Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, and Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s provincial health officer, have issued the a joint statement regarding updates on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) response in British Columbia. "Today, we are announcing 20 new cases, for a total of 3,028 cases in British Columbia. "There are 175 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 2,667 people who tested positive have recovered. "Of the total COVID-19 cases, 17 individuals are hospitalized, four of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation. "There have been no

The head of an investigation into allegations of racism against Indigenous people in BC's health-care system says she plans to issue an initial report in a few months. But Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond says CEOs of health authorities should not wait for the outcome of her investigation. She says they need to immediately address allegations of racism and she'll ask those who didn't to explain themselves. A former judge investigating allegations of racism towards Indigenous people in British Columbia's health-care system is calling on patients, families, doctors and nurses to come forward with thei

Premier John Horgan says British Columbia's restart is gaining ground as some industries resume operations and more people leave their homes to participate in the economy. He says the number of passengers on transit and ferries is growing, and television and movie productions have restarted, as well as restaurants serving more customers. Horgan says B.C.'s successful efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 and the willingness of people to spend more time out in public leave him optimistic. The latest B.C. job numbers are due Friday and Finance Minister Carole James is releasing a fiscal update

The longest-serving mayor of South Korea's capital, a fierce critic of economic inequality who was seen as a potential presidential candidate, has been found dead. Park Won-soon was 64. Police say Park's body was found near a restaurant nestled in wooded hills stretching across northern Seoul after he was reported missing by his daughter. Local media reports say one of Park's secretaries recently lodged a complaint with police over alleged sexual harassment.

The Liberal government is updating the interpretation of ``parent'' to make it easier for some parents to pass Canadian citizenship on to their children. Previously, children born abroad to Canadians automatically received citizenship only if there was a genetic link between the parent and the child or the parent gave birth to the child. But couples who used assisted reproductive technologies to have kids had to go through a cumbersome process to secure citizenship even if one parent was Canadian. Laurence Caron, who is Canadian, and her partner Elsje van der Ven, who is Dutch, fought that ap

Canada's police chiefs are calling for decriminalization of personal possession of illicit drugs as the best way to battle substance abuse and addiction. The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police is proposing increased access to health care, treatment and social services to divert people away from the criminal justice system. This would apply to people possessing a small amount of illicit drugs for personal consumption. Chief Const. Adam Palmer of Vancouver, the association president, says Canada continues to grapple with the fentanyl crisis and a poisoned drug supply that has devastated

Canada is joining an international group of nearly two dozen other countries working to protect the world's oceans.The Global Ocean Alliance, founded by Great Britain last year, seeks to protect 30 per cent of the world's oceans by 2030. Its 22 members include European countries such as Italy, Germany and Sweden, as well as island states such as Fiji and the Seychelles.Fisheries and Oceans Minister Bernadette Jordan made the announcement in Ottawa this morning.Canada has announced a conservation target of 25 per cent of its marine and coastal areas by 2025, and has already protected 14 per cen

A new report from a committee of senators says the country is ill-prepared to handle a second wave of COVID-19. The Senate's social affairs committee says the federal government needs to pay urgent attention to seniors in long-term care homes where outbreaks and deaths in the pandemic have been concentrated. There are also concerns in the report about the vulnerability of low-income seniors should there be a second wave of the novel coronavirus later this year. The document made public this morning is the committee's first set of observations on the government's response to the pandemic, with

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday kept a hold on President Donald Trump’s financial records that Congress has been seeking for more than a year. The ruling returns the case to lower courts, with no clear prospect for when the case might ultimately be resolved. The 7-2 outcome is at least a short-term victory for Trump, who has strenuously sought to keep his financial records private. The decision came after the court upheld a prosecutor’s demand for Trump’s tax returns as part of a criminal investigation that includes hush-money payments to women who claim they had affairs with Trump.