The hard-working women in the Okanagan Valley's bountiful fruit packing plants from the 1920s to the 1970s became known as the “Apple Box Belles”. While much has been written about Okanagan fruit-growing, the early union history has barely been mentioned. In this episode we hear from Alma Faulds and Lydia Bastian, two fruit packers who were active …

In this Halloween special we're travelling up Indian Arm to visit the Wigwam Inn, one of Metro Vancouver's most storied old mansions. Built in 1910 by Alvo von Alvensleben as a hotel for the rich, it's been a brothel, an illegal casino, used to print counterfeit money, and now owned by the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club. Is it haunted? Of course. The g…

For most of the 20th century, garment workers—mostly women—sewed, pressed and wove fabric on factory assembly lines throughout the Lower Mainland, before the domestic industry began to decline with globalization. This episode features an interview with Anne Marshall, a garment worker who became an organizer and business agent for the International …

In 1995, a partial skull was discovered in a slough just outside Mission, BC. Forensic testing revealed that the skull belonged to a Caucasian woman aged between 20 and 40. Missing person files were searched, but nothing matched her description, and the skull was named Jane Doe, placed in an RCMP storage facility and forgotten. Then in 2002 police …

In 1962, 20-year-old Ann Spiller was hired as a bank teller at the Penticton branch of the Royal Bank. After she’d been on the job for about a year, Ann spotted a flaw in the bank’s accounting system. By 1968, she had stolen nearly half a million dollars, and this former farm girl, was living the life of the rich and famous. Drawing of Ann Spiller …

In 1910, American-born Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen was living in London with his wife Belle, when he fell in love with Ethel Le Neve, his 20-something assistant. Crippen poisoned his wife and buried most of her in the cellar of their Hilldrop Crescent home. When Scotland Yard started to investigate Belle’s disappearance, Crippen grabbed his young lov…

This podcast episode tells the story of the "conductorettes" - the women who worked as streetcar conductors in Vancouver during World War II when many men were overseas fighting fascism. The conductorettes were part of a strong union, the Amalgamated Transit Union, which ensured they had the same rights, privileges, and wages as the men. The union …

Eighteen-year-old Andrea King graduated with honours from New Westminster Secondary in June 1991. She took a job with the Greyhound Bus Company to save money for a trip across Canada. Her plan was to check out universities while she worked her way home to British Columbia. On January 1, 1992, Andrea took an Air Canada flight to Halifax. She phoned …

Ramsey Rioux and Kenneth Lutz were two Indigenous boys living in Burnaby, BC . When the 13-year-olds ran away in December 1989, RCMP put little effort into looking for them. It wasn't until a skull was identified in Stanley Park almost a decade later that police discovered that they weren't missing. The boys were murdered. If you have any informati…

The body of 15-year-old Myfanwy Sanders was found on November 9, 1945 in a field near her home on Vancouver Island. She had been missing for 23 days. Apart from a couple of newspaper articles and a coroner's inquest, this Saanich teen’s case was never really looked into at all. And, while Saanich police have four unsolved murders on their books, My…

In January 1943, fifteen-year-old Molly Justice took the 5:50 pm bus from her job in Victoria, BC and got off at Swan Lake near her Saanich home. Her body was found a few hours later lying face down in the snow. She had been stabbed more than 20 times and hit on the head with a rock. What followed was one of the most seriously botched police invest…

On April 1 1992, 19-year-old Aimee Beaulieu was killed in her home just outside of Nelson, British Columbia. Her twin babies David and Samantha, died in the fire that was lit to cover up her murder. For more information, please visit my website: evelazarus.com or join us on the Facebook group page Cold Case Canada.…

Using interviews from the B.C. Labour Heritage Centre's Oral History Project, the Canadian Anti-Apartheid Activist History Project, and a retired BCGEU (BC General Services Union) activist, this episode tells the impressive story of international solidarity by B.C. union members who worked tirelessly in support of those fighting to end South Africa…

On Saturday July 12, 1997, four 20-year-olds were gun downed at a campsite in Kitimat, British Columbia. The shooter was 42-year-old Kevin Vermette. After killing three of the four young men, Vermette returned to his motel room, grabbed his dog and his shotgun - and disappeared into the bush. Vermette is still at large, and as I quickly learned, no…

Seven-year-old Terri Lynn Scalf disappeared from Aldergrove, BC on July 24, 1983. She was last seen in the company of a 55-year-old convicted child molester and another 10-year-old girl from her townhouse complex. Police initially linked her disappearance with that of Joanne Pedersen, 10, from Chilliwack who had vanished six months earlier. Both gi…

Ten-year-old Joanne Pedersen was last seen in a Chilliwack, BC phone booth at 8:20 pm on Saturday February 19, 1983. She had been calling her mother to tell her that she had been locked out of her house and asked if she could pick her up from the Penny Pincher general store. Just as her mother went to talk to Joanne, a young man got on the phone an…

On June 3, 1976 simmering discontent at the Alcan smelter in the northern B.C. community of Kitimat turned into a full-scale revolt. Some members of independent union CASAW (Canadian Association of Smelter and Allied Workers) staged a wildcat strike after being pushed too far by the company. They were soon joined by 1,800 others. Twice the union me…

