British Columbia Attorney General Niki Sharma says the often difficult issue of pet custody for families going through break ups could be easier to decide with family law changes that took effect Monday. She says the changes aim to improve the process for determining ownership of pets after a separation or divorce. Previously, Sharma says pet ownership issues following a break up were similar to those used by the courts to determine how property is divided. Instead, the courts will now consider a person's ability and willingness to care for an animal, relationships between a child and an anima

A dispute between the City of Surrey and the Surrey Police Union has escalated after the city refused to pay salaries for newly recruited officers, citing budget overruns. Union spokesperson Ryan Buehring said members were shocked to learn just before Christmas that the city would not add recruits to its payroll. “These officers joined in good faith, and to be told days before the holidays that they would not be paid is unacceptable,” Buehring told Connect Newsroom. The city confirmed it sent a letter on December 19 advising the Surrey Police Service that additional hires should not have b

The Surrey RCMP Gang Enforcement Team has launched a new campaign aimed at steering children and teenagers away from gangs, with videos set to be shown in schools across the district starting this week. The video features Eileen Mohan, whose son was killed in the Surrey Six massacre, alongside a convicted murderer who reflects on his own role in gang life. Police say the contrasting stories are intended to highlight the devastating consequences of gang involvement for both victims’ families and offenders. Inspector Ryan Element said the goal is to deliver a message that resonates with youth.

Metro Vancouver, Greater Victoria, and the Fraser Valley are expecting frigid wind chills to arrive tonight, joining much of the rest of Western and Northern Canada under various cold weather warnings. Environment Canada says Arctic air combined with strong winds gusting to 60 km/h in the region will generate wind chill values that feel like -20 until at least Saturday. Extreme cold warnings remain in place for parts of Yukon, the Northwest Territories, B.C., northern Saskatchewan, and all of Alberta. Communities have been grappling with bitterly cold temperatures and wind chills that feel as

The RCMP says one person has died in a helicopter crash near Revelstoke, B.C.They say the helicopter, which was first reported missing Friday, was found in Glacier National Park. Police have now confirmed the person, who was the only one aboard the helicopter, died in the crash. The RCMP says it is now working alongside the Transportation Safety Board and the BC Coroners Service to determine the cause of the crash. Pedram Mohyeddin, a spokesperson for Maritime Forces Pacific, said in an interview Saturday that the helicopter was on its way from Calgary to Sicamous, B.C., on Friday when it wen

An unnamed school district in British Columbia has been ordered by the province's human rights tribunal to pay $5,000 to a student for failing to accommodate her anxiety disorder. Tribunal vice-chair Devyn Cousineau says in a decision released last month that the school district "failed to take reasonable steps to investigate and address the female student's anxiety over her transition from elementary school to high school. The ruling says the unidentified student had been diagnosed since kindergarten with anxiety and has been on medication since Grade 7 when she made the move to high school i

TransLink says its new R-6 Scott Road RapidBus is now cruising the streets on what it calls the busiest bus corridor south of theFraser. TransLink says the R-6 is geared toward Surry and Delta residents and Kwantlen University students, who can expect to shave a few minutes off their trips between Scott Road station and the Newton bus exchange.The transit operator says the R-6 can carry more riders than past services as Surrey and Delta lead the way in growing ridership numbers in the region.TransLink says ridership on Surrey and Delta buses is now 16 per cent higher than in 2019, and the new

A union representing more than 180 transit workers in B.C. has issued a 72-hour strike notice.CUPE Local 4500 represents workers employed by the Coast Mountain Bus Company, which runs transit operations for all of Metro Vancouver. The notice is effective at 8 a.m. local time on Wednesday. The union says it is still available to negotiate a collective agreement that avoids service disruptions.It says job action could begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday with an overtime ban that would affect all operations in the Coast Mountain system. The union says the last collective agreement expired at the end of 2

One person died and a several more were hurt after fire ripped through a home in South Surrey on New Year’s Day. Surrey RCMP says it received reports of a fire at a home near the corner of 144 Street and 26 Avenue around 6:45 a.m. Surrey Fire Services (SFS) has confirmed firefighters rescued three people off a balcony. One person, believed to be an elderly individual, was found dead inside the home.SFS says 10 people were treated on scene and six were taken to hospital for minor injuries or smoke inhalation. RCMP and SFS are still trying to determine the cause of the fire and are canvassing