The Transportation Safety Board says a fire that broke out in the engine room of a container ship off Haida Gwaii was caused by poor maintenance. Five of the 22 crew members onboard the MOL Prestige were seriously hurt in the fire on Jan. 31, 2018. The board's report says the fire started when cold fuel oil was added into a high temperature tank caused oil to spew from the top and catch fire. It found equipment in the engine room hadn't been maintained as required and even though engine crew had identified hazards, they went unaddressed. The safety board says several other safety issues were

Most students from kindergarten to Grade 12 are to return to British Columbia schools full time in September.Education Minister Rob Fleming says enhanced safety measures and additional resources to prevent the spread of COVID-19 will allow the province to move its education restart plan ahead.Fleming says the classroom is an essential part of a child's social, academic and mental development, and that's why the province is working hard to ensure children can spend the school year with their teachers and classmates.He says on the advice of the provincial health officer, students will be organiz

Mara Soriano says her knees buckled as a two Good Samaritans handed her a bag containing a brown teddy bear in a red-and-white dress and white jacket.For the past four days Soriano has walked up and down Vancouver alleyways, looked under dumpsters, put up posters and responded to every email and tweet that she thought could lead her back to a teddy bear that carried her late mother's voice.Last night she sobbed with joy when she was reunited with the bear.The bear was stolen while she was moving to a new apartment on Friday, and Soriano put out a call for it on social media that soon went vir

MPs on the House of Commons ethics committee will meet this afternoon to push forward their own parliamentary probe of the federal government's aborted deal with WE Charity to run a student-volunteer program.The committee is seeking documents on the speaking fees the charity paid to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's immediate family, which amount to some $300,000 plus expenses.Opposition MPs, who outnumber Liberals, have also used their numbers to ask Trudeau to testify before the ethics committee as part of its work.Trudeau is set to testify tomorrow at the House of Commons finance committee a

There are 114,994 confirmed cases in Canada. Quebec: 58,897 confirmed (including 5,670 deaths, 50,886 resolved) Ontario: 38,910 confirmed (including 2,768 deaths, 34,567 resolved) Alberta: 10,470 confirmed (including 187 deaths, 8,886 resolved) British Columbia: 3,523 confirmed (including 194 deaths, 3,076resolved) Saskatchewan: 1,218 confirmed (including 17 deaths, 907 resolved) Nova Scotia: 1,067 confirmed (including 63 deaths, 1,004 resolved) Manitoba: 391 confirmed (including 8 deaths, 319 resolved), 14 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 266 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 259 resolved

A suspected drug lab prompted a significant police and fire department presence at a highrise in north Burnaby.Vancouver police, RCMP and others responded when the suspected meth lab was found yesterday afternoon and officers from Vancouver remained there this morning. Vancouver police Sergeant Aaron Roed says police and the emergency response team have been trying to execute a search warrant. The building has not been evacuated and Roed says the investigation is ongoing.

The Canadian government has announced a full public inquiry into a mass shooting in April that killed 22 people in Nova Scotia. Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said Tuesday that the government is responding to calls from families, survivors, advocates, and Nova Scotia members of Parliament for more transparency. Thirteen of the victims were shot to death and nine died in fires set by the suspect, who was fatally shot by police a day later. The gunman wore a police uniform and drove a car that looked like a police cruiser. Earlier today, Nova Scotia Justice Minister Mark Furey said he would

A single life sentence of 25 years in prison has been imposed on 27-year-old Rocky Rambo Wei Nam Kam for the murders of a Vancouver couple two years ago. Kam was convicted of first-degree murder in the September 2017 deaths of 65-year-old Dianna Mah-Jones and 68-year-old Richard Jones. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Laura Gerow said during her decision Tuesday that the victims were innocent and defenceless strangers to Kam who murdered them in their own home in a prolonged and vicious attack. The Crown had asked that Kam serve two life sentences, ensuring he would be in prison for 50 years before

Health Canada has approved the use of remdesivir to treat patients with severe symptoms of COVID-19. The federal agency says the antiviral drug may be used to treat patients who have pneumonia and require extra oxygen to help them breathe. It's the first drug that Health Canada has authorized for the treatment of COVID-19. Health Canada approved its use in adults and adolescents. Remdesivir, which has been shown to shorten hospital stays, is administered intravenously and will be used only on patients that can be closely monitored. Until now, a small number of patients have been treated with