Vancouver Rundown

RCMP say two deadly Lower Mainland shootings over the past week are linked to B.C.’s gang conflict. Last Friday, 24-year-old Taran Pandher was found shot dead in a taxi near 200 Street and 53 Avenue in Langley. On Wednesday, 34-year-old Shahaib Abasi was gunned down outside the Burnaby McDonald’s at Still Creek, just north of Highway One. Both victims were known to police. RCMP say the gang landsc...

The hunt continues for the person who shot and killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. Kirk was shot in the neck Wednesday morning while taking questions during an outdoor speaking event at the university campus south of Salt Lake City. Two initial suspects have been cleared following their arrests. Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA , is a friend and supporter of...

Close to 4,000 B.C. public sector workers are now on strike with pickets up at 22 sites across the province. The Eby government continues to acknowledge its latest offer is below the rate of inflation but says the pay raises are above inflation if the previous three years are taken into account. BCGEU members in places such as Kelowna joined the pickets with one telling Black Press the government...

Eight more cities, all outside the Lower Mainland, are now included in expanded picket action as the BCGEU strike enters its next phase. A B.C. Corrections office in Surrey will also be behind pickets on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the provincial government has tabled what it calls a final offer - a 4.5 per cent increase over two years consisting of both a wage increase and a cost-of-living allowance. Pre...

A high level B.C. gang member who escaped from the North Fraser pretrial jail three years ago has been arrested in Qatar. The Vancouver Sun reports Wolfpack gangster Robby Alkhalil was taken into custody on Friday. A month after he escaped, Alkhalil was convicted in absentia of the 2012 first degree murder of rival gangster Sandip Duhre. Despite a continuing investigation into the escape, no charg...

Pickets are expanding as the BCGEU ramps up the province’s public service strike. The Vancouver office of the Ministry of Finance is now behind a picket line. Workers in Surrey, Victoria and Prince George remain off the job. The union says there’s no indication the government is prepared to return to the bargaining table with an improved offer. Premier David Eby says the government is not in a pos...

Pickets are expanding as the BCGEU ramps up the province’s public service strike. The Vancouver office of the Ministry of Finance is now behind a picket line. Workers in Surrey, Victoria and Prince George remain off the job. The union says there’s no indication the government is prepared to return to the bargaining table with an improved offer. Premier David Eby says the government is not in a pos...

Blame wildfire smoke and the warm, dry weather for the bad air around the Lower Mainland. A visible layer of haze will continue to hang for the next several days over the Fraser Valley, Metro Vancouver, Sea-to-Sky and other parts of B.C. Air quality advisories are in effect. Those bothered by the smoke are advised to stay indoors, close windows and use air filters. Meanwhile, more than two days af...

The first round of job action by B.C. public sector workers has started. Pickets went up in Surrey, Victoria and Prince George as members of the BCGEU and the Professional Employees Association push for substantial wage hikes. Several ICBC offices are not open. The Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria is closed. While many of the workers are deemed ‘essential’ and likely won’t strike, others work for gov...

Close to 35,000 public service workers in B.C. are set to hit the picket lines Tuesday. Members of the BCGEU and about 1,800 members of the Professional Employees Association are now in a legal strike position following 72 hour notice. Both unions are pushing for higher wages. It comes as the provincial government braces for an $11B deficit this year.

Members of Canada’s largest general trades union have staged a Vancouver rally to push for greater efforts to save jobs amid U.S. tariffs. Close to 1,500 members of Unifor gathered near the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre calling on Canadians to protect jobs in the auto sector as well as those in key resource industries. Union members blame Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney for losing the l...

A carny has been killed after being hit by a ride in Prince Rupert. The worker was struck by a rotating cart on the Zipper during the first night of the Prince Rupert Summer Carnival. The company that operates the rides - Mission-based Shooting Star Amusements - says its worker was a ‘dear close friend’ and a ‘great man.’ WorkSafeBC, Technical Safety BC and the Coroners Service are investigating....

Kwantlen Polytechnic University is poised to layoff another 45 full-time staff members as international student enrollment takes a dive. Foreign enrollment is down 60 per cent from two years ago. KPU’s acting president blames the school’s money troubles on the federal government’s recent changes to visa rules. Domestic enrollment is also down by close to three per cent over the same period.

