Two men are in hospital with unknown injuries after a shooting in East Vancouver.

It happened around 7:00 a.m. near Commercial Drive and East 5th Avenue.

Vancouver Police say their investigation is in its early stages, so they have very few details.

More to come...

George Heyman has been nominated the BC NDP's candidate for the Vancouver-Fairview riding -- he'll run for the riding in next year's provincial election.

In a release, Heyman says he's honoured to be part of the NDP's team of candidates.

Heyman is the executive director of the Sierra Club, and is a former president of the BC Government and Service Employees' Union.

He won the nomination with 221 votes out of 382 against City Councillor Geoff Meggs.

The riding is currently held by Liberal Health Minister Margaret Macdiarmid.

Members of the Hospital Employees' Union will begin voting tomorrow on whether to strike over protecting member benefits.

Bonnie Pearson with the union says they have been in negotiations for a collective agreement for more than eight months.

"Health employers keep telling us that we need to pay for any kind of a modest wage increase by taking it out of our benefit plans and our members have said to us that's not okay, so we're seeking a strong strike mandate from them to hopefully bring health employers back to the table."

Pearson says what job action would entail hasn't yet been decided. 

Voting is set to happen until November 1st, with results possibly being announced by November 2nd.

North Vancouver Fire had to use an inflatable raft to get to a stranded hiker and his dog at the bank of the Seymour River.

Assistant chief Jim Bonneville says homeowners across the river called 9-1-1.

"There were quite a few homeowners on the opposite side of the bank so with him calling for help our crews were there fairly quickly."

Bonneville says there is a lengthy trail system with many unmarked routes, and they believe the man simply got lost as it got dark. 

Both the man and his dog were cold, but unharmed.

They thought Legislature would be sitting, but anti-pipeline protesters are still planning a huge demonstration on Legislature grounds Monday morning.

Victoria City Councilor, Dr. Ben Isitt, says it will include a form of civil disobedience:

"In some way, the protesters will be breaching what's called the Legislative Grounds Protection Regulation.  It says you can't stake anything into the ground, that you basically have to follow the rulings of the Legislative Speaker."

Isitt, speaking on the World Today Weekend, says he plans to attend the protest.  Organizers hope thousands will join him.

He warns if the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline is approved, it will be met with a wall of opposition.

The chair of the Vancouver School Board says she agrees with the B.C. government's advice to not show the Amanda Todd video in classrooms

Patti Bacchus says that's what the professionals are advising.

"We don't want to be glamourizing or glorifying an individual. We know that that can have a contagion effect, is what I understand. That it oversimplifies an issue, that bullying does not necessarily lead directly to these tragic acts. There's often far more complex reasons going on in an individual's life."

Bacchus acknowledges it's an important issue to talk about, but doesn't think it's a good idea to show the video, especially since the BC Coroner's Service has yet to finish its investigation into the girl's death.

Many kids likely having already seen the video, posted a month before she committed suicide, in which Amanda tells about her experience getting bullied through a series of flash cards.

Police are looking for a 43 year old man reported missing in Abbotsford.

Ian "Mike" Tracey hasn't been seen Friday when he was working at a construction site in the Fleetwood area of Surrey.

He drives a 1997 white Dodge caravan with the B-C plate...563 FNG.
 
Tracey is 5'10" and 145 pounds, with brown hair and eyes.

Disappointed tourists are being told they can't enter the B-C Legislature this morning.

Security has been tightened in advance of today's protest against oil pipelines, and the building is not open to the public. 

At the moment, reporters and camera-operators outnumber protesters, many of whom plan to be arrested to make their point.

And brisk winds are threatening to blow away a row of placards reading "Clark, our coast is not for sale". 
 

The Transportation Minister says she is, and isn't surprised, that fare evasion on Coast Mountain buses is so rampant.
 
Mary Polak says the estimated number of fare evasions was lower than the actual number of 2.1-million last year.

However Polak says she always thought it was much higher compared with the estimated number.

"My own view for quite some time has been that the estimates we've had on fare evasion have been low."

Meanwhile Polak says it will be up Translink to decide if more transit police officers should be assigned to the buses.

"Certainly we want to see improved enforcement that's one of the reasons we're investing so heavily in the fare gates whether it's transit police or another method."

For years bus drivers have been calling for more transit cops on their coaches to not only enforce fares but for safety reasons as well.

If bowling were to be incorporated into Vancouver Park Board facilities, it would be several years before pins started to fall.

Commissioner Aaron jasper says there are no immediate plans to incorporate bowling into recreational activities; he says that doesn't mean the Board wouldn't be open to a discussion, "I think our staff would really wanna (sic) take their time to think this through, Really the question is, is bowling an activity that should be provided by the Park Board, an activity that has been traditionally provided by the private sector."

A motion by Vancouver City Councillor Adriane Carr calling for bowling to be included in the city's new health initiative was voted down last week with Councillors saying recreation issues and funding are under the Park Board's jurisdiction.