In Episode 27, we brought you stories from women who worked in the province's once numerous canneries and fish processing plants. For some, this was a stepping stone to working on the fish boats. In Episode 28, we hear from Barbara Stevens, whose parents were both union activists in the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union (UFAWU). Homer Steve…

This is the first of a two-part series on the role of women in BC ‘s once thriving fishing industry. This episode hears from women who worked in the fish canneries that once lined the west coast of BC. They bring to life a time when BC fish helped feed the nation and many parts of the world. Included are recordings of an indigenous woman who worked…

A 1966 wildcat strike* by 400 mostly women members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) at Lenkurt Electric in Burnaby, BC was a turning point for the province's labour movement. This was a time when courts and police routinely jailed and fined union members during labour disputes, and Canadian members of international unio…

This episode features two larger than life historical figures: Harvey Murphy, regional director of the International Union of Mine Mill and Smelter Workers Union and Paul Robeson, Black American superstar known around the world for his powerful singing voice and a fearless crusader for peace, universal justice and an end to racial discrimination in…

We celebrate the life of Tatsuro 'Buck' Suzuki, who spent his life advocating for the West Coast fishing community, first as a young liaison between Japanese Canadians and an industry dominated by Whites, then as a strong trade unionist, and finally, as an early environmental activist, fighting to protect salmon habitat. Included are recordings of …

In this episode of On the Line, we present a compelling tale of British Columbia's Diana Kilmury, a bold and fearless truck driver who became immersed in the murky male dominated world of the Teamsters Union back in the days when women behind the wheel of big trucks were as scarce as generous employers. She took on both sexist attitudes on the job …

This episode chronicles the exploits of someone who made a huge contribution to the early organizing efforts of the International Woodworkers of America and campaigned relentlessly for justice for South Asians like himself during the 1940s. That man is Darshan Singh Sangha. Yet few British Columbians outside the province's large South Asian communi…

In this last episode of Season 4, I'm delighted to be joined by four local storytellers. We'll hear about the murder of iconic architect Francis Rattenbury, visit a haunted firehall, a spooky house in New Westminster from the 1860s, and a character house in East Vancouver that's home to three ghosts: a man, a little girl and a charcoal grey cat. Fo…

Michael Smith, 17 is RCMP case #2014003272 and one of 233 missing kids on the Canada’s Missing website. Mike was last seen on December 30, 1967 when he left his North Vancouver home after a fight with his family when he was caught with some weed. If Mike is alive, he’d be 73 years old, and may have no idea that his family has searched for him for o…

We look at the valiant efforts during the 1980s by B.C.'s unionized building trades to fight off the anti-union Social Credit government determined to break their hold on major construction projects in the province. It all came to a head in the run-up to Vancouver's World's Fair—Expo 86—and the building of the fair itself. Cheered on by fanatical a…

On November 6, 1967, sometime before 6:00 pm, seven-year-old Nancy Johnsen went missing from her Cloverdale BC farmhouse. Nancy, one of ten children ranging in age from six months to 16 years, was found on the property the next morning. She had been strangled. No one reported seeing a stranger around the house that night and Nancy was not known to …

Between April 1988 and August 1990, a serial killer murdered six sex trade workers and dumped their bodies in the laneways of Vancouver. Officially, the murders are unsolved and two were added to the Vancouver Police Department’s cold case website just last year. But two retired detectives who worked on a joint RCMP/VPD task force called E-Alley, s…

Casey Rose Bohun, 3 disappeared from her North Delta, BC home on August 5, 1989. Dozens of volunteers searched for Casey but no trace of her was ever found. Police believe that she either wandered off and got lost, was killed by someone close to her, abducted by a stranger, or sold and living somewhere else with no memory of her real family. This e…

At the end of 1974, 22-year-old Barbara Larocque’s body was found in Langley, BC. She had been strangled with her own scarf. Two months later, Gail "Sam" Rogers, 26 went missing from her Kitsilano basement suite. Her body was found in a creek near Squamish, her head bashed in with a claw hammer. Both women were go-go dancers at Vancouver nightclubs…

On May 7, 1961, 12-year-old Brenda Byman went for her first sleepover at her friend’s house in Wilmer, a tiny community outside of Invermere, BC. The next day she and four teens went for a hike to Lake Enid. Brenda never returned. Over six decades later, Brenda's tragic disappearance continues to divide the town. This episode is based on a story fr…

On June 24, 1992 Jean Ann James, a 53-year-old former Canadian Pacific Airlines flight attendant, went to the Shaughnessy home of her husband’s wealthy younger lover, and slit her throat with a box cutter. It would take police another 19 years to catch her. This episode is based on a story from Cold Case BC: the stories behind the province's most s…

This episode highlights a remarkable but relatively unknown chapter of working-class solidarity. While waves of sympathy strikes to support the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike took place across Canada, the most pronounced of these was in Vancouver, B.C. Even after workers returned to their jobs, 325 women telephone operators stayed out for another two…

