RCMP warn of cryptocurrency scam in Nanaimo

Jeff Bell / Times Colonist – Mar 4, 2026 / 2:16 pm | Story: 601900

Nanaimo RCMP are warning about a cryptocurrency scam that cost a victim $5,000, then escalated to a phony attempt to help recover the money.

It began with an unsolicited text message about a job involving the buying and selling of stock using cryptocurrency. The victim was persuaded to deposit $5,000, but then communication stopped, police said

The person then saw what appeared to be an RCMP‑branded public-service announcement online that encouraged victims to report similar frauds.

After clicking on the link and completing a form, the person received a call from a man who identified himself as “Sam Peterson” and said he was a lawyer with a Toronto firm called Helprpc.

The caller claimed he had located two cryptocurrency wallets in the victim’s name containing approximately $60,000 in supposed profits, and offered to assist in recovering the funds, police said.

The victim became suspicious and confirmed that the caller was not registered with the law society in either B.C. or Ontario.

Police were contacted and found the website provided by the caller to be non-functional. The victim was advised to report the incident to the Canadian Anti‑Fraud Centre, notify their bank, and obtain a credit report through Equifax or TransUnion to check for unauthorized accounts.

Nanaimo RCMP Reserve Const. Gary O’Brien said the RCMP does not contact individuals about cryptocurrency accounts, work with private firms to recover lost funds, or request any form of payment to investigate fraud.

Police offered the following tips to avoid scams:

• Be cautious of unsolicited job offers, especially those received through text messages, social media or online ads.

• Never send cryptocurrency or make deposits through crypto ATMs as part of a job offer or investment opportunity.

• Treat online forms and websites with skepticism, even if they appear to use RCMP or government logos. Verify websites independently.

• Note that law enforcement and government agencies do not charge fees or contact individuals about found cryptocurrency accounts.

• Verify the credentials of anyone claiming to be a lawyer, investigator or financial professional through official regulatory bodies.

• Protect your personal and banking information by monitoring accounts and notifying your bank of any suspicious activity.

• Obtain a credit report from Equifax or TransUnion to check for unauthorized accounts.

Report fraud attempts to the Canadian Anti‑Fraud Centre at 1‑888‑495‑8501 or online at antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca.

The Canadian Press – Mar 4, 2026 / 12:21 pm | Story: 601869

Police say two people are dead after a semi-truck went off an embankment along the Alaska Highway north of Fort Nelson

Northern Rockies RCMP say they received an automated crash detection notification early Tuesday morning in the area of Summit Lake, about 39 km north of Fort Nelson.

They say first responders found both occupants of the loaded truck had suffered fatal injuries.

The Mounties say the truck appeared to have broken through a guardrail before coming to a stop down a steep embankment.

Police say road conditions appear to have been a factor in the crash, which did not involve any other vehicles.

Work was underway to extract the vehicle and the police say the highway was expected to remain closed until sometime later on Wednesday.

**This story has been updated after an RCMP clarification, noting the correct Summit Lake in B.C. that the crash took place near.

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press – Mar 4, 2026 / 11:57 am | Story: 601863

British Columbia is urging U.S. states along the West Coast to fall in line with the provincial government’s decision to adopt permanent daylight time.

Premier David Eby announced Monday that the province will spring forward one last time this Sunday when standard time ends, but it won’t revert when the clocks change elsewhere in November.

It means the province will be an hour ahead Washington state, Oregon, and California from November to March, but Eby says in a letter to their governors that they should join B.C. in ending the time change and advocate for authorization from the U.S. Congress.

The premier says in the letter to governors Bob Ferguson, Tina Kotek and Gavin Newsom that B.C. held off on the time change until the states could move with it, but the situation has changed and the province is making the switch for the best interests of its residents.

Eby says permanent daylight time will improve public well-being, but adds that the “Cascadia region remains deeply integrated through tourism, trade and transportation” despite the broader “trade challenges” between the U.S. and Canada.

He says B.C. values Washington state, Oregon and California “as close neighbours and friends,” and wants to align itself with their economies, “for travel and trade to be unhindered.”

The U.S. Congress has yet to approve a law that would allow states to make the switch to permanent daylight time, something Eby acknowledges, and the letter is copied to the congressional delegations of the three states.

