More financial help is on the way for British Columbia businesses forced to stay closed for at least another month as the province tries to contain the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. A statement from the Ministry of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation says businesses including event venues, bars, nightclubs and lounges that don't serve full meals are eligible for grants of up to $20,000, based on staffing levels. The funds, which double the amount available to those businesses, can be claimed through the provincial COVID-19 Closure Relief Grant. Businesses ordered by the provin

Statistics Canada confirms the cost of living in Canada just keeps climbing, as the national inflation rate hit 4.8 per cent last month, the highest in two decades. Analysts say the December setting was one-tenth of a point above November's with food, housing and gasoline among the reasons for the higher costs. Inflation in BC climbed three basis points to 3.9 per cent in December, while Vancouver's rate leaped more than half a per cent to 3.8 per cent and the cost of living in Victoria edged up to 3.4 per cent last month from 3.2 in November. An announcement is planned next week by the Bank

Just over 200 Afghan refugees are now safe in Vancouver after arriving on a charter plane from Pakistan last night. Federal officials say 209 people were on the flight, most of them workers and their families who assisted the Canadian government in Afghanistan in the months and years before the Taliban took power in August. The group is the largest so far to arrive in B-C and it's expected that all but about 50 will stay in Vancouver, while the rest will join family in other parts of the country. Immigration Minister Sean Fraser says more than seven-thousand refugees have now reached safety i

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirms that new Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly has met with leaders in Ukraine to assure them Canada stands with its international allies in defending the country. Trudeau calls Russian aggression in the region ``absolutely unacceptable.'' He says he's spoken to cabinet ministers and the chief of the defence staff about Canada's strategy in Ukraine. Joly says Canada has not decided whether it will help arm Ukraine's forces with military hardware after NATO ally Britain said it would supply anti-tank weapons.

Two people have been slightly injured in what police say was an early morning targeted shooting in Surrey. RCMP say it happened just after 3 a.m. inside a warming centre in the Whalley neighbourhood. The police statement says a 24 year old man who is known to them is believed to have been the target but a 57 year old woman was also hurt, and both were treated in hospital and released. Investigators say the attack is not believed to be linked to the Lower Mainland gang conflict.

Two more schools have been added to the handful of elementary and secondary schools affected by functional closures linked to the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. The Abbotsford School District says in a social media message that WJ Mouat Secondary and Yale Secondary will be closed until Monday due to ``operational limitations'' related to the spread of the virus. Lack of staff forced closure of Mission's Heritage Park Middle School on Friday but it's expected to reopen tomorrow; Armstrong Elementary was shuttered last week and planned to open yesterday but will now stay closed unti

The fifth wave of the pandemic appears to be peaking in hard-hit provinces like Ontario and Quebec, but Saskatchewan is bracing for a wave of COVID-19 hospitalizations and workers off the job until the middle of next month. Alberta's hospitalization rates are rising to levels not seen since mid-October and P-E-I is bringing in restrictions on gathering limits and shutting down gyms and restaurant dining rooms. B-C provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is going to let gyms and other fitness facilities re-open tomorrow -- a move she calls a cautious step in lifting COVID-19 restrictions.

Inflation hit 4.8 per cent in December. The last time it was that high was December, 1991 when the number-one hits on the radio included Michael Bolton's ``When a Man Loves a Woman'' and Michael Jackson's ``Black or White.'' The main drivers for price growth were higher year-over-year prices for food, passenger vehicles and housing. Prices at the gas pumps shot up 33.3 per cent from December 2020, but that was lower than November's 43.6 per cent annual increase.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada says this year's floods in B-C helped make 2021 Canada's sixth-highest year in insured losses since 1983. The bureau says insured damage from last year's extreme weather events totalled more than two-billion dollars. B-C floods were the biggest ticket event at 515-million dollars, followed closely by Calgary's 500-million-dollar hailstorm in July. 2016 remains the most expensive year on record at five-point-four billion in insured damage, due in large part to the Fort McMurray wildfires.