Port workers' union accuses BC Maritime Employers Association of ending talks early
A labour dispute continues to paralyze cargo shipping at British Columbia ports, and the union for locked-out workers is accusing employers of abruptly ending contract talks early.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Local 514 says the BC Maritime Employers Association ended federally mandated talks with a mediator less than an hour after they began late Saturday afternoon.
The employers association said in an evening statement each side met separately with a mediator in Vancouver, but that there was "no progress made."
Talks to resume in B.C. port dispute in bid to end multi-day lockout
Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia's ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
Magnitude 5.3 quake hits northern Yukon, no damage reported
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake has struck in northern Yukon, but Natural Resources Canada says there have been no reports of damage and none would be expected.
The quake struck about 167 kilometres north of Keno, Yukon, and 519 kilometres from Whitehorse, just after noon Pacific Time at a depth of 27 kilometres.
Natural Resources Canada had initially reported a magnitude of 5.8 for the quake, and says tremors were felt in Keno, which has a population of about 20 people.
B.C. port employers issue lockout notice in labour dispute with foremen union
Ports in British Columbia could potentially be paralyzed again starting next week, as the latest labour dispute has triggered a provincewide lockout notice from employers against a union of more than 700 foremen.
The BC Maritime Employers Association says in a statement that it will "defensively" lock out members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 starting Monday at 8 a.m., shutting down all cargo operations provincewide but leaving cruise ships and operations for grain vessels unaffected.
No clear winner in B.C. election, Conservative leader says province 'changed forever'
There was no clear winner in Saturday's British Columbia election, but the leader of the B.C. Conservatives says the province's political landscape has "changed forever," after his party pushed the incumbent New Democrats to the brink.
Neither party won enough seats to claim a majority, and vote counting was set to continue Sunday, with Premier David Eby's NDP in striking range of a minority government if he gets the co-operation of the Greens, who won two seats.
Potential recounts mean it could be next week before the winner is decided.
Grain farmers urge intervention as Metro Vancouver terminal workers ready strike
Canada's grain farmers say a strike at Metro Vancouver terminals would cripple crop exports if it were allowed to take place.
The Grain Growers of Canada say in a statement that it is "deeply concerned" about a potential strike of grain workers in Metro Vancouver, since about 52 per cent of all Canadian-grown grain went to those terminals last year.
Grain farmers say a strike would "halt nearly 100,000 metric tonnes" of commodities arriving each day, potentially costing $35 million daily in lost exports.
RCMP officers face firing for 'atrocious' racist behaviour, harassment, documents say
Three RCMP members from a Metro Vancouver detachment could be fired over alleged "atrocious," "racist" and "horrible" behaviour detailed by a fellow officer, including text chats that bragged about "Tasering unarmed black people," court documents say.
A schedule from the RCMP shows Constables Philip Dick, Ian Solven and Mersad Mesbah are slated to appear next February for code of conduct hearings over allegations including discrimination, harassment and discrediting the police force.
None of the allegations have been proven.
Canada's physicians formally apologize for harm to Indigenous communities
In a haunting message from beyond the grave, Métis Elder Sonny James MacDonald recounted being incarcerated for more than two years at an Indian Hospital in Edmonton in the 1940s for tuberculosis treatment, suffering abuse and isolation as a child.
"After the surgery … they took it upon themselves … that they should take my pajama bottoms off to prevent me from walking around," MacDonald, a renowned carver who died in 2021, said in a video clip taken from a documentary released that same year.
Federal effort to boost child care in three provinces off to 'slow start': report
A $30-billion federal funding initiative launched in 2021 to bring $10-a-day child care across Canada has created a fraction of the new spaces expected in the first year of operation in three provinces that were assessed, a new report said.
An analysis by public-policy group Cardus said the roll out of child-care expansion programs in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick have all stumbled with a "slow start" and "underwhelming results."
Friend, community members remember 'humble,' 'genuine' Mountie killed in shooting
Brittni Drummond's three-year old daughter, Rikki, doesn't understand why her "police officer buddy" has been showing up on television in the last few days.
Rikki's friend was Ridge Meadows RCMP Const. Rick O'Brien, who was shot and killed while executing a warrant in Coquitlam, B.C., on Friday.
"She just pointed him out and said, 'He's on the TV? Why?" said Drummond, a mother of two living in nearby Maple Ridge. "I told her that he's a hero, and she said, 'He's catching the mad people.'