Category: British Columbia

BC Suspends Electricity Connection Requests for Large Crypto Miners to Preserve Energy Supply

The British Columbia government has placed an 18-month suspension on electricity connection requests for cryptocurrency mining operations in a bid to preserve the province’s energy supply. The provincial government says the one-and-a-half-year halt will also give it time, along with BC Hydro, to engage with the “industry and First Nations, and develop a permanent framework for any…


Canadians Gleaned Naval Intelligence From Russian Defector, Newly Released Files Show

The young Russian seaman who turned up exhausted and bleeding on the British Columbia shore struck a Canadian intelligence official as well mannered, sincere and athletic, built like Tarzan of the movies. Less than two years later, defector Sergei Kourdakov would die in a California motel room—apparently by accidentally shooting himself—after joining an evangelical Christian…


Extreme Cold Warnings Blanket Western Canada as Winter Officially Arrives

Weather warnings or special weather statements are posted in every province and territory except Manitoba as winter storms or extreme cold usher in the official start of winter. Environment Canada says wind chill values across all of Alberta and more than half of Saskatchewan will make it feel like minus 40 or colder, while some areas…


Extreme Cold in Southern BC After Heavy Snow Creates Travel Chaos

An extreme cold is settling over parts of British Columbia’s Lower Mainland on the heels of heavy snow that grounded flights, jammed roads and delayed ferries. Environment Canada warns that bitterly cold temperatures and strong winds could make it feel between -20 C and -30 C in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. It says…


Southern BC Snowstorm Halts Flights at Vancouver Airport, Creates Travel Chaos

Most of British Columbia is covered by weather warnings as snow, extreme cold and arctic winds grip the province, forcing the suspension of all flights at Vancouver International Airport and playing havoc with transportation across the south coast. Officials with the Ministry of Transportation said as much as 30 centimetres of snow had covered parts…


Wind Chill Drops to -40 C in Central BC, Winter Tires Needed on Lower Mainland

Temperatures were dropping to dangerously cold extremes in many regions of British Columbia as snowfall sent tires spinning in parts of Metro Vancouver Sunday. Environment Canada said wind chill values would drop to near -40 C or colder in central communities like Prince George, Williams Lake, Quesnel and 100 Mile House. A bitterly cold arctic…


BC’s Coquihalla Highway Reopens to Four Lanes as Repairs Continue After 2021 Floods

A stretch along a key highway that sustained severe damage from landslides and flooding across southwestern British Columbia last year is back to four lanes after temporary repairs at three bridge sites. Transportation Minister Rob Fleming says the reopening of lanes on the Coquihalla Highway is “another momentous achievement” in the rebuilding process after atmospheric…


Ontario and British Columbia Headed for a Buyer’s Market, RBC Says

High interest rates will continue to hold back homebuyers into the new year, except in Ontario and British Columbia, a new report by RBC says. The report released Thursday said those purchasing real estate in Ontario and B.C. in 2023 will hold a stronger hand as conditions in these provinces continue to favour buyers as…


Escaped Inmate Sentenced to Life for the ‘Cold-Blooded’ Murder of a BC Man

Friends and relatives of murder victim Martin Payne say they are haunted by the actions of “two selfish, reckless” people who chose their victim because his home was near the prison where the men escaped. A B.C. Supreme Court jury found James Lee Busch guilty of first-degree murder late Wednesday. At his sentencing hearing today,…


Crown Argues Two Men Planned Murder of BC Resident for Banking Information

The prosecutor in the B.C. Supreme Court murder trial for an escaped inmate says evidence shows the accused and another escapee were “inseparable,” and proves the pair planned their attack to get banking information from their victim. In closing arguments in the trial of James Lee Busch Monday, Crown attorney Chandra Fisher said the accused and…