RCMP are investigating after two people died in a single-vehicle accident Tuesday.

Staff Sgt. Kris Clark said in the early morning on March 3, a semi-truck left the highway and went down an embankment near Summit Lake, BC.

The Northern Rockies RCMP received an automated crash detection notification on the Alaska Highway near the 605 kilometre mark in the area of Summit Lake.

First responders attended the scene and found both occupants of a loaded semi-truck and trailer were entrapped inside the cab of the vehicle and had both suffered fatal injuries.

Clark said the vehicle appeared to have broken through a guard rail before coming to rest down a steep embankment.

No other vehicles were involved in the crash.

“While the investigation is in its infancy, road conditions appear to have been a factor in the crash,” said Clark. “Work continues to extract the vehicle and its load from the embankment.”

Anyone with any information or dash-camera video of the crash is asked to contact the Northern Rockies RCMP at 250-774-2700.

Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press – Mar 4, 2026 / 5:41 am | Story: 601805

Soon after Rhiana Stryd moved to the scenic lakeside Village of Granisle in British Columbia’s northern Interior in the fall of 2024, she says she began noticing her parents’ health going downhill, while she was vomiting every day for months.

Stryd said that when her daughter visited, she got sick too.

Their health woes prompted Stryd to start looking for a “common denominator” behind their symptoms.

“It ended up being the water,” Stryd said.

Now Stryd is leading a proposed class-action lawsuit against the village and Ontario-based water treatment company Purifics Water Inc., alleging that Granisle’s 300-plus residents were supplied with aluminum-tainted drinking water for an unknown period of time.

The Village of Granisle issued a “do not consume” order in December 2025, and residents have been relying on bottled water distributed with the help of volunteer firefighters, but Stryd said her efforts to get answers about the water problems are ongoing.

“Since then, we have been kept in the dark. The only information we were being provided for a number of weeks was information that I was gathering,” she said. “Then the village tried to get ahead of it and released a timeline into what had gone on in the water treatment facility to cause the coagulant to leak into our system.”

The timeline of the lead-up to the order posted by the Village of Granisle said a power surge at its water treatment plant in June 2024 preceded complaints about water discoloration and a “slimy” feeling in the months afterwards.

The treatment plant, the lawsuit said, uses a “coagulation and filtration process” to remove impurities from water sourced from Babine Lake, and it’s alleged that the contamination resulted from a coagulant leak.

A test in October 2024 showed a water sample with aluminum levels of 8.99 mg/l — more than triple the maximum allowable concentration — but both the village and the Northern Health Authority only “became aware” of that test result in January 2026.

A document from Northern Health posted on the village’s website on Tuesday said Granisle’s drinking water shouldn’t be consumed, but it’s still safe for bathing, laundry, dishwashing and handwashing.

It said short-term aluminum exposure isn’t likely to cause any immediate health effects in healthy adults, but long-term exposure to high-levels of aluminum can cause neurological symptoms including tremors, confusion and gastrointestinal problems such as vomiting.

Stryd’s lawsuit alleges that residents weren’t told about the 2024 test results and “continued to consume drinking water supplied by the water system without being warned of contamination.”

“We are looking into how this occurred, and setting up protocols to ensure it does not occur again,” the village’s timeline document said.

New components to fix the leak were sent to the village by Purifics Water at the end of January, but testing at that time still showed aluminum levels beyond safe drinking water guidelines.

The village and Purifics have not responded to the lawsuit, and Granisle Mayor Linda McGuire said the village is aware of the claim and seeking out legal counsel, but she was unable to comment on the claim.

Purifics Water did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

Lawyer Scott Stanley, who filed the action in Vancouver last month, said the class could include roughly 400 people if certified.

“I think I would be fair to describe the people of Granisle as being distressed, or collectively distressed, over the uncertainty of their water supply, not knowing what they’ve ingested, when they’ve ingested and what the long-term impacts of that will be. That would cause anybody to be distressed,” he said.

For Stryd, who unsuccessfully ran for Granisle council last year, the village’s small-town politics have boiled over at council meetings and on community Facebook groups as she’s tried to get health officials and other policy makers to take notice of the ongoing water woes.

“If you speak out against the municipality, they shut you down very, very quick. They tell you not to speak,” she said.

