The COVID-19 pandemic has sideswiped British Columbia's public vehicle insurer, but the attorney general says it's too soon to assess the potential damage. David Eby, who is also the minister responsible for the Insurance Corporation of B.C., said Thursday claim costs are down by about $160 million because there have been fewer accidents as drivers stay home. But he said plunging prices on global stock markets have hit the corporation's investment portfolio. Eby says the clear picture of the pandemic's impact on ICBC won't be truly known until the end of the current fiscal year in about 10 mo

Correctional Service Canada reports 343 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19. Almost all have occurred in two Quebec institutions and one in British Columbia. Hardest hit has been the Federal Training Centre in Laval, Que., with 148. The Mission Medium Institution in B.C. has had 120 cases of COVID-19. Two inmates have died. At least 88 guards have been infected.

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller says the government will not cancel important ceremonies for First Nations peoples in the face of COVID-19. He says banning of such ceremonies in the past has been a dark stain on Canada's history. 185 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on First Nations reserves As of May 13, there have been 185 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on First Nations reserves in Canada. Of those, two people have died and 63 per cent have recovered. Chief medical officer of Indigenous Services Canada Dr. Tom Wong says the fatality rate is so far less than the rest of Canada. But numbers a

The Quebec government is putting off reopening schools in the Montreal area until August or September.Premier Francois Legault says public health conditions for reopening haven't been met in Montreal, which is the COVID-19 epicentre of the province.The Montreal area had initially been slated to reopen schools, daycares and businesses on May 25, but now daycare in the region will only reopen June 1 at the earliest while no firm decision has been taken on retail businesses.Authorities reported an additional 793 new cases of COVID-19 and 131 new deaths today.

Ottawa has announced $469 million in federal support for fish harvesters who have been ineligible for other aid initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today announced the support, which will come in the form of an industry-specific benefit and a grant.The Fish Harvester Benefit, structured similarly to the previously announced federal wage subsidy, offers income support covering 75 per cent of losses for harvesters losing 25 per cent or more of their income this year.The Fish Harvester Grant is a sector-specific grant similar to the Canada Emergency Business Acc

The Bank of Canada says there are signs in the country's financial markets that suggest concern about the ability of companies to weather the COVID-19 economic crisis.The central bank has spent the last two months making a flurry of policy decisions that has seen it slash its target interest rate and embark on an unprecedented bond-buying program to ease the flow of credit.The report suggests these measures have helped ease liquidity strains and provide easy access to short-term credit for companies and households.But it is warning this morning that a cash-flow problem for businesses seeing sh

The total number of coronavirus positive cases in India reached 74,281 on Wednesday, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The tally is inclusive of 47,480 active cases, 24,385 cured/discharged patients and 2,415 deaths due to the infection. While the doubling time earlier was 10.9 days, it has improved to 12.2 in the last few days. According to MoHFW, Maharashtra has the most number of positive COVID-19 cases with 24,427 positive cases, followed by Gujarat with 8,903, and Tamil Nadu with 8,718 cases. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan today held a meeting via video conference with

There are 72,278 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada. Quebec: 39,931 confirmed (including 3,220 deaths, 10,470 resolved) Ontario: 21,236 confirmed (including 1,765 deaths, 15,845 resolved) Alberta: 6,407 confirmed (including 120 deaths, 5,076 resolved) British Columbia: 2,376 confirmed (including 132 deaths, 1,859 resolved) Nova Scotia: 1,024 confirmed (including 51 deaths, 870 resolved) Saskatchewan: 577 confirmed (including 6 deaths, 385 resolved) Manitoba: 278 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 251 resolved), 12 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 261 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 24

British Columbia has announced details on how it plans to spend $120 million in federal funds earmarked for cleaning up inactive oil and gas well sites across the province. Premier John Horgan says restoring more than 2,000 inactive oil and gas wells would support upwards of 1,200 jobs in B.C. The federal government announced $120 million for cleaning up so-called orphan wells in B.C. in mid-April, money the province says it intends to spend on three new programs once a final agreement is reached with Ottawa. B.C. says up to $100 million would be used to reclaim wells that have been inacti