TERSE WORDS LAUNCH ANNUAL GATHERING OF B.C. POLITICIANS AND FIRST NATIONS
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip didn't hide his frustration as he delivered opening remarks at the annual gathering of aboriginal leaders and B.C. cabinet ministers.
In a speech immediately following comments from Aboriginal Relations Minister John Rustad, Phillip shredded Rustad's remarks about progress on First Nations issues, and creation of bus service along the so-called Highway of Tears.
Phillip said if it takes that many words to describe how well a relationship is working, then it's not working at all.
He hammered the B-C Liberal government for ignoring First Nations opposition and proceeding with the Site C dam, saying the government has not been responsive to aboriginal concerns since former premier Gordon Campbell was in power.
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COMPLICATED INVESTIGATION SEEKS INFORMATION ABOUT THREE PEOPLE MISSING NEAR WILLIAMS LAKE
Mounties in Williams Lake say the disappearance of three people is believed to be connected.
Forty-four-year-old Mihai Vornicu and his 58-year-old wife Marie Olarte were reported missing in early August, and RCMP in the Cariboo issued an appeal for public assistance on Sept. 1.
That's when the family of 32-year-old Robert Dragoescu reported they had not heard from him since late July, at about the same time as a vehicle belonging to the missing couple was found abandoned in Williams Lake.
Investigators said the three knew each other and had been seen together in Greater Vancouver before they vanished, and anyone with information is urged to contact Williams Lake RCMP or Crime Stoppers.
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COMPUTER PROBLEMS STALL FIRST-DEGREE MURDER TRIAL IN NANAIMO
Opening statements were just about to get underway Wednesday morning in Nanaimo at the first-degree murder trial of Kevin Addison, but the case almost immediately hit a snag.
The trial was delayed because of problems with the recording equipment in the courtroom.
The issues occurred after Addison and the jury had been seated, but Addison was removed and officials were uncertain about when the trial would resume.
Addison is accused of killing Michael Lunn and Fred McEachern and wounding two others in a shooting at the Western Forest Products mill in April 2014.
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UNIONIZED STAFF AT EMPRESS HOTEL VOTE STRONGLY IN FAVOUR OF NEW CONTRACT
Unionized workers at Victoria's best-known hotel, the Empress, have ratified a new labour deal.
Stu Shields, the national representative for Unifor, says workers voted 92 per cent in favour.
He said the new contract contains improvements to pay, pensions and benefits, and also addresses the issues of forced overtime and workload for housekeepers.
Unifor had threatened job action over the Labour Day long weekend if an agreement was not reached.
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MILD QUAKE FROM WASHINGTON STATE RIPPLES THROUGH FRASER VALLEY
A 3.2-magnitude earthquake has rattled the Sudden Valley area of northwestern Washington state and was strong enough to be felt over a wide area of the Fraser Valley.
The quake, which occurred just before midnight Tuesday, was not powerful enough to cause damage or injuries.
It was centred five kilometres northeast of Sudden Valley and was almost 20 kilometres below the earth's crust.
It came about 12 hours after another minor shaker, this one with a magnitude of 2.6, shivered the region 44 kilometres southeast of Princeton early Tuesday afternoon but caused no damage.
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VANCOUVER PARK BOARD SCULPTURE COULD BE KEY TO LOVER'S HAPPINESS
Vancouver has unveiled a new sculpture celebrating unbreakable, indivisible love.
The $50,000 steel sculpture entitled "Love In The Rain" is located at Queen Elizabeth Park and is designed to hold engraved padlocks symbolizing a couple's eternal love.
The unveiling took place Wednesday and there is already one lock on the piece, designed by Vancouver artist Bruce Voyce and showing four entwined couples.
Love locks are well known in Europe, where tens of thousands of the colourful padlocks had to be stripped off a foot bridge over the Seine in Paris last year, because the weight was causing the structure to collapse.
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The Canadian Press