“That is why I ran for council because I was like, if I can get into council and I can get more information, then I can whistleblow. Now they’re going to hear me. I lost, which was to my benefit because now they can’t shush me.”

Daisy Xiong / Business in Vancouver – Mar 3, 2026 / 5:01 pm | Story: 601729

A businessman behind a defunct Vancouver-based cryptocurrency trading platform has agreed to pay $1 million to the B.C. Securities Commission after admitting fraud claims.

Michael Ongun Gokturk, a B.C. resident, was the public face of now-dissolved Einstein Capital Partners Ltd., Einstein Exchange Inc. and Einstein Law Corporation—collectively known as the Einstein Corporations. The companies operated a crypto trading platform marketed as a “safe and secure” way to buy, sell and store digital assets, according to BCSC.

Between September 2017 and November 2019, the Einstein Corporations accepted customer deposits and transferred those funds into various corporate bank accounts and wallets on third-party trading platforms. According to the BCSC, customer assets were also used to fund the platform’s operations and pay withdrawals to other customers.

“By doing so, the companies committed fraud because those uses of customers’ assets were not the ‘safe and secure method to buy, sell and store cryptocurrency on the platform’ that was promised to them,” said the provincial securities regulator in a Monday statement.

In addition to the payment, Gokturk has been permanently banned from participating in B.C.’s investment market—he is prohibited from acting as a director or officer of a company, serving as a registrant or promoter, or working in a management or consultative role related to securities or derivatives markets.

Business in Vancouver tried to reach Gokturk at a previously used number, but it was out of service.

The BCSC noted that Gokturk has no prior history of securities misconduct and did not misappropriate client funds, engage in speculative trading with customer assets or personally profit from the scheme. He also contributed about $1 million of his own funds to support the platform and return some money to users.

In November 2019, the commission applied to the Supreme Court of British Columbia to appoint an interim receiver to preserve remaining assets of Einstein Exchange. The receiver reported that the platform held less than $45,000 in cash and cryptocurrency, while customer liabilities exceeded US$18 million.

The Einstein Corporations were dissolved in 2020 with no remaining assets.

“Canadians considering buying or selling crypto assets should use only registered platforms,” said the BCSC statement.

“Platforms that do not comply with Canadian securities laws present significant risks to customers because investors’ assets may not be adequately safeguarded.”

The $1-million payment represents the maximum administrative penalty available for such misconduct, according to the commission. 

Nono Shen, The Canadian Press – Mar 3, 2026 / 3:01 pm | Story: 601706

The mayor of Prince George in northern British Columbia is the father of six adult children, who got used to the struggle of getting his kids out of bed on dark winter mornings as they were growing up.

Those days are now behind Simon Yu, but he still has some tips as the province prepares for an end to time changes that will result in even darker winter mornings — stock up on Vitamin D and set plenty of alarms.

British Columbia Premier David Eby announced on Monday that the province will be moving to permanent daylight time, after the clocks move forward for a final time on Sunday.

Without the reverting to standard time in November, that will mean sunrises around 9:30 a.m. in Prince George in the depths of winter.

Yu said he was glad Eby “finally made a decision” on an issue that has been debated for decades, and that “once and for all” most British Columbians won’t have to worry about changing their clocks twice a year.

But there will be a trade-off.

“It’s always challenging to get up in the middle of the night,” laughed Yu.

Now a grandfather, he said it was his children’s problem to fight with the darkness and get his eight grandkids ready for school in winter.

“They have to work on this now,” he said.

That is where the Vitamin D and multiple alarms come in, but he is confident fellow northerners will cope.

He said in Prince George, many hockey parents are already waking up in pitch darkness at 5 a.m. to drop their children off at arenas.

While the vast majority of B.C. is now moving to the new year-round Pacific time zone — as opposed to Pacific standard and Pacific daylight time — the situation is complicated by the fact that some parts of the province already use Mountain time.

The rest of B.C. and Alberta will be in sync from November to March, with Alberta remaining an hour ahead from March to November.

Cranbrook, B.C., is among the communities near the Alberta boundary that uses Mountain time. It is pushing for discussions with other local governments in the East Kootenay region to not be included in the B.C.’s new time zone.

