Prince George councillors want a word with CN Rail after it upgraded a rail crossing in the city and surprised council with a 118,000 dollar bill. Councillor Cori Ramsay says the need for flashing lights, bells, gates and other security devices at the crossing is not in dispute, but she says some notice from the railway giant about the incoming bill would have been nice. Ramsay says council spends hours trying to trim its budget, and faces a "huge hit" just three months into the year as it takes more than 100,000 dollars from its contingency fund. Council's intergovernmental relations committ

Health authorities have stepped up COVID-19 vaccination efforts as a consistent spread of new infections and related deaths continue. As a result, the Public Health Agency of Canada urges caution in the lifting of anti-pandemic restrictions. Dr. Theresa Tam, the country's chief public health officer, has repeated a warning that the vast majority of Canadians can still get COVID-19. She says infections had been declining nationally from mid-January through mid-February, but have now levelled off. She says "with the continued increase of cases and outbreaks associated with more contagious varia

A Manitoba man who rammed a gate at Rideau Hall before arming himself and heading on foot toward Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's home last July was sentenced today to six years in prison. Corey Hurren, a 46 year old sausage-maker and military reservist, had faced 21 weapons charges and one of threatening the prime minister. He pleaded guilty last month to seven weapons charges related to possession of prohibited or restricted firearms "for a purpose contrary to the public peace" and one charge of mischief by wilfully causing $100,000 worth of damage to the Rideau Hall gate. In delivering the

Yukon Premier Sandy Silver says, with no new cases of COVID-19 in his territory for another week, his government is ready to revise some of the restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus. Speaking at a news conference this morning, Silver says full-time, in-class learning will begin next month for Grades 10 to 12, while universities are expected to return to face-to-face learning by September. Decisions about increasing the number of social contacts are also expected this spring or summer, although exact details will depend on immunization levels that health officials hope will soo

Health Canada expects more than two million doses of vaccine to be delivered from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna in two weeks. Pfizer alone will ship more than a million doses a week itself between March 22 and April 18. Pfizer recently said it would increase its planned shipments to Canada by 1.5 million doses before the end of March, and send an extra million doses in both April and May. The company has now confirmed its delivery schedule through mid-April, shipping 1.2 million doses the weeks of March 22 and March 29, and one million doses the weeks of April 5 and April 18. To date, Canada ha

Health officials say COVID-19 outbreaks remain stubbornly frequent in one northwestern British Columbia city and are prompting a new approach to vaccinations. Northern Health, the Ministry of Health and the Provincial Health Officer say the entire community of Prince Rupert and nearby Port Edward will be immunized over the next three weeks. The first clinics for roughly 12,000 Prince Rupert-area residents begin Monday and continue until April 1. Those eligible can dial a dedicated phone line and appointments will be assigned based on age, with vaccinations for the city's oldest residents star

The Bank of Canada is keeping its key interest rate target on hold at 0.25 per cent, saying economic conditions still require it even if things are going better than anticipated.In a statement, the central bank says it expects economic growth in the first quarter of 2021 to be positive, as opposed to its previous forecast in January for a contraction to start the year.The bank's senior decision-makers say resilience in the economy has to do with consumers and businesses adapting to new rounds of lockdowns and restrictions.The statement also points to a stronger-than-expected housing market as

Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday clarified that barricades at borders of Delhi were strengthened to prevent any possible repeat of conduct displayed on January 26. Union Home Ministry in Rajya Sabha today replied on barbed wire fencing at Delhi borders where roads have been dug up in view of farmers agitation. Home Ministry said the steps were taken after vandalism took place on January 26. "Delhi Police has informed that no road has been dug up at Delhi borders in view of farmers' agitation. However, on 26.01.2021, the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha broke the barricades, in violation of pe

BC health officials say it's been one year since the first person in the province has died as a result of COVID-19, and since then there's been almost 1,400 other deaths. A joint statement from Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is reporting 550 new cases today and another two deaths. There are almost 5,000 active cases and of those, 249 people are in hospital, 68 of them in intensive care. There's been another 182 new cases linked to variants of concern for a total of 576 cases, many of them connected to the strain first found in the United Kingdom. Mor