The British Columbia Liberals are promising lower vehicle insurance rates by ending the monopoly that the Crown-owned Insurance Corporation of B.C. has on the market. Leader Andrew Wilkinson said Tuesday an elected Liberal government on Oct. 24 will open the vehicle insurance market to competition, resulting in cheaper rates, especially for young drivers.Drivers should have the option of choosing where to take their insurance business, instead of being forced to deal with the single public agency, he said at a news conference."It's time to offer cheaper rates, and the way to get cheaper rates

The NDP is promising a rent freeze in British Columbia until the end of next year, a one-time $1,000 recovery benefit for families and an expansion of $10-a-day daycare in its platform released today. In a news release, the NDP says the plan builds on the work they've done over the past 3 1/2 years to improve health care and affordability, while creating jobs. The platform is based heavily on the NDP record, with the majority of promises stemming from work already underway or expanding on their pledges. The party says of 154 platform promises, 60 are new. It also promises a new Recovery Invest

A former Liberal MP facing charges of fraud and breach of trust related to his time in office has had his case adjourned until early next year. Lawyers for Raj Grewal and the Crown agreed to have the case return to court Jan. 6 during a brief virtual hearing on Tuesday. Grewal's lawyer Zachary Al-Khatib said during the hearing that his team received 10 gigabytes of disclosure materials from investigators. He added that he has made a request for more evidence from the Crown. The RCMP charged Grewal almost one month ago with four counts of breach of trust and one count of fraud over $5,000 stem

The Punjabi translation of new farm bills passed by the Indian Parliament can be read by clicking on the following link: Punjabi translation of the new farm bills

A state funeral for former Liberal prime minister John Turner is underway in downtown Toronto.About 170 invited guests are in attendance, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Toronto Mayor John Tory, and federal minister Carolyn Bennett.Attendees are spaced out in the pews at the recently renovated St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica to maintain physical distancing.Organizers limited the guest list in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.Turner died at age 91 on Sept. 19.He had spent decades in politics, serving as solicitor general and justice and finance ministers before his brief stint as prime

A West Vancouver millionaire convicted of killing and then dismembering the body of his former business partner has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Li Zhao was sentenced Monday in B.C. Supreme Court after being convicted of manslaughter and interfering with the remains of Gang Yuan in May of 2015. With time already served factored in, his prison sentence is reduced to less than two years and five months. The judge ruled prosecutors couldn't prove Zhao intended to kill the 42-year-old Yuan when the men fought at a mansion in a neighbourhood of West Vancouver known as the British Propert

It's Make a Will week across BC as the provincial government encourages residents to write a will or bring an existing one up-to-date. BC responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with legislation in August that makes it easier to create wills which can be signed electronically and stored online. A spokeswoman for a Toronto-based online estate planning platform says almost two-thirds of B-C residents are thinking more about emergency preparedness because of the pandemic. But data shows only 38 per cent of B-C residents have an up-to-date will and 90 per cent of millennials don't have a will at all.

The hospital in Delta., B.C., is not admitting new inpatients due to an outbreak of COVID-19, though the emergency department remains open and all scheduled surgeries will continue. The Fraser Health Authority, which operates Delta Hospital, says patients requiring care outside those units will not be admitted ``for the time being'' in order to protect them from the risk of transmission. Dr. Elizabeth Brodkin, chief medical health officer at Fraser Health, says 18 patients and 17 staff have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the outbreak first identified on Sept. 16. She says seven patients have

The B.C. Liberals are promising to resurrect their previous plan when in government to build a 10-lane bridge over the Fraser River to replace the aging Massey Tunnel in Metro Vancouver. Leader Andrew Wilkinson says the Liberals, if elected on Oct. 24, will dump the NDP's long-delayed eight-lane tunnel proposal and start immediate on construction of the 10-lane bridge to replace the current tunnel. Wilkinson says the bridge project will relieve the largest traffic bottleneck in Western Canada. Wilkinson says the 10-lane bridge proposed by the Liberals when they were in government back in 2013