The city said in a news release that the issue is whether the change “is not to affect the East Kootenay, meaning the region would remain on Mountain time in sync with Alberta year-around.”

Cranbrook Mayor Wayne Price said the city council wanted to meet with regional government partners “to see if a change is wanted here and to make sure our approach is co-ordinated.”

He said in the release that the announcement from the province “was as much a surprise to council as it was to the rest of the community and the region.”

Point Roberts, the peninsula south of Vancouver that is part of the United States while being entirely physically attached to B.C., will be an hour behind B.C. from November to March, unless U.S. federal laws mandating the biannual time changes are scrapped.

Longtime Point Roberts advocate Brian Calders said Washington state, Oregon, California and B.C. had all been in discussions about adopting permanent daylight time, and he was happy to see Eby finally went ahead and said “let’s do it.”

“We’re hoping Washington and Oregon do the same,” said Calders.

Having a common time zone on both sides of the international border would benefit commerce, Calders said.

He said Point Roberts doesn’t have any big drugstore like London Drugs or Shoppers Drug Mart, so many residents, including himself, travel to Delta in B.C. to find a pharmacy.

He said making appointments in different time zones could be an “exercise for your brain.”

Roxanne Egan-Elliott / Times Colonist – Mar 3, 2026 / 12:21 pm | Story: 601670

A Port Alberni man has been sentenced to five years in prison for setting off a homemade bomb outside a supervised injection site in an explosion that left an employee with shrapnel lodged in her eye.

John Mathew Thomsen pleaded guilty to three charges related to having an explosive device, including failing to use reasonable care to prevent an explosion that resulted in bodily harm.

Thomsen was prohibited from possessing explosives at the time of the March 22, 2024, incident, according to the provincial court sentencing decision published recently.

The injured staff member told police that she had known Thomsen for three years and he considered her his “safe person.”

She said Thomsen asked her to come outside so he could show her something “really important.”

She saw something in his hand with a string “that she knew was not good” and he had a lighter in his other hand, the decision says.

“She remembers hearing the loudest sound she has ever heard and then feeling the most intense pain, like her eye was on fire. She thought she was blind.”

She lost her vision for several weeks as a result of shrapnel being lodged in her eye.

Thomsen was crying after the explosion and was also significantly wounded.

The woman believed the explosion was an accident, according to the sentencing decision.

“Remarkably, I am left with the impression that the victim has no hard feelings towards the accused, and did not even initially report the incident to the police,” Judge Alexander Wolf wrote in his decision.

For two years prior, Thomsen had regularly threatened to blow up people or the supervised injection site or the police, the woman said in a statement to police.

“He loves bombs and explosions. He is always talking about it,” she said.

At the time of the explosion, Thomsen was living in a local shelter, according to a pre-sentence report, which says he had a “complicated upbringing” and was neglected and abused by caregivers.

An older report quoted a psychiatrist as saying that “years of alcohol and drug abuse have caused organic brain damage” and that Thomsen demonstrates a “psychopathic flare.”

He has never been to treatment, seen a counsellor or participated in any programs for his substance use, according to the report, which notes that upon release, Thomsen intends to continue using marijuana and crystal methamphetamine.

“He calls this being ‘soberish,’ as he would not be consuming alcohol, or using heroin or any other substances. He states that marijuana and crystal meth help him manage his mental-health issues, particularly his ADHD. The subject intends to limit his use of crystal meth once he starts to ‘hear voices’ or when he hasn’t been getting enough sleep.”

Thomsen has had some success with programming while in custody, but is not interested in attending treatment, the report says.

He has been diagnosed with several disorders, including stimulant-use disorder, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and unspecified psychosis that is believed to be substance-induced, says a psychological assessment prepared for sentencing.

He is deemed at a moderate to high risk for future violence, says the report, which details a lengthy criminal history, including convictions for assault causing bodily harm and sexual assault.

Wolf said in his decision that he accepts Thomsen was not trying to harm anyone and that he is remorseful.

“However, the facts are also clear. He made threats to blow things up. He made a bomb. He carried it to the scene on more than one occasion. He invited/lured the victim outside, and once the victim was within close proximity, he took the explosive device out and lit it. There is nothing accidental about these actions or the fact that he is solely responsible for causing an explosion,” the judge said.