On the day that 14-year-old Lindsey Nicholls disappeared, she was last seen walking down Royston Road, outside of Comox on Vancouver Island. It was August 2, 1993 - the Monday of the BC Day long weekend, and Lindsey was meeting friends at the annual Comox Nautical Days Festival. This episode is based on a story from Cold Case BC: the stories behind…

Gloria Levina Moody, who everybody knew as Lee, had been stripped, beaten, sexually assaulted, and left to bleed to death on a cattle trail about a kilometre off the Chilcotin Highway near Williams Lake, BC. She was the 26-year-old mother of two from Bella Coola on a weekend away with her family. Lee’s 1969 murder is the oldest of 18 cases of missi…

I’m Eve Lazarus, and I’m the host and producer of Cold Case Canada. This is from a Facebook live event that I did on March 10 to talk about the process behind writing my bestselling book Cold Case BC, some of the challenges that I met along the way, and what you can expect from Season Four of my podcast which launches Friday March 17. For more info…

A five-month long strike in 1918-1919 by Vancouver laundry workers, most of whom were women, is told through the words of one of its leaders. Ellen Goode began working in a steam laundry at 15, toiling over 10 hours a day, sometimes 60 hours a week. She and her fellow workers formed a union in 1918. In September 1918 they went on strike. Supported …

This is the inspiring tale of a group of dedicated individuals who took up the cause of BC’s Fraser Valley Farmworkers who toiled in dreadful, unregulated conditions in the 1970s and ‘80s. It is a saga with death and violence and courageous union organizing. Drawing upon interviews from the University of the Fraser Valley’s South Asian Institute Un…

In the Halloween Special of 2022 we visit a Victoria golf course, two mansions in Burnaby, and travel to a haunted highway in BC’s interior. Keep the lights on while you listen! Based on stories from Blood, Sweat and Fear: The Story of Inspector Vance, At Home with History: The secrets of Greater Vancouver’s Heritage Homes, Ghosts: More Eerie Encou…

On June 26, 1969, 16-year-old Philip Porter left his home in Townsite, Kimberley to run some errands for his mother. The son of the Cominco boss never came home. A ransom note demanding $100,000 for his safe return arrived instead. This episode is based on a story from Cold Case BC: the stories behind the province's most sensational murders and mis…

Ronnie Jack, 26, Doreen Jack, 26, Russell 9, and Ryan 4 were last seen on August 2, 1989 at their home in Prince George. Earlier that night, Ronnie met a guy in the pub who offered him a job bucking logs and Doreen work in the camp kitchen. They told their family that there was a daycare for the boys and they'd be gone about 10 days. And then they …

In 1978, 12-year-old Monica Jack was riding her bike near her home on the Upper Nicola reserve at Quilchena when she was abducted, raped and murdered. And, even though Garry Handlen was a suspect early on in this investigation and questioned in the 1975 murder of 11-year-old Kathryn-Mary Herbert, it would take another 36 years and a Mr. Big sting t…

Saanich residents Tanya Van Cuylenborg, 18 and Jay Cook, 20 were murdered while on an overnight trip to Washington State in 1987. Episode includes interviews with Detective Jim Scharf of the Snohomish Country Sheriff's Office and CeCe Moore, Chief Genetic Genealogist at Parabon Nanolabs, who cracked this case three decades later. This episode is ba…

This episode looks at the grim toll taken by exposure to carcinogenic fibres of asbestos. Because it often takes decades for diseases such as mesothelioma - a cancer caused by asbestos exposure - to develop, its legacy is ongoing. We’ve known about these dangers for decades, yet the widespread use of asbestos continued long after its lethal propert…

Len Hogue was one of three dirty VPD cops who supplemented their salaries initially through B&Es, escalated to bank robberies, and in 1965 pulled off the biggest heist in Vancouver’s history - $1.2 million worth of bank notes that were being sent back to Ottawa to be destroyed. When police officials caught on, 33-year-old Hogue went home, shot his …

In 1956, Len Hogue, David Harrison and Joe Percival joined the Vancouver Police Department and within a few years, became known as the “terrible three.” The cops were supplementing their salaries initially through B&Es, escalated to bank robberies, and in 1965, pulled off the biggest heist in Vancouver’s history - $1.2 million worth of stolen bank …

Tanya Busch disappeared on the way to her Vancouver school on June 2, 1972. She was the second 7-year-old abducted in just over two years. Was there a connection? This episode is based on original research and interviews from a chapter in my book Cold Case Vancouver: the city's most baffling unsolved murders For photos, show credits, sources and in…

On November 20, 1969, seven-year-old Evangeline Azarcon disappeared on her way home from Edith Cavell Elementary in Vancouver. Her abduction sparked the biggest search in BC’s history. Two years later another seven-year-old was abducted on her way to her Vancouver school. Was there a connection? This episode is based on original research and interv…

In 2019, former members of the International Woodworkers of America (IWA) along with community historians opened the IWA Archive in Lake Cowichan BC. Located at the Kaatza Station Museum, the IWA Archive is near the home of the first IWA local in the province. The Museum also houses the fabulous Wilmer Gold Photo Collection. The founding convention…