Carr's motion came when hundreds of Vancouver residents were rallying to save Varsity Ridge Bowling.

The Development Permit Board approved the application for a development at Arbutus and west 15th Avenue Monday. It's up to the developer to decide whether it wants to include a bowling alley.

The province and City of Vancouver have announced a deal to open four new temporary winter shelters.

These shelters will provide 160 spaces for the homeless between the end of November and next May, and the Raincity Housing and Support Society will run them.

The provincial government is contributing $1.6 million, while the City is providing the sites.

The province has also agreed to fund 100 transition housing spaces in Vancouver for the next 18 months, while the balance of 14 new supportive housing developments are completed.

The civilian group that investigates serious incidents involving police in B.C. has been up and running for six weeks now.

Members from the independent investigations office have been dispatched to five cases so far – two of them fatal – from Prince George to Vancouver to Creston.

The man in charge, Richard Rosenthal, says the group is still brand-new, but doing well.

"The timelines are still very aggressive, but the reality is that we're still going with months instead of years and years instead of months."

He says they even have a few extra resources right now to spend on the cases that need it.

The office had been criticized during its first case in Prince George, when it used RCMP cars.

Rosenthal says there may be times when using police transport, for example, instead of commercial transport, is faster for them to get to the scene.

"There were just no rental cars we could find within the first day and a half. And under those circumstances, it is within my expectations – you know, I don't expect our people driving marked vehicles, but if the RCMP has some extra available vehicles so that we can get to the scene and get there timely, then that's what we need to do."

He says the IIO will at times have to collaborate with police for resources, seeing as he has only 36 investigators.

The union representing 3,600 paramedics and dispatchers in B.C. is holding a strike vote to try and get the government back to the bargaining table.

Bronwyn Barter, president of the Ambulance Paramedics of BC, says they've been negotiating for about eight months with no progress.

"What we're trying to do is encourage government through the strike vote to communicate, encourage government to get back to the table and take matters seriously."

Barter says the main issues are safety, wage improvement, and recruitment and retention.

She says workers have been on a contract that essentially hasn’t been updated since 2001.

The strike vote ends Nov. 1.

Barter adds staff would still comply with their essential service order, and only cut back on training and other non-essential work.

Charges have been laid against five more people in the Stanley Cup riot investigation.

The Criminal Justice Branch says three adults and two youths have been charged with various counts, including break and enter, mischief and arson.

The adults are Joseph Paul Graham, Brock Samuel Bigattini, and Beau Rylan Pearson.

The youths cannot be named.

Charges have now been approved against 161 suspected rioters. 

Premier Christy Clark touched on several topics in an hour-long interview with CKNW’s Bill Good, in which she also took questions from callers.

Firstly, she continued to paint herself as a defender of the environment when it comes to Enbridge pipeline proposal – a day after environmental groups staged a large anti-pipeline demonstration on the lawn of the BC Legislature.

"Bill, mark my words. As I said to (Alberta Premier) Alison Redford, no matter how much money they put on the table, even if they come up with a fantastic money deal for British Columbia, if they haven't met the conditions on the environment, the project will not go ahead."

She’s asked then that if the conditions are met, does that mean she is going to take a risk on oil spills.

"I think we take the risk every day. I mean, there's bitumen moving in and out of the Burrard Inlet every week right now, they are all these ships up and down the coast in international waters that we don't control. So that risk is there every single day and we manage it."

When it comes to training for skilled workers, the premier appears to not want to get ahead of herself.

Clark dodges the question when asked why mining companies are recruiting skilled Chinese workers instead of Canadian ones.

"We need to make sure that that mine, that that exploration, is done so that mine can get open. Because once it is open, there are going to be thousands and thousands of hours, employment hours, of highly paid, highly skilled jobs."

She says northeast B.C. doesn't have a mine yet, so why train for jobs that don't exist yet?

"We hope these temporary workers, and the exploration results are good. And it means that they come back and they open up a mine. And if they do, we're going to start training people for jobs because they will exist."

Clark adds the province does plan to invest $75 million to encourage students to consider the skilled trades.

Next, Clark ruled out a snap election in January.

Bill Good: “May 14th, absolute, no changing your mind?”

Clark: “Well, I mean, that's where we're at, that's what we're all planning for here. That's where the fixed election date says we're going to go. … I don't have any plan to have it go sooner and I don't know where that rumour would have come from."

She also flatly rejected a call from Metro Vancouver mayors that the province come up with financial help for the Translink's funding woes.

"Then need to come up with their own solutions.  Translink is an organization of local government, and frankly they can't keep looking to provincial taxpayers, people in Dawson Creek and Kamloops, to try and resolve the funding issues.”

Last week, the mayors ruled out any property tax increases in considering Translink’s new base plan, and told the province to help by Feb. 28 or the transit authority will hit the wall financially.

Finally, Clark defended herself against women who don't appear to like her.

The premier has been notoriously polling low among women.

A recent Ipsos Reid survey suggests more than half of women prefer the NDP, while less than a quarter would choose the BC Liberals.

