Sheila Malcolmson, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, has released the following statement regarding the BC Coroners Service report on illicit drug toxicity deaths in August 2022:"In August, we lost 169 people to the poisoned drug supply. These are devastating losses for families, friends, communities and loved ones. My heart is with everyone who had such a tragic loss. "We are working hard to build a system of mental-health and substance-use care where there wasn't one five years ago. We are offering innovative harm-reduction solutions, like prescribed safe supply - the only province i

Tomorrow morning, police across Delta, Surrey and Langley will be looking for distracted drivers during a one-day enforcement blitz as part of a provincial distracted driving education and enforcement campaign. Police will be joined by ICBC road safety & community coordinators and local Cell Watch volunteers, who will be reminding drivers of an important message: leave your phone alone while driving.Distracted driving is the second leading contributor in fatal crashes in B.C., behind speed and ahead of impaired driving, and is the top contributor in police-reported injury crashes. Who: Lan

Surrey RCMP is seeking additional information to further an ongoing sexual assault investigation. On July 18, 2022, Surrey RCMP received a report that a woman had been sexually assaulted while undergoing a physical exam by a doctor at a pain clinic located in the 6600-block of 152A Street.Surrey RCMP Special Victims Unit took conduct of the investigation and recently submitted a report to BC Prosecution Services recommending charges. On September 13, 2022, 54-year-old, Olumuyiwa Bamgbade was charged with one count of sexual assault. He later turned himself into the Surrey courthouse where he w

Vancouver Police are investigating the city’s eighth pedestrian fatality of the year, which occurred around 12:30 p.m. today on West Georgia Street. Police believe a woman was struck by a charter bus near West Georgia and Cardero Street.Officers from VPD’s Collision Investigation Unit are gathering evidence from the scene and speaking to witnesses to determine how the collision occurred.

A Coquitlam man who is now in his late 70s has been convicted of 11 counts of sexual assault. The convictions were entered yesterday in BC Supreme Court in New Westminster after Raymond Gaglardi was charged in 2020. Coquitlam RCMP say the charges relate to historical sexual assaults of young men or teenage boys whose parents met Gaglardi between 1993 and 2007 at several Coquitlam-area churches and arranged for him to counsel their children. Gaglardi is expected to return to court in New Westminster on December 8th for a pre-sentence report.

The British Columbia Liberal Party could soon have a new name. The party says the proposed new name, BC United, has been selected after a three-month membership consultation period in which more than 2,000 suggestions were submitted.The party says in a statement today a voting process will be announced in the coming weeks and members will have the opportunity to vote on the new name by the end of this year.The party says more than two-thirds of delegates who attended last June's convention in Penticton voted in favour of considering a new name.Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon made consideration of

Twenty daily temperature records have been set across the province as conditions yesterday were more like midsummer than the first week of fall. Environment Canada says records were set along the south and central coasts, as far north as Haida Gwaii and east to Prince George, Dawson Creek and Blue River. Squamish was the hot spot, posting a high of 29.9 Celsius, while Port Alberni, at 29.5 Celsius, smashed its old record set in 1918. Cooler temperatures and rainfall are forecast in many parts of the province later today and overnight, but Lytton still stands a chance to set a record as the we

Surrey's new police force says it has deployed another 35 officers, bringing the service more than halfway to its target number of officers on the ground. The Surrey Police Service says the new additions bring the total number of officers deployed to 155. It says 295 will be deployed by May, as part of Surrey's transition from R-C-M-P service to a municipal force. The police service also says it now has 352 employees including 295 sworn police officers, however many are recruits in training.

A North Vancouver runner says learning to enjoy training is what helped her smash a Canadian record at the Berlin Marathon yesterday. 40 year old Natasha Wodak finished 12th in the race, clocking in at two hours, 23 minutes and 12 seconds. Her time was more than a minute and a half faster that Malindi Elmore's record set in 2020. Wodak says she didn't enjoy her first marathon experience in 2013, however as she got older and more disciplined, she said she really started to enjoy the process of preparing.