Thomsen’s defence lawyer argued he should receive a sentence of time served or a small amount of additional time, while the Crown recommended a three-year probation order.

Wolf said “the crime of creating and exploding a bomb is very serious,” and Thomsen’s moral culpability is “extremely high.”

Wolf said he found no reason to believe Thomsen would abide by probation conditions and said he is a danger to the public until he participates in programming, counselling and treatment.

Thomsen has credit for nearly two years of time served in pre-trial custody, reducing his remaining sentence to just over three years.

The Canadian Press – Mar 3, 2026 / 12:14 pm | Story: 601666

British Columbia has expanded its compensation coverage for firefighters in the province by adding eight cancers to the list of eligible illnesses.

The province says the additions to the list of diseases “presumed to be linked to the work done by firefighters” make B.C. the most comprehensively covered Canadian province.

The newly added diseases include skin cancer, mesothelioma, soft-tissue sarcoma and pharynx cancers, putting the total number of cancers covered for B.C. firefighters at 26.

The BC General Employees’ Union says in a statement it welcomes the move, calling it a “step forward” for the more than 15,000 firefighters covered under the province’s Workers’ Compensation Act.

The BCGEU represents about 2,000 wildland firefighters, and union president Paul Finch says the group will keep advocating for expanded protections and stronger preventive measures, especially given recent record-breaking wildfire seasons.

The most devastating was in 2023, where more than 28,000 square kilometres of land was scorched by a total of about 2,300 blazes across the province.

“As fire seasons grow longer and more extreme, our members deserve a system that keeps pace with the realities of their work,” Finch says in a statement.

“They put their health on the line for British Columbians and they deserve to know that the province will stand behind them if they get sick.”

The province says firefighters in B.C. accounted for about 35 per cent of all of WorkSafeBC’s accepted cancer claims from 2010 to 2025, despite the occupation only representing 0.5 per cent of the overall provincial workforce.

As the price of gold soars, the RCMP have issued a warning about a scam on the rise across B.C. involving fake gold and fraud.

RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Brett Urano says police have received increasing reports involving gold or distraction thefts taking place in communities across British Columbia.

“These scams rely on urgency and emotional pressure to convince victims to hand over money. We encourage the public to be cautious when approached unexpectedly and to report any suspicious interactions to police,” said Cpl. Brett Urano, RCMP spokesperson.

These incidents typically take place in public spaces, like parking lots, gas stations, and other busy locations. The suspects often claim they need money for gas, medical expenses, or other urgent situations. They may appear distressed in order to gain sympathy, making the situation seem time-sensitive.

In some of the cases, victims provide cash and are given items that the suspects claim are real gold. In other cases, especially involving seniors, suspects convince victims to get into a vehicle and are driven to their bank to withdraw money. Once the transaction is complete, victims later discover the gold is fake and the suspects have disappeared.

The BC RCMP recommends the following:

• Do not provide money to strangers in parking lots or other public spaces
• Do not accept jewelry or other items offered as collateral
• Do not get into a vehicle with someone you do not know
• Do not allow strangers to accompany you to a bank or ATM
• Trust your instincts and leave the situation if something feels wrong
• Report the incident to police as soon as possible

Anyone who has been approached in a similar manner is asked to contact their local RCMP detachment.

The province is strengthening oversight of crane operators in B.C.

​A mandatory crane licensing and permitting program is being introduced through WorkSafeBC. The new rules will mean that anyone overseeing crane work meets safety requirements.

While workers who operate cranes in B.C. must be certified and registered with an oversight body, until now, those who own, maintain, repair, erect or disassemble cranes were not required to be certified, registered or licensed.

Over the past five years, seven workers have died in crane incidents in B.C., including the five men killed when a crane collapsed in downtown Kelowna on July 12, 2021.

“The workers who were killed because of catastrophic crane-related safety failures are deeply missed by their families and communities every day,” said Jennifer Whiteside, Minister of Labour. “They deserve our commitment and action to ensure that every worker in British Columbia can come home safe at the end of their shift.”

The tougher requirements come at a time when more cranes are in operation than ever before in this province. Back in 2021, there were 261 tower cranes on worksites in B.C. That increased to 409 in 2024. The count is currently 373. That compares to 106 active tower cranes in Toronto and 127 operating in 11 major U.S. cities.

