Your View - British Columbia

Adele McLean, a B.C. nurse, says their fight was about recognition, not money. (CBC)

Canadian taxpayers are facing a huge, unexpected bill for as much as $200 million in back pay owed to hundreds of nurses, the nurses' lawyer estimates.

The nurses worked for the federal government doing medical assessments on Canadians who applied for disability payments under the Canada Pension Plan.

After years of complaining and getting nowhere, they filed a complaint of discrimination in 2004 with the Canadian Human Rights Commission. Last month, they won their case. Their Victoria lawyer now estimates the settlement could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Full Story

What do you think? Do these nurses deserve years of back pay?

How do you think the government should respond?

There were 10,000 to 11,000 people on the mountain at the time of the avalanche, officials from the Big White Ski Resort said. (CBC)

A body was found Monday afternoon in a slide area at the Big White Ski Resort near Kelowna, B.C., but police have not yet determined whether it's a snowboarder feared lost in an avalanche a day earlier.

RCMP are trying to determine the identity of the individual to see whether it is the snowboarder reported missing Sunday, spokeswoman Const. Julie Rattee said in a release issued at about 4 p.m.

The RCMP earlier identified the missing snowboarder as Leigh Barnier, 21, an Australian working for the housekeeping department at the Moguls Hotel in Big White. His family is on the way from Australia.

Full Story

Does the avalanche at Big White change how safe you feel using B.C. mountains?

Will you prepare differently for a day on the mountain?

Sgt. Steve LeClair said a man whose friend died in an avalanche could face a criminal charge. (CBC)

RCMP in Whistler, B.C., are considering laying a criminal charge against a man who survived a deadly New Year's Day avalanche after he and a friend ventured into a permanently closed area, disobeying warning signs.

Police aren't releasing the 21-year-old snowboarder's name or the name of his companion, a 29-year-old skier, who died when the avalanche swept the pair off a cliff.

Staff Sgt. Steve LeClair told CBC News on Wednesday that police are looking at the possibility of laying a charge of criminal negligence causing death against the man who remains in hospital.

Full Story

Should the survivor be charged criminally in the death of his friend?

Do you think the possibility of criminal charges will deter people from going into permanently closed areas?

An avalanche that killed a skier and seriously injured a snowboarder was triggered by the men as they travelled through a permanently closed area at the ski resort in Whistler, B.C., according to police and resort staff.

The RCMP said two local men entered a permanently closed area called Hanging Roll near the West Bowl of Whistler Mountain on Tuesday morning.

Staff at Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort told CBC News on Wednesday that the area is inside the boundaries of the ski resort, but is closed to the public.

Full Story

Do you ski out of bounds?

What do you think should happen to people who do?

In a move which has sparked complaints, the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia has sent warning letters to some of the province's worst drivers telling them to improve their driving habits or pay more for insurance.

"We wanted to get people's attention," said ICBC spokesman Doug McClelland. "The people who received this letter are the worst five per cent of drivers in B.C."

But being told in a letter that they are putting others at risk, and that they may quickly wind up paying higher premiums, has not gone over well with some of the roughly 130,000 recipients. Full Story

What do you think of this strategy?

Have you received one of these letters? If so, how did you react?

Mountain Equipment Co-op earlier in December announced it is removing products containing bisphenol A from its stores because of health concerns. (CBC)

Lululemon Athletica Inc. will stop selling plastic water bottles that contain bisphenol A, a chemical which studies have linked to infertility and cancer, but stopped short of pulling the bottles from its shelves.

The company said Tuesday it has been following this issue closely for more than a year and that starting in January all new water bottles arriving in its stores will be made of acrylic and free of the controversial chemical.

Earlier this month, outdoor equipment retailer Mountain Equipment Co-op removed all of the hard plastic bottles from its store shelves. Full Story

Are plastic water bottles a concern for you?

Are you changing which type of water bottle you use?

Jason Hansen, shown in hospital last week, said his finger turned black after being bitten and his whole arm swelled to nearly three times its size. (CBC)

A Surrey man who nearly lost his finger after a bite from his pet cobra is now home recovering, but B.C. health officials are warning the province has no supply of antivenin for exotic snakebites.

Jason Hansen, 36, was bitten by Eve, his pet albino cobra, on Dec. 6, and he is still suffering from the effects.

Experts say the case should be a warning to people who collect exotic and dangerous pets that life-saving antivenin is difficult to get and not always effective. Full Story

What do you think? Should antivenin be available in B.C. for exotic snakebites?

Robert William Pickton has been found guilty of the second-degree murder of six women who disappeared from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. (Jane Wolsak/artist/Canadian Press)

A B.C. Supreme Court jury found Robert William Pickton guilty on six counts of second-degree murder on Sunday, after a 10-month trial.

The seven men and five women on the jury returned to the court in New Westminster with their decision after nine full days of deliberations.

Pickton, a 58-year-old pig farmer from Port Coquitlam, B.C., was charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of six women who went missing from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside — Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Brenda Wolfe, Marnie Frey and Georgina Papin. Full Story

What do you think about the verdict?

In your opinion, has justice been served?

Gloria Tam says she received a letter from her employer because she left her work area during the bomb scare on Nov. 19. (CBC)

Some workers at Vancouver's main post office in the downtown are angry because they say they were stopped from leaving the building during a recent bomb scare.

Police were called and arrived quickly with the bomb squad after workers heard a package ticking on the second floor on Nov. 19.

The floor was evacuated, as was the first and the third, but the fourth was not.

"At that time when you see a lot of police cars and people are cordoning off the area — that's a real situation," said long-time employee Gloria Tam, who was told to stay at her post on the fourth floor. Full Story

What do you think about what happened?

How does your employer deal with threats on the job?

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The Vancouver region is no longer attracting as many immigrants as it once was, according to the latest figures released from Statistics Canada's 2006 census.

For the second census in a row, the area has experienced a decline in new arrivals during the last five years.

The number of immigrants from Hong Kong alone declined from 25,000 in the 1995 census to just 3,000 in 2006.

But ethnic diversity has continued to increase. Richmond has the highest proportion of foreign-born people among Canadian cities at 57 per cent and more than half the people in Burnaby are now foreign born, mostly immigrants from China and India. Full Story

What do you think? How is your city or neighbourhood changing?

If you are a recent immigrant, what brought you and your family to B.C.?