Today marks the first day of British Columbia’s provincewide COVID-19 immunizations, the most comprehensive vaccine program to ever be delivered in B.C.Over the coming days, approximately 4,000 health-care workers in British Columbia will be rolling up their sleeves to receive the first approved COVID-19 vaccine.Nisha Yunus, a 64-year old residential care aid was one of the first people in British Columbia to receive the COVID-19 immunization. Yunus has worked in the same long-term care home in the Vancouver Coastal Health region for 41 years, all in the same unit and on the same floor. The

The RCMP will be changing its policies over collecting and using information gathered on protesters following a series of recommendations from the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission. RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki acknowledged inadequate data-handling practices in response to the investigation into surveillance of opponents of the now-defunct Northern Gateway pipeline project. The BC Civil Liberties Association first lodged a complaint in 2014, saying the Mounties improperly collected and shared information about people and groups who peacefully opposed the project. The complaints comm

The Canadian military is investigating after a master sailor from Manitoba is believed to have accidentally fallen overboard. Duane Earle, of Winnipeg, went missing while deployed on HMCS Winnipeg. A government news release says Duane Earle is thought to have accidentally fallen overboard in the Pacific while the ship was west of San Francisco. It says the master sailor wasn't identified as missing until later Monday and the ship turned back to begin a search.At his Ottawa news conference this morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said every resource is being dedicated to the search. Earle i

The Canadian Real Estate Association says the average price of homes rose 13.8 per cent in November, largely influenced by sales in the Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto areas. The association says the average home price was 603,000 dollars. But with the Vancouver and Toronto markets excluded, that price drops by 122,000 dollars. Sales activity was up by more than 32 per cent between this November compared with the same time last year. The association says there were year-over-year price gains in Greater Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Chilliwack, the Okanagan Valley, Victoria and elsewhere

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada has signed a contract to receive up to 168,000 doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine before the end of December. The Moderna vaccine has not yet been approved by Health Canada but Trudeau says deliveries could begin within 48 hours of that happening. Trudeau also says Canada is set to receive about 200,000 of its total early shipment of COVID-19 vaccine doses from Pfizer next week. He says there will also be 70 sites across the country ready to administer these doses, a big jump from the 14 distribution sites in place this week. Moderna's vaccine doesn'

A spokeswoman for a homeless tent encampment in Vancouver says she's surprised and disappointed by the city's announcement. The city of Vancouver says it will look to house people from Strathcona Park at the Jericho Hostel and the 2400 Motel, as well as two further sites. The board says in a statement that once indoor spaces have been found they'll enforce the bylaw prohibiting overnight camping in the park. A statement from the Vancouver Park Board says the city has identified several properties that can be used as temporary indoor spaces to bring people inside. But Chrissy Brett says the c

A security analyst who monitors emails to and from the RCMP says a senior Mountie emailed the FBI the day after Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested at Vancouver's airport. Jayson Allen told a BC Supreme Court hearing yesterday that a manager asked him to search the emails of Staff Sgt. Ben Chang. Chang dealt with requests for information from the US law enforcement agency. Meng's lawyers allege Chang illegally passed on serial numbers of her electronic devices to the FBI. Court is scheduled to continue later today.

Interior Health says it is carrying out a second day of testing at Big White Ski Resort following a few positive cases of COVID-19, and reports of partying on the mountain. The resort's senior vice-president says the company knows there are people residing on the mountain who have probably been gathering when they should be. Interior Health says the cases of COVID-19 detected are related to transmission caused by social activity in homes and accommodations. Senior vice-president Michael Ballingall says testing is underway to determine who else may have contracted the virus. He says young peo

The first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are set to be administered to BC residents today. Provincial health officer Doctor Bonnie Henry told a news conference yesterday that the vaccine will be given to workers in long-term care facilities to start. Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health regions are due to receive the first doses, with the rest of the province having access by next week. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is being used in the regions covered by the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health authorities and will be given to workers in long-term care facilities. Dr. Henry says a second dose of