A former youth worker has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for abusing a 15 year old boy in December of 2010. Caitlin Hooper was 22-years old in 2010 when she abused the 15-year old boy. She's been found guilty of sexual touching and invitation to sexual touching. That happened in October of last year. She claims she believed the boy was 17 … [Read more...]
Updated: Jobs Minister changes stance on temporary foreign worker controversy
February 6, 2013 by
BC's Jobs Minister is admitting people have lost confidence in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program after the HD Mining controversy. Pat Bell says it is clear the company fell short in looking for qualified Canadian miners before bringing in Chinese workers. "The public needs to have confidence that any jobs that are allowed to be … [Read more...]
Worker seriously hurt on Richmond construction site
January 31, 2013 by
An accident at a Ricmond construction site has left a worker fighting for his life. Megan Johnston with Worksafe BC explains what she knows of what happened this afternoon at the River Green condo development site on River Road. "Preliminary reports were that glass panels were being unloaded when one slipped and struck the worker and I … [Read more...]
Unions win another battle in Temporary Foreign Worker fight
January 16, 2013 by
Trades unions say they have won another court battle in their efforts to get documents from HD Mining in the Temporary Foreign Worker Controversy. Union lawyer Charles Gordon says a judge has told Human Resources Minister Diane Finley she has the power to compel HD Mining to release the documents. "So the documents that we are talking about … [Read more...]
Worker fired for snooping on medical records of media folks
December 6, 2012 by
Vancouver Coastal Health has fired an employee for breaching the privacy of five local media personalities. That worker had been snooping around on their electronic health records. It was discovered during a routine audit of patient file access. The now-fired employee seemed to have a personal interest in the media types and didn't share the … [Read more...]
Developing story: Worker injured on Mitchell Island
December 5, 2012 by
A possible explosion on Mitchell Island has sent at least one workers to hospital. Donna Freeman at Worksafe BC says they are also heading to the scene. "Well we have just got a report of an incident occuring on Mitchell Island in Richmond apparently an incident that has something to do, at least with initial reports, to do with an electrical panel … [Read more...]
CN worker killed by derailment identified
November 30, 2012 by
The CN worker killed by Wednesday's derailment in northern BC was a 30-year old from Dawson Creek. Bryan Giesbrecht was in a remote area nearly 250-kilometres northwest of Fort St. John when a car carrying diesel went off the tracks and crushed him. It happened during a routine switching of the tank. Several investigations are now underway. CKNW … [Read more...]
New mine proceeding despite foriegn worker debate
November 28, 2012 by
Even though hundreds of foreigners hired to work at a new underground coal mine could still lose those jobs, the company involved is planting more roots in Tumbler Ridge. HD Mining plans to spend $ 15-million on housing for chinese workers, but the company's Jody Shimkus says --eventually-- those 'temporary' employees will be replaced … [Read more...]
Feds to review temporary foreign worker program
November 8, 2012 by
A key labour leader in BC is pleased the federal government is reviewing a controversial program aimed at hiring foreigners to fill local jobs. "We're slowly peeling the layers back on this and we're going to get there." Steve Hunt is the Western Canada director of the United Steelworkers Union, which has been critical of plans to hire … [Read more...]
Another worker fired in health breach scandal
September 14, 2012 by
Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid says another staffer has been fired in the privacy breach scandal. "There is one further ministry employee that has been terminated so there in total are two people that remain suspended (without pay) and five individuals have been terminated. This goes back to the investigation that has been ongoing since … [Read more...]
