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  Prostitution zone proposed in Victoria, British Columbia 11/17/2004, 6:29 a.m. PT The Associated Press     VICTORIA, British Columbia (AP) — A British Columbia provincial legislator has proposed a legal working zone for prostitutes in a largely downtown industrial part of her district in the provincial capital city.Sheila Orr, a member of the governing Liberal party who represents the Victoria-Hillside district, said residents have complained about hookers showing up in residential areas and the resulting police sweeps for the prostitutes' customers."I just think it's time we took a look at an issue that we know has been on...

What did you make of that poll showing 40% of Canadian teens regard America as “evil”? A little statistical oversampling of various Khadr nephews and nieces in southern Ontario perhaps? But no, these seem to be regular well-adjusted wholesome all-American-hating Canadian teens. And the only sub-group variation I saw in the Dominion Institute’s survey was that, when it comes to francophone teens, the number who regard America as an “evil global force” rises to 64%. Given that, unlike other Yankophobic nations, the Canadian economy has only one customer, our anti-Americanism is, obviously, psychologically unhealthy: we decline to put our money...

A high school play featuring a same-sex kiss between two lesbian characters has caused a stir in North Vancouver. The principal of Handsworth Secondary told the school's drama teacher to take the scene out of the play Broken Theory – after getting some complaints after the play's second show. North Vancouver School Board chair Ginny Diebolt says the principal acted because the play featured inappropriate language and sexually explicit scenes. "High school plays must have a broad appeal to a broad range in the community. "And I think there is an expectation in our community that if you go to...

Nanaimo residents could be out of luck for emergency room doctors come 12:00. ER doctors and the Vancouver Island Health Authority failed to reach an agreement last night. The 21 physicians, who resigned ten days ago, have threatened increased job action if an agreement isn't made by noon. Meaning the one doctor left in the ER, to treat life and limb cases, would be removed. The dispute is over staffing levels and wage parity with Victoria. The Health Authority says if necessary outside doctors will be moved in to maintain emergency services.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Mike Rowe thinks it's funny that his catchy name for a Web site design company sounds a lot like Microsoft. The software giant, however, is not amused. "Since my name is Mike Rowe, I thought it would be funny to add 'soft' to the end of it," said Rowe, a 17-year-old computer geek and Grade 12 student in Victoria, British Columbia. Microsoft Corp. and its attorneys have demanded that he give up his domain name, the Vancouver Province newspaper reported Sunday. Rowe registered the name in August. In November, he received a letter from Microsoft's Canadian...

B.C. JUDGE DELAYS MEDIA BID TO UNSEAL SEARCH WARRANTS VANCOUVER -- The mystery surrounding a massive drug and organized-crime probe in British Columbia has deepened after a judge delayed a bid to unseal the search warrants used in a series of unprecedented raids on the B.C. Legislature last weekend. Lawyers for several media outlets, including The Globe and Mail, asked for access to the warrants the RCMP used to get permission to raid the offices of two top B.C. cabinet ministers' aides and five other businesses and homes in Victoria and Vancouver. Police said the raids were part of an...

SEATTLE -- Terrorists are using Canada as a launching pad to illegally enter America. An exclusive KIRO Team 7 Investigation uncovers not only are terrorist recruitments going on in British Columbia, but holes in border security between there and Western Washington are an open gate, letting terrorists walk right in. KIRO Team 7 Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne exposes the threat from Vancouver. This city wants to be known as our friendly neighbor to the north and host for the 2010 Winter Games. However, a KIRO Team 7 Investigation discovered it's also home to 55 known terrorist organizations, some of which...

Why A Naked Bike Ride? Every day we are bombarded with countless messages demanding our obedience to the corporate dictates of a consumption dependent society. Little regard is paid to the future of our planet and generations left with a legacy of waste and environmental contamination. How many countless times each day do our media masters spin the same message: Unless you buy this, you are not worthy. Unless you look like this you should be ashamed. By cruising naked down the spending frenzy capitals of the world, we are saying.NO! ...a fancy new car is not a mark of...

VICTORIA (CP) - Residents of a Kelowna, B.C., neighbourhood whose homes were levelled by a raging forest fire may try to take the B.C. government to court, a lawyer said Wednesday. Denis Berntsen, a lawyer in the Vancouver Island community of Sidney, said he has been approached by one family and talked to several others. There could be grounds for a class-action lawsuit against the government, he said. "The allegation is that the fire could have been prevented or at least the severity of it could have been prevented had the government followed the expert reports it had available to...

Fears that an outbreak of a cold-like illness among patients at a 101-bed nursing home in the South Fraser area was linked to a mutant SARS-like virus were eased yesterday. Since July 1, 11 residents at Kinsmen Place Lodge in Surrey have died from an outbreak of respiratory illness. Tests on some of the victims have shown the presence of a coronavirus similar to SARS. Don Bower of the Fraser Health Au-thority said 11 residents and six out of 129 staff had cold symptoms at the second nursing home, which has not been identified. He said tests have failed to...

