Police in British Columbia say a man from Vancouver Island has been arrested and charged with child exploitation offences following a tip from American authorities. RCMP say in a statement that the B.C. Integrated Child Exploitation Unit received information from U.S. Homeland Security Investigations last September about a suspect who was allegedly exploiting children using a social media application. The Mounties say they identified a suspect in Langford, B.C., just outside Victoria, who allegedly lured three girls and exploited them by creating child sexual abuse materials that he posted on

The Nature Conservancy of Canada says a new conservation area north of Cranbrook, B.C., will protect important bird habitat and preserve grasslands in the province's southeast. The conservancy says money from the federal government and private donors went to buying up 271 hectares of land in the Skookumchuk Prairie in the province's southeast corner. Richard Klafki, a B.C. program director with the Nature Conservancy, says the land which also includes wetlands and forests is a "key biodiversity area," and came up for sale when the former owner, a local rancher, decided to downsize. Klafki says

Residents in Fort Nelson are able to go home today after being evacuated for more than two weeks due to wildfires. The Northern Rockies Regional Municipality and the Fort Nelson First Nation say they'll jointly rescind their evacuation orders at 8 a.m., lift roadblocks and allow people to return. About 4,700 residents were evacuated from Fort Nelson on May 10, when strong winds pushed the Parker Lake wildfire within a few kilometres of the town. The fire destroyed four homes and damaged six other properties in the area. Crews are also fighting the Patry Creek fire north of town, which is a hol

Mounties say two people have died following a plane crash near Squamish, B.C. A statement from the RCMP says police were able to access the remote crash site south of Squamish, on the west side of Howe Sound, by air on Saturday and confirm the two occupants of the plane did not survive. The plane crash was reported Friday evening after an automatic crash notification from a smartphone. The police statement says investigators are working with the Transportation Safety Board and the BC Coroners Service to determine the cause of the crash. The statement thanks Squamish Search and Rescue, Blackcom

The leader of British Columbia's official Opposition says the BC Conservatives have rejected a proposal to avoid vote-splitting in the provincial election this fall. BC United Leader Kevin Falcon says talks between the two right-of-centre parties concluded with Conservative Leader John Rustad ultimately deciding against a proposed "non-competition" agreement. Falcon says in a statement that Rustad has "placed his own ambition" above B.C.'s interests and is risking the re-election of the governing NDP. He says there were talks between two representatives of each party this month, most recently

The British Columbia government says a $900 million project to create a network of hydrogen production plants and refuelling stations will create nearly 300 jobs and cut greenhouse gas emissions in the province. The Canada Infrastructure Bank is providing a $337 million loan to support the project by hydrogen company HTEC, which involves plans to build up to 20 hydrogen refuelling stations, with 18 of them in B.C. and the others in Alberta. The federal Crown corporation and the B.C. government say the refuelling stations will be supplied by three new hydrogen production plants in Burnaby, Nana

Retailer London Drugs says cybercriminals who stole files from its corporate head office last month have released some of the data after it refused to pay a ransom. The Richmond, B.C.-based company says in a statement the files may contain "some employee information," calling it a "deeply distressing" situation. London Drugs was responding to a social media post by B.C.-based cybersecurity analyst Brett Callow that said hacking group Lockbit had released what it claimed was the company's data. The statement from the company says it was "unwilling and unable" to pay a ransom to hackers it descr

The mayor of the regional municipality that includes Fort Nelson, B.C., that was evacuated due to a threatening wildfire says local officials are pushing for a Monday or Tuesday deadline to start allowing about 4,700 residents home after nearly two weeks. Rob Fraser says the "imminent risk" posed by the Parker Lake fire has been reduced, and officials are focused on rolling out a phased approach to residents' return. He says in a video posted late Wednesday that some doctors had returned to the community along with grocery staff who were restocking shelves. Fraser says water, hydro and hydroel

The mayor of the regional municipality that includes the evacuated community of Fort Nelson, B.C., says he's optimistic crews have "a very good handle" on the wildfire burning outside town and plans are underway for residents to return. Rob Fraser says the first phase involved ensuring it was safe enough to move the Fort Nelson emergency operations centre back into town after it was moved as the fire threatened earlier this month, and the second phase involves utility services. Fraser posted a video update late Tuesday saying hydro, natural gas and telecommunications crews were in town working