Vancouverites will get to vote on whether to get rid of the Park Board. The provincial government has introduced legislation to change the Vancouver Charter and allow the city to axe its unique park board if voters approve. Mayor Ken Sim, who has been pushing for its demise, says he welcomes the province’s move but would have preferred it happened two years ago. Sim says Vancouverites deserve world-class parks that are delivered in a cost-effective manner.

All government liquor and cannabis stores are now behind BCGEU pickets. The move marks a major escalation in the public service strike after last week’s brief meeting between union and government negotiators. It also comes as the province’s bars and restaurants start running out of stock which would normally come through the government liquor distribution system. Right now, there are still no plans for the two sides to return to the bargaining table.

Those on 14 properties north of Kamloops are on evacuation alert following fears an unauthorized dam may fail. The Thompson-Nicola Regional District fears the Fadear Lake Dam could give way, releasing a large flow of water into a creek below it. The Regional District is telling people below the dam to be ready to leave on short notice.

“We won’t stop until we win a fair deal.” That’s what BCGEU president Paul Finch says as members of his union enter the sixth week of their public sector strike. Thousands of striking members and supporters marched from Victoria City Hall to the BC Legislature on Monday. The union says 22,000 of its 34,000 members are involved in job action now. The provincial government is not returning to the bargaining table right now.

“We won’t stop until we win a fair deal.” That’s what BCGEU president Paul Finch says as members of his union enter the sixth week of their public sector strike. Thousands of striking members and supporters marched from Victoria City Hall to the BC Legislature on Monday. The union says 22,000 of its 34,000 members are involved in job action now. The provincial government is not returning to the bargaining table right now.

“We won’t stop until we win a fair deal.” That’s what BCGEU president Paul Finch says as members of his union enter the sixth week of their public sector strike. Thousands of striking members and supporters marched from Victoria City Hall to the BC Legislature on Monday. The union says 22,000 of its 34,000 members are involved in job action now. The provincial government is not returning to the bargaining table right now.

‘It’s a public health emergency’ - that’s what Delta Councillor Dylan Kruger calls a 12 hours shutdown of his community’s only ER. A doctor staffing shortage is being touted as the cause of the fourth emergency room closure at Delta Hospital this year. It happened Saturday night, forcing emergency patients to be redirected to Surrey or hospitals on the other side of the Fraser River. Kruger says Health Minister Josie Osborne did not take-up his request to meet about this situation at last week’s Union of BC Municipalities conference.

Strike action will vastly increase in the next week - that’s the warning from the BCGEU as the province’s public sector strike continues into a fifth week. Union members rallied outside the B.C. Legislature Thursday in an effort to get the government to move beyond its latest wage offer. The union continues to demand an eight per cent wage hike over two years. The government is offering five per cent over the same period.

A few hundred striking public sector workers marched through downtown Vancouver Wednesday to draw attention to their push for much higher wages. The BCGEU members were joined by those from other unions for a noon hour walk from the Vancouver Art Gallery to Jack Poole Plaza. The union says it’s prepared to escalate the strike action after rejecting the Eby government’s five per cent wage increase over two years. Finance Minister Brenda Bailey says it’s important to reach a fair deal but one that is fair for all British Columbians.

B.C.’s new Extortion Taskforce is taking the lead, investigating shots fired at South Asian radio station Swift 1200 AM. Staff at the station, located in Surrey’s Newton neighbourhood, called police Tuesday morning after discovering an exterior door shot-up. There are no reports of injuries. Radio Swift recently aired an interview with Surrey’s Police Chief, focusing on extortion and violence in the South Asian business community.