SARS virus may be back in Canada 17:32 20 August 03 Debora MacKenzie An outbreak of pneumonia, which tests so far indicate may be caused by the SARS virus, appears to be spreading in British Columbia, Canada. The virus had already infected over 150 people and killed six at a nursing home near Vancouver, and now appears to have infected a second nursing home nearby. Researchers have announced that several genetic sequences from the virus are identical to the virus that causes SARS. But, confusingly, the symptoms shown in the new outbreak have been much milder. The apparent end to...

VANCOUVER (CP) - Theories abound but answers remain elusive as experts from Canada and beyond try to figure out whether a mysterious respiratory outbreak at a Vancouver-area nursing home - which claimed another life Tuesday - is a new and milder form of SARS. The outbreak at the Kinsmen Place Lodge in suburban Surrey is confounding experts because most of the nearly 150 residents and staff who have become ill have suffered nothing more than mild cold-like symptoms - nothing like the severe disease that gave severe acute respiratory syndrome its name. While public health officials in British Columbia insist...

VANCOUVER -- Another person has died as medical officials in Surrey, B.C., try to decode an outbreak of a mysterious SARS-like virus. The illness has raised fears of a new outbreak of the dreaded disease in Western Canada and it is spreading, but experts are cautioning Canadians not to jump to the conclusion that the respiratory illness is to blame. A second nursing home in Surrey has had nine cases of a respiratory illness among its elderly residents. And, last week, the Kinsmen Place Lodge, also in Surrey, reported 143 cases of a similar illness. Another person at the lodge...

VANCOUVER -- A mutant SARS virus has forced into quarantine 19 workers at Surrey Memorial Hospital. They had all come into contact with an elderly female patient at the hospital who recently tested positive for a SARS-like infection. The woman is still in isolation at the hospital with respiratory problems. Hospital spokesperson Helen Carkner said none of the staff are ill, but are staying at home as a precaution. "For a period of a few hours, before we got the conclusive lab results," Carkner said Saturday, "there were some staff that were in contact with that patient." Public health officials...

By HELEN BRANSWELL VANCOUVER (CP) - Theories abound but answers remain elusive as experts from Canada and beyond try to figure out whether a mysterious respiratory outbreak at a Vancouver-area nursing home - which claimed another life Tuesday - is a new and milder form of SARS. The outbreak at the Kinsmen Place Lodge in suburban Surrey is confounding experts because most of the nearly 150 residents and staff who have become ill have suffered nothing more than mild cold-like symptoms - nothing like the severe disease that gave severe acute respiratory syndrome its name. While public health officials in...

Pamela Fayerman Vancouver Sun Tuesday, August 19, 2003 Genetic testing of blood and other samples from dead and ill Surrey nursing home residents and workers is so far consistent with SARS, the scientific director of Health Canada' s National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg told The Vancouver Sun Monday. Dr. Frank Plummer, who doubles as the director-general of the Centre for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control in Ottawa, said the results are so intriguing that a virologist from the World Health Organization in Geneva is expected to visit the Winnipeg laboratory today to view the samples. Dr. David Patrick, chief epidemiologist...

Men wanted by the FBI ''in the broader context of 9/11 and the New Year'' were reportedly aboard a B.C. ferry carrying a large, heavy box and taking photographs of the docks earlier this month, the National Post has learned. A rare international alert has been issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the five men of Arab descent. It says they are believed to have entered the United States illegally, reportedly from Canada, on or around Christmas Eve. The FBI is investigating a detailed account from a B.C. woman who says she saw two of the wanted men...

The 51st and 52nd states Alberta is already more American than Canadian in some ways, while a left-leaning State of British Columbia would keep the Democrats happy Lawrence Solomon Financial Post Thursday, June 05, 2003 CREDIT: National Post A map of "the 51st and 52nd states". George Bush wants Alberta's oil but, if it were up for grabs, he'd want Alberta even more. With Alberta as America's 51st state, the U.S. would secure 300 billion barrels of recoverable oil reserves, more than exist in Saudi Arabia. U.S. oil imports would plummet and America's great dependence on foreign oil would vanish....

B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell earlier this year. (CP/Ian McKain) VICTORIA (CP) - B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell apologized Friday to his family, friends and "the people of British Columbia" after he was charged with drunk driving in Hawaii. "Last night I was returning home from dinner with friends and the Maui police pulled me over," he said in a statement issued from his office. "I was arrested and charged with driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol. I do not intend to contest the charge." Maui police Sgt. Ken Prather said Campbell, 54, was arrested at 1:23 a.m. Campbell...

SPARWOOD, British Columbia - A train collision resulted in more than $640,000 damage, and railroad investigators believe sabotage was the cause. A reward of about $640,000 has been offered by Canadian Pacific Railway for information on the collision, which damaged two trains and injured an engineer and a conductor near this southeastern British Columbia town. Railroad officials said a loaded sulfur train, parked Saturday night on a side track, was started and moved about 175 feet, causing the engine to protrude onto the main line. An empty coal train heading west hit the sulfur train at about 4 a.m. Sunday....