The City of Vancouver says the Burrard Street Bridge has reopened after it was closed last night due to concern about a huge barge that had grounded nearby. The barge broke free during a powerful windstorm that followed the torrential rains that lashed southern BC between Saturday and Monday night. Winds tossed the barge on the rocks of Sunset Beach and there were concerns it could refloat overnight and drift into the usually busy bridge. A statement from the city says calmer weather and low winds have cut the risk of the barge drifting away, but the situation is being monitored closely.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada says it is sending its mobile support unit to communities in BC where floods have caused severe damage. A statement from the bureau says its Community Assistance Mobile Pavilion or CAMP is staffed by trained insurance industry specialists who can help home or business owners understand the process needed to file an insurance claim. The bureau says home insurance policies in Canada never used to cover loss or damage from overland flooding but many insurers now offer overland flood coverage as an add-on to standard home insurance policies. It says it is also worki

The BC government announced it has introduced legislation it says would prevent ``disruptive behaviour'' from affecting schools and health-care facilities. Premier John Horgan says in a statement that people protesting COVID-19 rules have blocked access to health-care facilities and schools, and while everyone has a right to protest, interference with patients and children is unacceptable. The province says the legislation would establish 20-metre zones preventing protests around hospitals, schools and COVID-19 vaccination and test centres, making it offence to impede access to the facilities

A search was set to continue today for anyone who may have been trapped in debris after a weekend of torrential rain led to several mudslides along BC highways, though there were no reports of fatalities on Monday. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth told a news conference that 275 people had to be rescued by helicopter after being trapped by slides on Highway 7 between Agassiz and Hope, while another 50 vehicles had been stuck near Lillooet. Captain Jonathan Gormick with Vancouver's Urban Search and Rescue Team says crews would be searching today for signs of buried vehicles or anyone trap

A full slate of cabinet ministers will be in Washington with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau later this week for the North American Leaders' Summit.The list includes Global Affairs Minister Melanie Joly, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, International Trade Minister Mary Ng andPublic Safety Minister Marco Mendicino.Trudeau will sit down with U-S President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday at the White House.

A loose barge drifted around Vancouver's False Creek on Monday before grounding itself on a Stanley Park beach. The Canadian Coast Guard said in a statement the barge's owner has been contacted and plans to retrieve it as soon as possible. It says it's not aware of anyone on board or any risks of pollution. There were no hydrocarbons on board. Its statement says coast guard crews from Kitsilano's base have been on the water near the barge ensuring the scene is safe.It says the owner of the barge is responsible for securing, salvaging and arranging a tow.

Over a three-day period, B.C. is reporting 1,270 new cases of COVID-19, including 10 epi-linked cases, for a total of 213,020 cases in the province: Nov. 12-13: 502 new casesNov. 13-14: 387 new casesNov. 14-15: 381 new casesThere are 3,837 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 206,665 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 376 individuals are in hospital and 116 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.In the past 72 hours, 16 new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 2,273.The new deaths include:Fraser H

Former Wildrose Party leader Brian Jean has apologized for a social media post about a rival for the United Conservative Partynomination in an Alberta byelection.In a post that has since been amended, Jean said that Premier Jason Kenney's people were backing a candidate that Jean described as ``a Nigerian economist.''Joshua Gogo accused Jean of trying to make the nomination contest in Fort McMurry about his ethnicity and of trying to undermine hiscredibility by implying he is not Albertan.Jean says a campaign volunteer posted what he says was an inappropriate comment and he called Gogo to give

Alberta will receive 3.8-billion dollars in federal funding over the next five years after signing onto the federal government's universal child-care program.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the program will make a huge difference in the lives of families in the province but also in Canada's economic recovery. Under the deal, fees in licenced child-care facilities are to be cut in half next year and fall to 10-dollars a day, on average, within five years.Choice of child care had been a sticking point in negotiations and Premier Jason Kenny says he will make subsidies eligible for alltypes of