“Major nation-building projects are moving forward in B.C. and the people who build them must have the best level of safety we can provide,” said Premier David Eby. “British Columbia will be a leader in crane safety – with the highest standards of training, certification, technology and oversight – to protect workers and the public on every project, every time.”

Licensing and permitting gaps were identified by the Crane Safety Table, a panel of regulators, industry leaders, labour representatives and technical experts that was established in June 2025.

As the fifth anniversary of the deadly Kelowna crane collapse approaches, the BC Prosecution Service said it is still reviewing whether to lay charges in the case.

Earlier this month, a BCPS spokesperson told Castanet, “This complex police investigation and charge assessment process is ongoing, and we do not have a timeline for completion.”

​

UPDATE 10:25 a.m.

B.C.’s chief coroner has directed an inquest into the mass killing in Tumbler Ridge, with the goal of helping explain how the shooting unfolded and identifying ways to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

Dr. Jatinder Baidwan announced Tuesday he will direct an inquest into the events that occurred in Tumbler Ridge on Feb. 10, and will examine the circumstances surrounding each of the deaths. That will include a review of everything from weapons used and the identity of the person accused in the shooting.

Notably, Baidwan said that they will examine what shaped the shooter to become “the person that they were before they did what they did,” he said.

“We’re actually investigating everything that happened and the circumstances of the deaths,” he said. “During that investigation, we will glean exactly what happened in all sorts of ways, and we will be able to look to see what shaped the individual, the perpetrator, in becoming the person that they were before they did what they did.”

That said, Baidwan emphasized that the inquest is “not a fault finding process, which is distinction from the justice system.”

“We’re an inquest where we try to get to the truth about things and try to see whether we can improve and change what happens so it never happens again,” Baidwan said.

The office will rely heavily on the findings of the police investigation, which Baidwan said is standard practice. Coroners typically conclude their own investigative phase after police have finished theirs, working closely to draw on the evidence gathered.

Asked about calls from the federal Conservatives for a public inquiry instead of a coroner’s inquest, Baidwan defended the scope and independence of the inquest process.

Through an inquest, which is going to be an independent process, they will look at the circumstances of each death.

“That’s the only thing that confines us, really,” he said.

Among other things, questions have been raised about weapons, mental health, gender identity and whether exchanges involving the accused and artificial intelligence platforms will be made public. The chief coroner emphasized that inquest proceedings are open to the public.

“Anything that occurs in the inquest is open to the public, and so evidence such as that will be played out, and we will investigate in a fulsome fashion,” they said.

No timeline has been set for when the inquest will begin and while there is currently a backlog of inquests in B.C., the chief coroner said this case will not be delayed once all necessary information is available.

“This will not go into the backlog. As soon as all the information is available to hold an inquest, we will hold an inquest,” they said, adding that assurance was also given to the mayor of Tumbler Ridge earlier this week.

The duration of the process also up in the air and given the complexity of the issues at hand, he said it will likely take longer to conclude than the ordinary two weeks.

On the afternoon of Feb. 10, an entire community was forever changed and multiple families who call Tumbler Ridge home received the catastrophic news that their loved ones had lost their lives.

Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, killed two family members — mother and 11-year-old half-brother— at their home, before killing five pupils, a teacher’s aide and then dying by suicide at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School on Feb. 10.

ORIGINAL 6:20 a.m.

British Columbia’s chief coroner is set to make an announcement about last month’s mass killings in Tumbler Ridge, amid calls for a public investigation.

Dr. Jatinder Baidwan will make the announcement this morning at the legislature building in Victoria.

B.C. Premier David Eby has said that his government will use “any tools available” to make sure all questions about the mass shooting are answered.

Eby has said there will either be a coroner’s inquest or a public inquiry after police wrap up their investigation.

Federal Conservative MPs have been among those calling for an independent investigation.

Bob Zimmer, whose riding includes Tumbler Ridge in northeastern B.C., said over the weekend that mourning families need answers about the shooter’s mental health and access to guns, as well as the role of artificial intelligence and the protection of the victims’ families.

Van Rootselaar’s ChatGPT account was flagged internally for worrisome content and it was shut down by OpenAI last June, but the company did not notify police at the time.

The Canadian Press