Clark responded to some listener feedback, in which women called her autocratic, cutesy and defensive.

"I think what we heard there was a representative sample of lots of people who have political opinions in general. I mean, to say that that is women – what I heard was, I heard someone who supported what the NDP did in the 1990s. Fair enough, we differ on that. I heard someone who said that they didn't like BC Liberal policy. Fair enough. That's not about me being a woman."

Clark adds the economy is a woman's issue, and when election time comes, women would do well to look to the Liberals to help them and their partners keep their jobs, and their kids getting a good education.

B.C.'s justice minister is defending the province's plan to overhaul the justice system overhaul and the fact it comes with no new cash.

Critics have said why bother with a new scheduling system when there aren’t enough judges to hear cases.

Bond says it’s better to evaluate how efficiently they can spend the $1 billion already invested annually into the justice system, rather than adding more money.

"We have one of the lowest crime rates in the history of British Columbia, and we have fewer cases going to courtrooms today."

While the crime rate may indeed be lower, lawyer Geoff Cowper’s report into the backlogged system says 2,500 cases have been waiting more than 14 months for trial.

Bond made the comments after announcing that the B.C. government and the Canadian Red Cross Society will better co-ordinate responses to a potential major disaster, such as an earthquake.

The partnership includes no new money, however, and the Red Cross emergency response units discussed at the announcement were already in place.

Bond was also asked to comment on a handful of Lower Mainland mayors alternatives to B.C.’s current RCMP contract.                

She says municipalities have the right to opt out of the recently signed contract, but she'd rather those mayors chat with the provincial government first.

"To those mayors, I even encourage them to have a discussion with us, to talk to us, about the kinds of changes they'd like to see made. And I'm happy to have those discussions with those municipal leaders who are contemplating another policing option."

Municipalities must give two years’ notice to opt out.

The Canadian border officer who was shot last week at the Peace Arch crossing is now out of the hospital and recovering at home.

 Lori Bowcock was shot in the neck last Tuesday.

 32 year old Andrew Crews is accused of driving up to her booth in a white van, shooting her and then taking his own life.

 Homicide police continue to investigate.

Forcing health care workers to take the flu shot is a violation of human rights.

That's the message from Reid Johnson, president of the Health Sciences Association Union, which has filed a grievance with its employers over a policy which mandates workers get vaccinated.

"We encourage our member to get a flu vaccination every year but people for various reasons have the choice not to have the flu vaccine. It might be medical, it might be a personal values thing."

The union says wearing a mask as an alternative to getting a flu shot would interfere with communication between health care workers and patients.

But BC's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Perry Kendall says when people sign up to look after others, patients become the number one concern, even ahead of individual rights.

Kendall says in any case, it's not a human rights issue as the union claims.

"We've had ethical reviews and legal reviews. We've thought through this policy very carefully. We don't believe it's an abrogation of the human rights of health care workers."

Kendall says the policy is comparable to mandated hand washing or wearing masks during surgeries, it's just common sense.

The NDP's mining critic wants Chinese migrant workers coming to BC for coal mining jobs to be denied entry into the country until some things are sorted out.

Doug Donaldson says Jobs minister Pat Bell has said he is investigating claims the workers were charged to take the work, but "In the meantime I think that while this investigation is underway the temporary foreign workers for this coal mine in the Northeast shouldn't be allowed to come into the country I am not putting them down in anyway what so ever but if this is an illegal practice we need to investigate this before allowing the mining company and the provincial government to proceed."

Donaldson says it was indictment of her own jobs plan when the Premier said why train now for jobs that haven't materialized yet.

"Mining and mineral exploration are meant to be a large part of where the employment comes from in the jobs plan and rightly so but when the Premier said she won't provide training now so BC people could have the best opportunity for those jobs in the future then I think that is a terrible indictment."

He also disputes claims there are no BC workers skilled enough to take the mining jobs.

Donaldson says the Premier is overlooking workers in other sectors with transferable skills.

"I was at an underground mine, New Afton near Kamloops in June, the mine manager and I stopped a worker who had been working on one of the big machineries underground he had come over from forestry he had transferable skills so there are people in this province looking for work who have transferable skills who do not need to be trained up from scratch."

After this, Donaldson called our newsroom back, wanting to clarify his comments.

Donaldson says he is calling on Jobs Minister Pat Bell to expedite the investigation into the allegations so they can be addressed before the workers get to Canada.

"And I think that's the important part that Minister Bell came to a trade agreement with Chinese mine interests around this project and so he needs to address these allegations before the workers actually come to Canada."

The difference between this and his earlier comments -- he's now saying the investigation should be done before workers are set to get here, rather than allowing the probe to take longer and deny workers entry until it's finished.

The Coroners Service says one person is dead following an avalanche in the BC's northwest.

Coroner Barb McLintock says it took place in a remote area and the closest community is Stewart.
     
McLintock says two people from an industrial camp were working when the avalanche hit.

She says one person escaped but the other did not, and a Coroner from Terrace is investigating.