Unemployment is trending upward across much of Canada, but B-C's government says the provincial labour force remains steady.
Jobs Minister Brenda Bailey says Statistics Canada labour force survey shows B.C. gained nine thousand jobs last month.
B-C's unemployment rate is 5.3 per cent, compared with the national average of 5.8 per cent.
Bailey note that B-C has highest private-sector job growth among provinces and continues to be an economic leader in Canada.
The B.C. government wants 10 properties in Prince George forfeited for their alleged use in a years-long drug trafficking operation. The province's Director of Civil Forfeiture claims in a lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court that properties owned by Daniel Prediger should be handed over to the government because of their use in "unlawful activity."
Mounties in Surrey say a store was hit by gunfire on Thursday, the second time this week within the same business complex on 81st Ave and 128 Street. Police say officers found evidence of a shooting, but no one was injured and the business was closed at that time.
Surrey’s mayor says it’s "outrageous" that a sex offender who abducted and assaulted an 11-year-old girl in 2004 has been released in the city, which she says has more children per capita than anywhere in British Columbia. Surrey RCMP issued a public warning about Brian Abrosimo, 61, who they say is at high risk to reoffend after his release from prison on Thursday.
Liberals and New Democrats appear to be inching closer to an agreement on proposed pharmacare legislation, but a national drug plan may be farther out of reach than ever after this week's federal fiscal update. The Liberals promised to table and pass the legislation by the end of the year as part of a supply-and-confidence deal, in which the NDP is supporting the minority government on key votes in exchange for progress on shared priorities.
Metro Vancouver mayors say they need billions of dollars over the next few years and a more reliable funding model from the federal government in order to improve transit. Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West, chair of the Mayors’ Council, says they have agreed on a plan to expand transit services to accommodate for population growth and put affordable housing within reach of transit.
Iraj Daneshvar was arrested on Thursday, and charged with two additional counts of sexual assault by the York Regional Police's Criminal Investigations Bureau, in conjunction with Sexual Assault and Crimes Against Children Unit.