The BC government says it will contribute $2.4 billion to improve transit and infrastructure in Metro Vancouver. It says the funds are part of its commitment to cover 40 per cent of the 10-year vision outlined by the regional mayors' council on transportation. A statement from the province says the biggest projects on the list include building a Surrey-Langley SkyTrain line and the electrification of bus fleets. Ridership is rebounding but still sits at 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels and TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn says the funds will ensure transit continues to serve residents after a chal

Premier John Horgan says he and his western and territorial counterparts want the federal government to open the purse strings to improve health care. Horgan, who is at the Western Premiers Conference underway in Saskatchewan, says health-care services are not sustainable as the country emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic. He says provinces want a 28-billion-dollar boost in health transfers, pushing the federal share of health-care costs to 35 per cent from the current 22 per cent. Health-care issues launched the conference this morning but the premiers and territorial leaders are also schedul

Police say a woman has been arrested in connection with the abduction of two children in Vancouver. Const. Tania Visintin says the woman took the seven- and nine-year-old sisters from their mother's home last night, but they are now safe. She said earlier the woman was known to the family but there was no indication that either child had been harmed or was in imminent danger. Investigators believed there was no concern for the safety of any other children in the Strathcona neighbourhood.

Police say an adult and two youths are in custody for ``suspected involvement'' in the death of a 41-year-old man last night in Abbotsford. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the victim was attacked near the parking lot of a large shopping mall but it has not released a cause of death. I-HIT says the victim has no link to gangs and the attack is believed to have been an isolated incident. Sergeant David Lee says police are still searching for key evidence even though arrests have been made and anyone with dashcam or surveillance video is asked to contact the homicide team.

The City of Kamloops says one person has died in hospital following an ammonia leak at an industrial park. A spokeswoman with BC Emergency Health Services has previously said one person was taken to hospital in critical condition and two others were there in stable condition. She says six other patients in stable condition were assessed at the scene after five paramedic crews and two supervisors responded to a call at about 10:30 a.m. The city says in a written statement that the RCMP and firefighters responded to the scene and several businesses were evacuated. It says police and WorkSafeBC

A former clerk of the B.C. legislature is set to be sentenced on July 4 after he was found guilty of fraud and breach of trust. The fraud charge against Craig James was stayed last week because it was related to the same set of evidence involving nearly $1,900 in claims he made for work attire, so a conviction was not entered on that count. He was found not guilty on three other counts of breach of trust related to a $258,000 retirement benefit and the purchase of a wood splitter and trailer that he said were bought for emergency preparedness at the legislature. Associate Chief Justice Heathe

An official at Victoria International Airport estimates about 1,800 passengers were affected when it shut down due to an explosives scare. RCMP say they were called yesterday after a security employee spotted what appeared to be an incendiary device in a bag during a routine scan. They say two bags contained what the Mounties' explosives disposal unit determined were ``inert military surplus explosives'' and the man who claimed them has been released from custody with an upcoming court date. The airport's director of community relations says about 20 flights were cancelled, and police are rem

British Columbia has launched the country's first provincewide lung cancer screening program. Health Minister Adrian Dix says the innovative program will both save lives and improve their quality. Screening will be available at 36 centres across all health authorities using existing CT scans for those who are between 55 and 74, currently smoking or have previously smoked, and have a smoking history of 20 years or more. Adrian Dix says the program is the first of its kind in Canada and an estimated 10,000 patients are expected to be screened in the first year. The medical director of the prog

Metro Vancouver's transportation authority says its recovery of ridership that plummeted during the pandemic has been stronger than many other North American transit networks, but still hasn't rebounded entirely. A statement from TransLink says ridership across its system has rebounded to 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels after reaching 59 per cent last year. The 2021 transit service performance review released Wednesday says Metro Vancouver's recovery rates exceeded those of transit systems in Toronto, Montreal, Washington, Chicago and San Francisco. It says bus ridership led the way at 62