Donations are pouring into a Vancouver warehouse for those affected by Monday's devastating earthquake in Turkey, but a volunteer organizer says the country could most benefit from professional search and rescue teams."The next 72 hours is crucial," said Cansoy Gurocak, who was one of dozens of volunteers dealing with donations of food, clothing, tents, sleeping bags, diapers and other goods in a fundraising event that was quickly co-ordinated by the Canadian Turkish Educational and Cultural Foundation.Both Turkey and Syria were rocked Monday by the massive quake, setting off international aid

The British Columbia government has introduced legislation to make September 30 as a paid statutory holiday marking the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.Labour Minister Harry Bains introduced a bill in the legislature today, saying the holiday will be observed this September and every September 30 afterwards.The decision comes after a call to action by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, that asked the federal government to establish a day to honour residential school survivors, their families and communities.In case the legislation passes as expected, B.C. will join Prince Edwar

The Law Society of Alberta has voted in favour of keeping a requirement for its members to complete a course on Indigenous history and culture. Almost 3,500 lawyers voted on the motion, which would have struck down the society's right to require such courses. Last week, 51 lawyers signed a petition calling that right into question, with some of the signatories calling the required course political indoctrination. In the end, their petition was defeated by a roughly three-to-one margin. That means lawyers will continue to have to take the course as a condition of practising law in Alberta. Brit

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says home sales in January were down more than half from a year earlier and down 21 per cent from December.The board says sales for the month totaled 1,022, down 55 percent from January.The number of home resales last month was also 42.9 percent below the 10-year January sales average.The board blamed the lackluster month on mortgage rates, which rose faster than last year.The combined benchmark price for the region was more than $1.1 million, according to the board.The total number of homes currently listed for sale on its listing service is 7,478, a

B.C. Green leader Sonia Furstenau announced today that the party has nominated former Nelson city councillor Nicole Charlwood as its candidate for Nelson-Creston in the next provincial election. "It is my pleasure to share that the B.C. Green Party has nominated Nicole Charlwood as our candidate for Nelson-Creston," Furstenau announced. "Nicole is a former Nelson city councillor and an extraordinary community advocate. She has so much to offer this riding as a B.C. Green MLA and I look forward to working with her in the legislature after the next election." "Politics in B.C. has been polarize

Be wary of scammers asking for bail money. An 87-year-old was tricked this week into sending $3,500 by courier to someone posing as her grandson and claiming to be in jail. We managed to intercept the package before it arrived, but many others haven't been so lucky. Last year alone, 56 victims lost more than $700,000 combined in Vancouver after scammers convinced them to hand over cash for bail money. If someone claiming to be police or a family member phones asking for bail money, it's a scam. Call police immediately.

The lead investigator in the search for unmarked graves at a former residential institution near the Williams Lake First Nation in central British Columbia says the latest phase of their work has uncovered 66 additional ``reflections,'' indicating children's graves. Whitney Spearing told a news conference that the results of Phase 2 of their investigation show there were crimes committed against children associated with the Catholic operation of St. Joseph's Mission. Spearing says that in addition to the reflections found in a technical survey, their interviews with survivors and archival rec

Police in Delta haven't said if any charges are possible against onlookers who interfered with officers trying to calm a distraught man and convince him not to jump from the Alex Fraser Bridge. Police say some drivers who were stopped by the crisis walked up the bridge deck, interfered with the negotiations and videotaped or photographed the man, while others honked and shouted at him to ``take action.'' Another motorist drove around emergency vehicles that were halting traffic and another weaved past the barricades and was found to be impaired. Police Chief Neil Dubord says the man in crisis

Burnaby RCMP is urging members of the public to be cautious with online marketplace purchases after a Burnaby resident purchased what he believed to be a luxury watch that was later was discovered to be counterfeit. In November, 2022 a buyer connected with a seller on Craigslist to purchase what was advertised as a Rolex Wimbledon watch, which the seller said came with a receipt and certificate of authenticity.The buyer paid the seller $10,000 after meeting in-person in Burnaby.Shortly after the sale, the buyer become suspicious of the purchase, and after getting the watch appraised the victim