Police in Victoria are investigating and appealing to the public for information after a statue of Captain James Cook was toppled and thrown into the harbour yesterday. Photos and video posted to social media show a crowd cheering as the statue near BC's Legislature was pulled down shortly after 8:30 pm. Police say there are several suspects in the Canada Day incident. The statue was replaced with a wooden cut out of a red dress, a symbol representing murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls, and its base was smeared with red handprints.

A gas price analyst says fuel prices hit an all-time high in Vancouver today, while average prices in Canada are up 30 cents since the beginning of the year. Dan McTeague, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy, says average gas prices in Vancouver reached a dollar-74 today. McTeague says he expects prices to climb even higher as airline travel picks up and the easing of pandemic restrictions increases demand for fuel. The ongoing heat wave in the western part of the continent has also added pressure, with some refineries at lower operating levels.

A veteran police officer has died after he was struck by a vehicle in ``an intentional and deliberate act'' that left another officer injured. Interim police Chief James Ramer says Constable Jeffrey Northrup was killed early this morning in the parking garage at Toronto City Hall. The 31-year veteran of the service was responding to a 9-1-1 call for a robbery in progress. Ramer says Northrup's return to the major crimes unit ``speaks to the kind of officer he was and the dedication that he had that it was at this stage of his career.'' Ontario Premier Doug Ford is offering his sympathies to

The search continues today for multiple residents of a village in British Columbia's Interior that was decimated by a wildfire this week.Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth hasn't said how many people from the Lytton, B.C., area are unaccounted for.He says it's been hard to keep tabs on where everyone ended up given the urgent nature of Wednesday evening's evacuation.Officials say it's unclear whether anyone remains in the village due to a lack of cell service.RCMP say details about conditions in the village are scant because it's not safe to enter the area, but aerial photos show that nume

Residents of a BC village that set a Canadian high-temperature record of 49.6 Celsius this week were ordered to evacuate their homes last night due to a wildfire that spread quickly. The majority of Lytton has been burned by a fast-moving wildfire, and a number of locals are missing. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth says the majority of homes and infrastructure in the village have been destroyed, including the RCMP detachment and local ambulance station. Farnworth says in addition to the damage done, some residents have not been accounted for. "Their location is currently being investigat

In BC 62 wildfires and 29,000 lightning strikes have been reported in B.C. in just past 24 hours. At a last-minute news conference hosted by Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth in Vancouver and B.C. Premier John Horgan in Victoria, they addressed wildfires currently burning across the province, and a wildfire tearing through the village of Lytton. Premier Horgan told the province has had 62 wildfires started in just 24 hours and requested people to avoid any activities that can result in a wildfire. He further added that that province has requested for help from the federal govt. and Prime M

Residents of a BC village that set a Canadian high-temperature record of 49.6 Celsius this week were ordered to evacuate their homes last night due to a wildfire that spread quickly. Mayor Jan Polderman of Lytton issued the order, saying residents and structures were threatened by the blaze in an area where two other fires are already burning. Chief administrative officer Scott Hildebrand of the local regional district says it's tough finding shelter for people who had to scramble to escape the smoke as some homes were burning. Provincial fire information officer Erica Berg says resources wer

BC's chief coroner says at least 486 sudden and unexpected deaths have been reported to the agency during the extreme heat wave in the province. Lisa Lapointe says that's a 195 per cent increase over the approximately 165 deaths that would normally occur in the province over a five-day period. Lapointe says it's still too early to determine the exact cause of death but it's believed likely that the increase is attributable to the extreme weather BC has been experiencing. She also says the number of sudden deaths is preliminary and will increase as coroners enter death reports into the system.

British Columbia's top doctor is encouraging people to continue wearing masks in all indoor places, even as they're no longer mandatory starting Canada Day. Dr. Bonnie Henry says masks remain an important layer of protection until more people have immunity from two doses of vaccine, which nearly 31 per cent of residents aged 12 and over have received. Dr. Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix say in a joint statement that 44 new cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed, for a total of nearly 148,000 cases. Of the 816 active cases, 108 people are hospitalized, and 34 of them are in intensive care.