Advance polling has started in BC for the provincial elections. Elections BC says almost 139-thousand vote-by-mail packages had been returned as of Tuesday. That's about 20 per cent of the estimated 699-thousand voters who asked for mail-in ballots. All three main parties in the BC election have now released platforms outlining their promises if elected on October 24th. The Greens unveiled their platform on Wednesday, with Sonia Furstenau promising a stronger, more equitable and sustainable province. Part of the platform includes bolstering income security with a move towards a basic income p

Opposition MPs are bracing for another marathon meeting of the House of Commons ethics committee today as they ramp up efforts to revive their investigation into the WE Charity affair. Indeed, Conservative MP Michael Barrett says he and his colleagues are prepared for the meeting to drag on for days, if that's what it takes to finally force an end to a filibuster by Liberal committee members who've been blocking opposition demands for more documents. At issue is a motion put forward by Barrett last week calling on Speakers' Spotlight, the agency that arranged speaking engagements for Prime Mi

The number of active cases of COVID-19 has ticked up to just under 1,500 as B.C. reports 158 new cases on Wednesday. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and deputy health minister Stephen Brown say in a joint news release that 84 people are in hospital, including 24 in intensive care. They say no one else has died from the illness since the province's last update, leaving the death toll at 250. The outbreak at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver is now over, while outbreaks are ongoing at two other acute care facilities and 17 assisted living or long-term care homes. More than 3,600 peopl

The COVID-19 pandemic has Canadians spending more time and money online. Statistics Canada says a survey conducted last month found that 44 per cent of Canadians had dropped more money on technology, including computers, laptops and tablets, and 42 per cent had sprung for more video streaming services. The survey also found about a third of Canadians say they've received attempted identity-theft attacks and 14 per cent reported at least one attack related to COVID-19 test results, a potential cure for the virus or about the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. Analyst Christopher Collins says t

BC Hydro says all but a handful of customers on the south coast were able to have a warm breakfast this morning after a powerful windstorm blacked out large areas of the region yesterday and overnight. Hydro says 192-thousand customers lost power at some point during the storm that began yesterday morning, hammering parts of Vancouver Island and the eastern Fraser Valley. Its website shows about 3,000 customers, mostly in Chilliwack or the Duncan area are still in the dark. The rest had power restored before sunrise this morning.

BC's three main political parties are being criticized for failing to include the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women in their election platforms. A coalition of 18 groups, including the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, has sent a letter to the New Democrat, Liberal and Green leaders expressing ``grave concern and disappointment'' about the lack of any policies to implement the findings of a national inquiry into murdered and missing women. The coalition says the COVID-19 pandemic proves governments can move quickly when lives are at risk, yet the failure to act on missing and murdered w

A 69 year old Penticton man has pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder for the shooting deaths of four Okanagan residents in April 2019. John Brittain entered the pleas in BC Supreme Court in Kelowna this morning, after his lawyer told the judge last week that Brittain intended to admit to the slayings. Rudi Winter, Barry and Susan Wonch and Darlene Knippelberg died, and court documents show Brittain's sentencing for the attacks is also set to be held today. The murders all happened on the same day and the victims were all neighbours that B

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced regulatory approval for a second coronavirus vaccine after early-stage studies. The peptide-based, two-shot vaccine was developed by the Vector Institute in Siberia and tested among 100 volunteers in early-stage human trials. An advanced study involving tens of thousands of volunteers that is necessary to establish safety and effectiveness of the vaccine were scheduled to start in November or December. It remained unclear whether the vaccine would be offered for a wider use while the trials still ongoing. Russia licensed another vaccine on Aug. 1

WestJet's CEO says the lack of travel demand combined with domestic quarantines means the airline can no longer maintain its full Canadian network. In a video post, Ed Sims says WestJet is, ``out of runway,'' and is suspending operations to four cities in Atlantic Canada and slashing service to others in the region.WestJet says it will indefinitely halt routes to Fredericton and Moncton, New Brunswick, Sydney, Nova Scotia, and Charlottetown, while dramatically paring down service to Halifax and St. John's, Newfoundland. PEI Premier Dennis King is expressing ``deep disappointment'' that WestJe