Surrey First Councillor Linda Annis wants Mayor Doug McCallum to begin council’s next meeting on Monday, June 28 with a First Nations land and territorial acknowledgement, and if he doesn’t, she will. "Acknowledging our Indigenous people is the right and respectful thing to do," said Annis. "The fact that the mayor refuses to do that doesn’t mean individual councillors can’t do it when we first speak in council. If the mayor continues to refuse, then I will acknowledge our First Nations the first time I get to speak, and I will encourage other councillors to do the same." "Surrey has t

Heat warnings cover most of British Columbia as Environment Canada warns many areas could see record-high temperatures starting Friday and continuing into next week. The weather office says an exceptionally strong ridge of high pressure will stall over the province raising temperatures in parts of the Fraser Valley, Fraser Canyon and southern Interior to 40 C, or higher, by Sunday or Monday. Elsewhere, the mercury will nudge the high 30s and forecasters say humidity will make conditions feel even hotter. Sweltering heat is expected to continue through Tuesday for most of B.C., but forecasters

First-dose vaccine numbers in British Columbia have risen to above 75 per cent of the eligible population, with second-shot totals hovering near 25 per cent. A joint statement from provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix says the increasing vaccine numbers allow for the gradual and safe reopening of the province with the lifting of more restrictions. It says more than 4.5 million doses of vaccine have been delivered in total, and of those, slightly over one million were second shots. There are 87 new COVID-19 cases across B.C., with no new cases in the Northe

The BC Wildfire Service says a week-old blaze near Lytton hasn't grown, despite burning almost unchecked in dangerously steep, rocky terrain on two flanks. The fire, just south of the Fraser Canyon community, has charred three-and-a-half square kilometres of bush but evacuation alerts covering more than a dozen properties were lifted several days ago. Two specialized initial attack crews have been lowered by helicopter into the cliff-strewn areas that can't be reached from the ground and they are working to build guards around the north and south flanks of the fire. In all, 48 firefighters, f

The mother of a 13 year old girl fatally stabbed by a man who entered the teen's Abbotsford high school has told a New Westminster courtroom of her grief since the 2016 attack. Ellie Reimer told the court it's still hard to know her daughter Letisha died ``on the cold floor of her school.'' She told Klein she hopes he never has another moment of peace in his life. Letisha's father, Ulrich, says he doubts his daughter's attacker will receive a sentence that fits the suffering his family has endured since Letisha and her friend were attacked in the rotunda of Abbotsford Senior Secondary. A sent

Premier John Horgan is remembering the 329 passengers and crew killed 36 years ago today when a bomb blew apart Air India Flight 192 over the Atlantic Ocean. 280 of those aboard were Canadian, many of them from BC, and the bombing remains the worst terrorist attack and mass murder in this country's history. A statement from Horgan's office says we remember all Canadians whose lives have been disrupted by terrorism, including the four members of a family from London, Ontario, slain for their Muslim faith earlier this month. Horgan says anyone, especially anyone with privilege, who has never be

An armed standoff that shut down part of a Richmond neighbourhood for several hours ended peacefully. The Lower Mainland Emergency Response Team and Richmond RCMP were called yesterday by bailiffs trying to enforce a Supreme Court order to remove a man from a residence. Police say the bailiffs reported the man came out on a second-storey balcony and fired several shots into the air. A negotiator was called and the man left the house peacefully about four hours after the standoff began. Richmond RCMP on Twitter: 1. Officers attending incident in East Richmond. Avoid the area. Police situation

RCMP have arrested another 11 people at blockades set up to prevent old-growth logging on southwestern Vancouver Island. The Mounties were enforcing an injunction ordering the people off land in the Braden Mainline Forest Service Road area near Port Renfrew. All 11 were charged with breaching the injunction, with one person also arrested for designing and building the locking devices which are actively being used to breach the injunction. The RCMP began enforcing a B.C. Supreme Court injunction on May 17 ordering the removal of blockades and protesters at several sites. Since then, 271 people

British Columbia's provincial health officer is encouraging anyone who is offered a different COVID-19 vaccine than the one they first received to take it. Dr. Bonnie Henry says fluctuating vaccine supply means if you received Pfizer-BioNTech, you may be offered Moderna for your second shot, or vice versa, and she says health officials are confident both vaccines are safe, effective and interchangeable. Dr. Henry made the comment as she announced a sustained drop in new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and clusters. She says 56 new infections were confirmed Tuesday and there were no new death