Brenda Locke, the mayor of Surrey, B.C., says the council has voted to revert its policing back to the RCMP, a move than will cost the city millions of dollars.In a news conference at Surrey City Hall on Friday morning, Mayor Brenda Locke announced the decision, saying both SPS and RCMP deserve certainty about their future in the City of Surrey. The B.C. government recommended in April that Surrey continue its transition to the independent Surrey Police Service, offering $150 million over five years to help the city cover costs, but saying it would not pay the estimated $72 million in severanc

Four people have been found dead in a home in British Columbia's northwest in what police are calling a homicide.Prince Rupert RCMP say officers responded to a call on Tuesday evening to the 100 block of Silversides Drive.Once there, police say they found four individuals dead in the home and began a homicide investigation.Police say they do not believe there are any outstanding suspects in the case at this time, and there should be no further risk to the public.Prince Rupert is located about 1,200 kilometres northwest of Vancouver.

B.C. is expanding the program it uses to help patients kick their dependence on opioids.A statement from the Health Ministry says B.C. will now provide universal coverage for eligible drugs which include methadone that are rated as opioid agonist treatment medications.The statement says the expanded program differs from safer supply which provides alternatives to illicit drugs and will help the roughly 1600 B.C. patients who can't get PharmaCare coverage for the drugs needed to manage their opioid-use disorder.Mental Health and Addictions Minister Jennifer Whiteside says removing cost barriers

A Vancouver family known for its philanthropy is making a $20 million donation to a British Columbia substance use treatment centre in memory of their adult son and brother who died of an opioid overdose.Jill Diamond, executive director of Vancouver's Diamond Foundation and sister to Steven Diamond, said in a statement that her brother might still be alive today if he had received the care being offered at Vancouver's St. Paul's Hospital."No matter where we turned, we never found the help that Steven needed," Diamond said in a news release."We’re speaking out today for the first time because

British Columbia will soon be the first jurisdiction in Canada to implement a licensing requirement for asbestos abatement contractors.The Labour Ministry says workers must be licensed by Jan. 1.This comes following changes to the Workers Compensation Act last year, requiring that contractors who remove the cancer-causing material use only trained and certified workers.The ministry says required training for worker certification is scheduled to begin this summer.It says WorkSafeBC will begin to accept applications from contractors performing asbestos abatement work by September.The ministry sa

Vancouver Coastal Health is joining other health authorities in the province in a move to a unified provincial text alert system warning of toxic drugs.Vancouver began its own system called Radar in 2017, while a toxic drug and health alert system developed by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control has been adopted by all other health districts in the last year.Those who want to get the alerts need to text the word ``join'' to 253787, and Vancouver Coastal says in a statement that anyone who receives the Radar messages will be automatically added to the province wide alert for toxic drugs.Jennife

Two men, one from Metro Vancouver and another from Alberta, face several charges following a weekend drug raid in Whitehorse.A statement from Yukon RCMP says a search warrant was executed at a Whitehorse home on Saturday and a 22-year-old Richmond manand 23-year-old Edmonton resident were arrested.Charges against them include trafficking, possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, possession of the proceeds of crime over $5,000, and money laundering.Mounties say more than $130,000 in cash was seized during the bust, along with cellphones, scales and nearly two-thirds of a kilogram o

British Columbia's housing minster says more homes will be built sooner under a plan to set construction targets in 10 cities or municipalities in an effort to fast track development. Ravi Kahlon announced housing targets will be set for Vancouver, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Delta, Port Moody, Abbotsford, Victoria, Oak Bay, Saanich and Kamloops.Kahlon says the government chose the first 10 communities based on the needs in the province and projected growth.The targets won't be released to the public until this summer, but Kahlon says they'll be meeting with the cities in the next few wee

The association representing Surrey Memorial Hospital doctors has issued another letter demanding that either the emergency room vacancies be filled, or the emergency room be closed to new patients.A letter was written on May 19 by the Medical Staff Association of Surrey Memorial Hospital.According to that letter, it has become difficult to provide services due to the lack of hospital staff in the emergency and the patients coming in have not been adequately cared for.The letter, written to Fraser Health CEO Dr Victoria Lee, Health Minister Adrian Dix and other leaders, also said that no actio