Opponents of old-growth logging on southern Vancouver Island say they've begun a hunger strike in downtown Vancouver. Extinction Rebellion spokesman Zain Haq says the hunger strike is in support of protesters camped near old-growth forest logging areas west of Victoria, which have been the scene of more than 220 arrests in recent weeks at Fairy Creek. Haq says the hunger strikers will refuse food until they can meet with Premier John Horgan, Forests Minister Katrine Conroy and Jonathan Wilkinson, the federal minister of environment and climate change. Last week, the BC government approved the

Prosecutors have laid terrorism charges against a man accused of driving down and killing four members of a Muslim family in London, Ont.The Crown says Nathaniel Veltman's four counts of first-degree murder constitute an act of terrorism and prosecutors have upgraded those charges under section 83 of the Criminal Code.Veltman also faces one count of attempted murder due to terrorism activity.The upgraded charges were laid as Veltman made a brief court appearance via video this morning.Salman Afzaal, 46, his 44-year-old wife Madiha Salman, their 15-year-old daughter Yumna and her 74-year-old g

Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers DV Sadananda Gowda on Monday said that 1,06,300 vials of black fungus drugs Amphotericin B have been allocated to states, union territories and to the Central Institutions."Ensuring significant availability of Liposomal #Amphotericin B, additional 106300 vials of the drug have been allocated across all the States/UTs and Central Institutions today," Sadananda Gowda said in a tweet.The Minister said that a total of 53,000 vials of Conventional Amphotericin B have also been allocated to all the states, UTs and Central Institutions today."A total of 53

Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, have issued a joint statement regarding updates on the COVID-19 response in British Columbia:"Today, we are reporting that 75.1% of all adults in B.C. and 73.1% of those 12 and older have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. In total, 3,893,581 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in B.C., 497,932 of which are second doses."We have had 180 new cases of COVID-19, including five epi-linked cases, for a total of 146,176 cases in British Columb

Canada's chief public health officer says we're continuing to make good progress in the fight against COVID-19. Dr. Theresa Tam says the rolling seven-day average number of cases has been steadily declining.Dr. Tam says Canada is recording 1,850 cases daily, with the number of deaths now down 40 per cent to 31. Chief public health officer says over 27.7-million doses of vaccine have been administered across Canada. Dr. Theresa Tam says over 2.6-million of those were given in the past week.Dr. Tam says Indigenous communities and the territories have some of the highest vaccination rates in the

Federal lawmakers want the Trudeau government to convene an emergency summit on Islamophobia. In the House of Commons today, MPs unanimously passed an NDP motion demanding the gathering in the wake of Sunday's deadly attack against a Muslim family in London, Ontario. The motion calls for the summit by the end of July. Police allege the London attack, which saw four family members run down and killed on Sunday night, was a planned act that targeted Muslims. A 20 year old man faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

Seven BC mayors have added their support for Vancouver's application to decriminalize small amounts of illicit drugs. They say it's time Ottawa stepped up. The mayors say the ongoing opioid crisis also has harsh effects in their cities and decriminalization could encourage users to seek help. Vancouver has applied to Health Canada for decriminalization of simple possession of 15 different drugs, and has the support of a broad coalition, including Vancouver police, the province, chief coroner and provincial health officer. The mayors of Victoria, Nanaimo, Saanich, Kamloops, New Westminster, Bu

Vancouver Police are investigating after firearms were located during an inspection of an unlicensed marijuana store by the Province’s Community Safety Unit (CSU). "The Community Safety Unit has the authority to enter premises where cannabis is being sold without a provincial retail store licence and take enforcement action, including seizing cannabis," says Constable Tania Visintin, VPD. "Legislation states that a seller must be licensed by the provincial government and that product for sale must be sourced through the provincial government to ensure the safety of the product, and ultimatel

RCMP in Shawnigan Lake are investigating a fire that claimed a young woman's life in Mill Bay. Police say officers responded to the early-morning blaze yesterday after a report by the Malahat Nation. The residence was completely engulfed and four people who were outside were taken to hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. But an 18 year old woman who alerted others to the fire did not make it out of the house, and firefighters found her body inside after extinguishing the blaze.