they have delivered warnings to 10 suspected "money mules" in an effort to fight investment fraud aimed at people in the province. A joint statement issued by the commission and RCMP says investigators have hand-delivered warning letters to people in Metro Vancouver who were suspected of transferring funds on behalf of criminals. They say the use of the so-called mules is a common tactic in money laundering, helping criminals move their cash by concealing the source and destination of the funds. The securities commission says it identif

The wildfire that forced 4,700 people to leave their homes in Fort Nelson, B.C., is now listed as under control. The BC Wildfire Service says in a social media statement that the 123-square-kilometre fire in northeastern B.C. is not expected to grow beyond its current boundary. All evacuation alerts connected to the fire have been lifted. The Parker Lake blaze came within a few kilometres of Fort Nelson on May 10, prompting the evacuation of most of the town. The fire destroyed four homes and damaged several other properties. Rain and cooler temperatures have allowed crews to reduce the wildfi