The British Columbia government has moved to prevent thefts of catalytic converters, a crime that costs millions every year.The province has changed the regulations for metal dealers and recyclers to require them to report each transaction, including seller information, to police.Catalytic converters control exhaust emissions to reduce pollutants, but they have been a target for thieves because of an increase in the price of metals they contain.The Insurance Corporation of B.C. says converter theft claims have climbed from 89 in 2017 to 1,953 last year, totalling more than $4 million in claim

The British Columbia government is pushing the minimum wage up to $15.65 an hour, which it says is the highest among the provinces. Labour Minister Harry Bains announced today that the hourly wage will jump by 45 cents starting June 1.The increase is the first to be tied to B.C.'s annual inflation rate, which was 2.8 per cent last year.Bains says the decision to use the provincial rate of inflation rather than the national rate was made to better reflect the needs of B.C. workers.He says the increase is expected to attract more workers to the province, while providing certainty of costs for bu

A group of Metro Vancouver truck drivers concerned about high gas prices staged a protest this morning that reduced traffic to a crawl on Highway 1 between Langley and Coquitlam. Spokesman Ryan Hess, who owns a trucking company in Abbotsford, says fuel costs have climbed above two dollars a litre across the region and truckers are suffering. He says the convoy, which took place between 7 am and 9 am, had nothing to do with recent protests against COVID-19 mandates, instead truckers want the public to know the consequences of expensive fuel. Hess says some trucking companies may go out of busi

B.C. is reporting 288 new cases of COVID-19, including two epi-linked cases, for a total of 352,039 cases in the province. There are 368 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 and 46 are in intensive care.In the past 24 hours, three new deaths (Fraser Health) have been reported, for an overall total of 2,935.There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks, for a total of 14 facilities with ongoing outbreaks. From March 3-9, people not fully vaccinated accounted for 18.0% of cases.From Feb. 24 to March 9, they accounted for 28.7% of hospitalizations.Past week cases (March 3-9) - Total 2,0

Plans are in the works in British Columbia for the province to accept thousands of Ukrainians fleeing as Russia's invasion pushes further into their country. Premier John Horgan says he has met with Ukrainian community leaders, refugee settlement agencies and faith groups to make preparations to meet the housing, health and transition needs of those fleeing the war.Horgan says he's not sure about the number of people from Ukraine who might come to B.C., but he told a news conference it could be tens of thousands.He says community leaders indicate housing will be the top issue and discussions a

Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon says job creation in BC in February helped nudge the province's jobless rate down two basis points to 4.9 per cent. Kahlon says the province continues to lead the country in economic recovery with 84,000 more people working than before the pandemic, a number he says is the highest job recovery rate in Canada. Statistics Canada data show jobless figures in Kelowna barely budged last month and are pegged at 7.1 per cent while Victoria's rate climbed three basis points to 4.2 per cent. Unemployment in Abbotsford-Mission saw a steep drop in February, falling more than on

Surrey RCMP is investigating a break and enter into a grocery store where a substantial amount of cash was stolen from an ATM. On February 2, 2022, Surrey RCMP received a report that a grocery store in the 15900-block of Fraser Highway was broken into while closed overnight between 1:00 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. Police attended and determined that the suspect entered the store from the rooftop where they cut a hole through the ceiling and used a 40ft extendable ladder to climb down into the store. Once inside the store the suspect targeted the ATM machine and was able to steal a substantial amount of

A man is recovering from injuries after the latest shooting in Surrey. RCMP say it happened just before midnight in the Guildford neighbourhood. They say the attack appears targeted but a motive is unknown, although detectives don't believe it's linked to the ongoing gang conflict in Metro Vancouver. Anyone with information about the shooting is urged to contact Surrey RCMP.

January was another grim month in BC for deaths caused by toxic illicit drugs. Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe says 207 people died, an average of 6.7 every day, the third-highest monthly toll since 2016 when a public health emergency was declared due to rising toxicity of street drugs. Lapointe says there were also concerning increases in drug-related fatalities in small and medium-sized communities in January, with 11 deaths in Kamloops and 19 recorded across the Northern Health region. She says a safer drug supply is one key to solving the crisis, a recommendation contained in a report issued