Mayor Ken Sim and his Vancouver civic party have broken the rules by holding secret meetings according to the city’s integrity commissioner. A damning report finds the mayor and seven councillors with ABC willfully breached the Vancouver charter by holding private discussions on two issues - the city’s climate plan and upgrades to Moberly Park. The ethics report follows a year long investigation....

Numerous temperature records have been broken across the province after a late summer weekend of hot weather. On Saturday, Victoria reached 31.1C, breaking an August 23 record dating back to 1916, Other areas with record highs include Abbotsford, West Vancouver, Whistler and Pemberton. Lytton hit 38.6C - the warmest day for the date since 1958. The BC Wildfire Service remains on alert as this comi...

Voters will notice a new civic party in the next round of municipal elections. The B.C. Conservatives have filed the paper work allowing the party to be on the ballot in 15 of the province’s largest municipalities. There’s no word on the degree of alignment between the civic and provincial Conservatives but a party spokesperson says more information will be shared in the coming weeks including det...

The leader of the upstart One BC party has filed a private prosecution accusing a well-known pro-Palestinian activist of terrorism. Vancouver-Quilchena MLA Dallas Brodie - who broke away from the BC Conservatives - accuses Charlotte Kates of a variety of terrorism offences relating to statements made at anti-Israel protests in Vancouver. Outside the courthouse on Main Street, Kates’ supporters sho...

The strike is over. Air Canada has resumed most of its flights now that a deal has been reached with its CUPE represented flight attendants. The four-year deal provides wage increases of between 16 and 20 per cent. Flight attendants will also receive some compensation for pre and post flight duties. The tentative deal still has to be ratified by members.

Mediated talks have restarted between Air Canada and its CUPE represented flight attendants. The Union says Air Canada contacted CUPE Monday night in the impasse over wages and pay for pre-flight work. The move also comes after labour leaders defied a second order to resume working. The strike has shut down most Air Canada flights in and out of the country’s major airports including YVR.

A stubborn fire that started early Sunday morning and burned through the day has destroyed most of an under-construction, residential/mixed-use building next to the future SkyTrain extension in Langley City. RCMP and the fire department are not commenting on the cause of the blaze at this point. Several businesses near Fraser Highway and 201 Street remained closed Sunday, including the Save-on-Foo...

B.C.’s South Coast is under a heavy rainfall warning as the weather takes a major turn. A frontal system has moved in which could bring up to 80mm of rain by the end of Friday. That’s prompted some concerns about possible flooding after weeks of dry weather - the BC River Forecast Centre has issued a high streamflow advisory for the North Shore mountains, Howe Sound, Sea-to-Sky and Pemberton.

Rain is in the forecast for Friday which may be good news as crews try to contain the huge and still growing Mount Underwood wildfire south of Port Alberni. The fire had reached 22 square kilometres by Wednesday morning. Parts of Port Alberni remain on evacuation alert. Meanwhile, the small town of Bamfield has been hit by a power outage as a result of the fire. The main road between Bamfield and...

That wildfire near Port Alberni has grown to at least 1,400 hectares as of early Tuesday afternoon. The Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District has declared a local state of emergency as crews continue to fight the Mount Underwood fire from the ground and air. Bamfield Road is closed between Bamfield and Port Alberni. The China Creek Campground remains evacuated.

Breaking news …crews are working to contain a new and rapidly growing wildfire near Port Alberni. By late Monday evening, the Mount Underwood fire had grown to more than 150 hectares in the China Creek Marina area. On social media, Forests Minister Ravi Parmar says a BC Wildfire attack crew, air tanker, four helicopters, three unit crews and a Type 1 Incident Management Team had been sent in. Nigh...

Heat warnings continue for parts of Vancouver Island and southern B.C. with temperatures expected to be in the high 30s in many areas. Sea-to-Sky, eastern and inland parts of Vancouver Island, and the Similkameen and South Okanagan are under warnings - cooling is not expected until late Tuesday. The Lower Mainland is not under any such warnings but eastern parts of the Fraser Valley may hit the lo...