VANCOUVER - OVERDOSE DEATHS INCREASE BY OVER 40 PER CENT

The BC Coroners Service says the number of suspected drug overdose deaths in the province jumped by 43 per cent last year.

It says there were a record 1,422 suspected deaths in 2017, up from 993 the previous year.

Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe says government agencies need to continue working together to help reduce the stigma of drug addiction and increase awareness.

The province declared a state of emergency in April 2016 over the crisis, allowing more safe consumption sites to open and increased distribution of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone.

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ALBERTA AND B.C. TUSSLE OVER PIPELINE PROPOSAL

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley has called an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss B.C.'s proposal to restrict increases in shipments of diluted bitumen.

B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman said Monday that the proposed ban on the increase of oil exports would be imposed until it can be determined through an advisory panel that shippers are able to properly clean up any spill.

Environmental groups say the proposal deals a possibly fatal blow to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion from Alberta to Burnaby, after it received federal government approval.

Notley has called the plan illegal and unconstitutional and said it would jeopardize investment decisions and hundreds of thousands of jobs across a range of industries.

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ALBERTA MAN WITH TIES TO B.C. ACCUSED IN CHILD LURING CASE

Police say an Alberta man accused of posing as a teenage girl to lure teenage boys on social media has also lived in Kelowna.

The 34-year-old was arrested last week after he allegedly lured and attempted to sexually assault a boy in Grande Prairie, Alta.

Jonathan Karl Bruenig has been charged with offences that include child luring and making, possessing and distributing child pornography.

Investigators with Alberta's child exploitation unit say the suspect has been involved with a number of junior hockey teams and they are working with other police agencies to investigate similar alleged offences in B.C., Northwest Territories and Australia.

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PILOT TOOK UNAUTHORED PATH BEFORE DEADLY CRASH

The owner of a seaplane that crashed off the coast of Australia on New Year’s Eve says the flight path taken by the B.C. pilot was not authorized.

Forty-four-year-old Gareth Morgan of North Vancouver was killed along with his five British passengers when the de Havilland Beaver crashed near Sydney.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau released a preliminary report Wednesday, ruling out a bird strike, contaminated fuel and the plane breaking up in flight but does not suggest any likely cause of the crash.

Sydney Seaplanes CEO Aaron Shaw says the key question is why Morgan was flying in a bay surrounded by steep terrain that had no exit and why an experienced pilot suddenly entered a steep right turn before the plane nosedived into the water.

The plane had an earlier fatal crash in 1996 while operating as a crop duster in rural Australia that was blamed on the pilot stalling the aircraft.

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POLICE BELIEVE SHOOTING VICTIM TARGETED

RCMP in Chilliwack say they're investigating a fatal shooting early Wednesday.

They say they found a man with life-threatening injuries at a home in the city after responding to reports of shots fired at about 6 a.m.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team was called in after the victim died in hospital.

Police say they are in the early stages of their investigation but believe the man was targeted.

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APP ALERTS BYSTANDERS TO PERFORM CPR

B.C. has launched the first provincewide smartphone app aimed at turning bystanders into potential lifesavers of heart attack victims.

Emergency Health Services says the PulsePoint app connects users to emergency dispatchers who would send a notification to the mobile devices of those within walking distance when a sudden cardiac arrest occurs in a public place.

It says users with CPR training can then quickly go to the patient and begin resuscitation efforts while paramedics are en route.

EHS says the smartphone alert could also save lives by showing users a map pinpointing the location of nearby portable public defibrillators.

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By The Canadian Press, Vancouver

News from © The Canadian Press, 2018