Another record for monthly overdose deaths related to illicit drugs has been set in British Columbia. The BC Coroners Service says 175 fatalities in June surpassed the previous high of 171 deaths in May. Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe says the pandemic has limited access to harm-reduction services and people should not be using opioids or other substances alone. Lapointe is urging substance users to have someone present when using drugs or to go to an overdose prevention or supervised-consumption site where drugs can be checked for toxicity. She says opioids, along with cocaine and the stimulant

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal, provincial and territorial governments have reached a deal on billions of dollars in transfers to continue reopening economies amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He says the federal government will contribute $19 billion to the effort. The money is to help the lower-tier governments with needs such as funding child care, bailing out cities whose expenses have soared and revenues plunged, increasing contact-tracing capacity, and buying personal protective equipment. The pandemic is a health crisis, but Trudeau says it has a deep economic dimension. He s

The Canada-U.S. border has been closed to so-called "discretionary" travel like vacations and shopping trips since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the continent in mid-March, an agreement that had been set to expire July 21.The extension comes with COVID-19 resurgent across the U.S. — cases are on the rise in all 50 states, and southern states like Florida, Arizona and California are facing a fresh crisis with overcrowded hospital wards, refrigerated truck trailers serving as makeshift morgues and another shortage of personal protective medical gear.The escalating emergency has also expos

The first of multiple parliamentary investigations of the federal government's aborted deal with WE Charity to run a volunteering program begins this afternoon.The House of Commons finance committee is set to hear from Youth Minister Bardish Chagger and some senior public servants as it probes how WE got a sole-sourced contract to administer the $900-million program.The Canada Student Service Grant is aimed at students who haven't been able to find work this summer, offering up to $5,000 toward education costs in exchange for 500 hours of volunteering.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has admitte

There are 108,829 confirmed cases in Canada. Quebec: 56,859 confirmed (including 5,636 deaths, 26,097 resolved) Ontario: 37,052 confirmed (including 2,732 deaths, 32,920 resolved) Alberta: 8,994 confirmed (including 163 deaths, 8,127 resolved) British Columbia: 3,149 confirmed (including 189 deaths, 2,753 resolved) Nova Scotia: 1,067 confirmed (including 63 deaths, 1,002 resolved) Saskatchewan: 881 confirmed (including 15 deaths, 791 resolved) Manitoba: 319 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 318 resolved), 11 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 262 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 258 resolved)

BC health officials say they're concerned about the increase in new cases of COVID-19 in the province. Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry say in a joint statement that they're worried COVID-19 is silently circulating in communities. The province has logged 21 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of three-thousand 149. While infections early in the pandemic were concentrated in long-term care and assisted living facilities, health officials say most of the new cases are in the broader community. The statement says residents need to do their part by layering

After many Twitter accounts belonging to Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Bill Gates among others were on Wednesday hacked to promote a bitcoin scam, the microblogging site said it is investigating the incident and taking steps to fix it.In a first response after the incident, Twitter Support tweeted: "We are aware of a security incident impacting accounts on Twitter. We are investigating and taking steps to fix it. We will update everyone shortly."A number of high profile Twitter accounts including that of US presidential hopeful Joe Biden, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates and

Police are investigating after a body was found in a wooded area on the boundary between Langley, B.C., and Surrey on Wednesday morning. Surrey RCMP say in a news release that officers and members of the Langley fire department responded to a report of a brush fire shortly before 11 a.m. They say the fire was put out and a body was found. The cause of the person's death is not known but police says it's suspicious. The Mounties did not provide information about the identity of the person found dead. Surrey RCMP's general investigation unit has taken over the investigation.

A former Canadian Football League player was sentenced Wednesday to three months in prison for hiring someone take the SATs in place of his two sons.David Sidoo, who played professional football for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and B.C. Lions, lowered his head into his hands and cried as U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton chided him for his actions. Sidoo told the judge he's "deeply ashamed.""I make no excuses. I broke the law. I pled guilty to a crime and now I must pay for my actions," Sidoo said.Sidoo appeared before the Boston federal court judges via videoconference because of the coron