VANCOUVER - ENVIRONMENTALIST WITH B.C. TIES FIRED IN ALBERTA

An Alberta cabinet minister is flatly denying that the firing of a controversial environmentalist from a government-appointed committee is due to her support for the NDP in British Columbia.

Tzeporah Berman and four other members of Alberta's Oil Sands Advisory Group have been let go from the 18-member panel.

Alberta's Environment Minister Shannon Phillips says the four had provided some valuable expertise but the panel's focus is now changing.

Berman, a former Greenpeace director, supported the New Democrats in B.C.'s provincial election for their position against the Trans Mountain pipeline project.

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DRUG USERS SAY THEY HOLD KEY TO ADDRESSING OVERDOSE EPIDEMIC

About 20 drug users have joined health professionals in Vancouver as they join forces to try and develop new strategies to combat the overdose crisis.

Karen Ward, a board member of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, says people taking illicit substances in the city's Downtown Eastside have a network of other users to rely on.

She says they share educational resources and help to shed stigma so people can get the help they need, but others elsewhere are dying alone because they fear the stigma of people knowing they need help.

The BC Centre for Disease Control co-hosted the gathering, and executive director Dr. Mark Tyndall says it's time policy-makers used a patient-centred approach by including people with "lived experience."

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AQUARIUM SAYS PORPOISE UNDER 24-HOUR CARE BEFORE DEATH

A preliminary necropsy is suggesting that a nine-year-old harbour porpoise that died at the Vancouver Aquarium had a pulmonary disease.

The aquarium says the porpoise named Daisy had been under round-the-clock care after some behavioural changes were noticed earlier this month.

The porpoise had been at the aquarium since being rescued as a one-month-old in 2008, and the facility now has just two cetaceans left — a Pacific white-side dolphin and a false killer whale.

The aquarium has applied for a judicial review in hopes of overturning a park board bylaw banning whales, dolphins and porpoises from the facility in Stanley Park.

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POLICE INVESTIGATE MILK RECALL

RCMP say they are investigating after some milk products distributed in British Columbia were recalled due to what the federal food inspection agency describes as "harmful extraneous material."

Cpl. Tammy Douglas says a number of complaints have come in from Vancouver Island over the past few weeks about milk products from the Quebec-based dairy company Agropur.

Douglas says it's not clear if the presence of the harmful material is accidental or criminal.

The affected milk is sold under the Island Farms, Lucerne and Natrel names and the food agency says it should be thrown out or returned to the store.

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MAN GETS NINE YEARS BEHIND BARS FOR PARK SHOOTOUT

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has handed a man a nine-year prison sentence for his part in a drug-related shootout in a Vernon park.

Thirty-one-year-old Jacob Lowes was found guilty of assault causing bodily harm and four firearms offences in connection with the Polson Park shootout in 2014.

Court heard he chased two men who tried to rob him into the park and fired at least three shots, none of which caused any injuries.

Justice Peter Rogers said it was an extremely dangerous thing to do, adding a stray bullet could have easily injured or killed an innocent bystander.

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TEACHERS UNION LAUNCHES E-BOOK ABOUT RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS

The B.C. Teachers' Federation says it is launching an e-book to help teach students about the history and legacy of Indian Residential Schools.

The interactive book, titled "Gladys We Never Knew: The life of a child in a B.C. Indian Residential School," includes lesson plans, readings, background information and projects.

It's meant to help teachers and students examine the impacts of residential schools on First Nations communities, families and individuals.

It's based on the short life and tragic death of Gladys Chapman, a child from the Spuzzum Nation, who died of tuberculosis at age 12 in Kamloops Indian Residential School.

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POLICE SEEK HELP AFTER WOMAN KILLED IN CRASH

RCMP are appealing to the public for help as they investigate a single-vehicle collision in Nanaimo that left a young woman dead.

Mounties say a car went off a road last evening and collided with a telephone pole, killing the 25-year-old driver, who was alone in the vehicle at the time.

RCMP Traffic Services, a collision re-constructionist and the BC Coroner's Service are investigating the crash.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or who may have seen the woman within a few hours prior to the crash is asked to contact the Nanaimo RCMP.

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The Canadian Press, Vancouver

News from © The Canadian Press, 2017