VICTORIA - The British Columbia government is allowing the height of the Mount Polley tailings dam to be raised an extra four metres, a decade after a similar storage site burst in one of the province's biggest environmental disasters. A statement from the Mining and Environment ministers says the extra height is to en...

VANCOUVER - Researchers at the University of British Columbia say they're gearing up to start "real-world testing" of a stir stick that can detect if a drink has been spiked with drugs. The university says in a news release that the device called "Spikeless" was developed in its faculty of applied s...

VICTORIA - B.C.'s ombudsperson says the lack of provincial standards guiding ethics of local politicians opens the door to interference and erodes public trust. Jay Chalke has issued a letter to the province urging it to bring in legislation after two recent reports out of Vancouver, saying current codes of conduct for...

Proposed legislation in British Columbia to give the cabinet sweeping powers to respond to threats from foreign governments amid Canada's tariff fight is getting more pushback from businesses as the Greens meet with the government about their concerns. BC Chamber of Commerce President Fiona Famulak says in a letter to ...

OTTAWA - Liberal Leader Mark Carney is back in Ottawa today to deal with the fallout from new auto tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, as the Conservatives continue campaigning in British Columbia. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Carney said he was suspending his campaign plans for the day and would r...

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. - Police in Abbotsford, B.C., say a semi truck flipped over and caught fire along Highway 1 near the city, temporarily closing a section of the road. Police say one passenger vehicle was also involved in the incident in the eastbound lanes, but no injuries have been reported. Photos supplied by the Abb...

VANCOUVER - Canadian police patrolling corners of the dark web are well aware of the commonly nefarious ways criminals exploit artificial intelligence. There's deepfake pornography. Voice impersonation. Romance scams that turn into financial fraud. But recently there's been a new twist - criminals offering to "jai...

A stretch of highway north of Pemberton, B.C., is closed as crews work to clear avalanche debris from the route, while Avalanche Canada says the risk remains high in many popular backcountry areas throughout British Columbia. A statement from the Transportation Ministry says a "partial avalanche" occurred alo...

The partner of a victim in Monday's avalanche that killed three snow sport veterans in British Columbia's Purcell Mountains says she tried to dig him out and revive him after arriving on the scene. Whistler-based professional snowboarder and filmmaker Leanne Pelosi says on social media that it's "absolutely beyond...

BURNABY, B.C. - Mounties say they called in police dog services to help arrest a robbery suspect who is alleged to have caused multiple crashes on Highway 1 during the Tuesday afternoon commute in Metro Vancouver. RCMP say officers had responded to reports of a robbery at a bank on Hastings Street in Burnaby, B.C., jus...

The chair of transgender studies at the University of Victoria is worried about attendance at this year's Moving Trans History Forward conference, with expectations of a 40 per cent drop in numbers. Aaron Devor says American potential attendees are reluctant to cross the border - not because of what might happen when t...

VICTORIA - British Columbia's former chief coroner says a new study linking safer supply and decriminalization to a rise in opioid overdose hospitalizations doesn't provide the full picture on the effectiveness of the province's drug policies. Lisa Lapointe, who retired from the post last year, says the study published...

VICTORIA - A study and poll from the office of British Columbia's seniors' advocate says ageism is a problem in the province and more than half of those surveyed say they have been victims of age discrimination. Advocate Dan Levitt did two surveys last year in conjunction with the report, asking B.C. residents of all a...

VANCOUVER - Large sections of southern B.C. have been warned to prepare for heavy rain, and possible thunderstorms and hail. A special weather statement issued by Environment Canada says Metro Vancouver, Greater Victoria and the Fraser Valley could see strong thunderstorms with heavy downpours and wind gusts of up to 7...

VICTORIA - The British Columbia government says it is introducing a new framework for First Nations consultations on mining claims. It says the changes to B.C.'s mineral tenure system are required to align with a 2023 B.C. Supreme Court ruling in Gitxaała vs. British Columbia. The ruling established that First Nations...

KELOWNA, B.C. - Mounties in Kelowna, B.C., say a 61-year-old man has been charged after an explosives scare that shut down a bridge across Okanagan Lake for about 11 hours earlier this year. In a previous news release posted on Jan. 27, the RCMP said a man parked a white panel van across multiple lanes of the William R...

VICTORIA - British Columbia Energy Minister Adrian Dix says U.S. President Donald Trump's claims about Canada supplying water through the Columbia River Treaty are "not accurate," and the U.S. can manage the water that flows over the border "however they see fit." Dix says there has been speculation...

VICTORIA - British Columbia's government says it will table legislation on Monday that eliminates the consumer carbon tax in the province. It says in a statement that the tax will be removed April 1, and it is notifying fuel sellers and natural gas retailers now so they stop collecting the tax as of that date. B.C. Pre...

VANCOUVER - A study into safer supply and drug decriminalization policies in British Columbia has found that both were associated with increased opioid overdose hospitalizations. The report says that there was no change in deaths associated with safer supply, while neither policy appeared to mitigate the opioid crisis ...

KASLO, B.C. - Three men have been killed in an avalanche on the east side of Kootenay Lake in southeast B.C. RCMP say the avalanche happened in an alpine area on Monday, sweeping away a group of four heli-skiers. More coming. The Canadian Press

VICTORIA - BC Ferries says it has nothing to do with a medical incident that left six passengers sickened, including two who had to be taken to hospital. The incident occurred Saturday on an afternoon sailing preparing to leave from Swartz Bay for Tsawwassen when six people were ill in a stairwell and required medical ...

MISSION, B.C. - Police in Mission, B.C., say a five-year-old girl was sent to hospital last week after she apparently overdosed on fentanyl, requiring multiple doses of naloxone to revive her. Mission RCMP say emergency responders were called to a home on Nottman Street on Thursday, where they found the child unconscio...

SEATTLE - The operator of a ferry service between Vancouver Island and Washington state says it's sorry for "unintentionally" raising the Canadian flag upside down as it entered Victoria harbour on Sunday. The Black Ball Ferry Line, which runs a ferry between Victoria and Port Angeles, Wash., says raising the...

VANCOUVER - Organizers of the Vancouver International Auto Show say the event broke attendance records after it attracted international headlines for banning Tesla on safety grounds. Supporters of the electric car company and CEO Elon Musk had called for a boycott of the show, but organizers say it instead set a new fi...

COQUITLAM, B.C. - An atmospheric river weather system drenched parts of southern British Columbia over the weekend, dumping more than 100 millimetres of rain in some locations and setting off a landslide. Environment Canada says the highest water mark was 130 millimetres over 48 hours at the Cape Beale Lighthouse on Va...

VANCOUVER - A teenager has been charged with assault for allegedly stabbing a taxi driver in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside last week. The alleged attack happened last Tuesday, when Vancouver Police say an off-duty officer saw the stabbing near the intersection of Main and Hastings streets. They say the officer then ale...

ST. JOHN'S - More than half of Canada's provincial and territorial governments buy critical internet and emergency communications services from Starlink - a satellite constellation owned by billionaire Elon Musk. And with Musk now acting as a top adviser to a U.S. president who has repeatedly threatened to annex Canada...

SURREY, B.C. - A man has been arrested after an overnight fire at a strip mall in Surrey, B.C., damaged at least one business. Police say patrolling officers detected smoke and a burning smell in the City Centre neighbourhood. They say officers saw a man leaving a business at the mall where the smoke was coming from, a...