Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk says both the provincial government and the long-term care home sector failed to heed lessons learned from the SARS epidemic and were poorly prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic. Her report into the deaths of more than 3,700 nursing home residents last spring finds concerns about systemic weaknesses that had been raised for years were never addressed. Among other things, Bonnie Lysyk says emergency planning was woefully inadequate. Bonnie Lysyk says vaccinations have now blunted the impact of the virus but the sector remains vulnerable given past neglect. Ly

A former B.C. Liberal cabinet minister who was responsible for gaming for more than a decade is scheduled to testify today at the public inquiry into money laundering.Rich Coleman, a six-term former member of the B.C. legislature and deputy premier, is the latest of several high-profile past and current politicians to appear before the Cullen Commission in recent days.Former premier Christy Clark recently testified at the inquiry, as did current Opposition Liberal MLAs Shirley Bond and Mike de Jong, both of whom were previous ministers in charge of gaming.B.C. Attorney General David Eby, who

An earthquake of magnitude 6.4 on the Richter scale struck parts of Assam on morning of April 28. Cracks appeared on a road in Sonitpur after the massive earthquake. Meanwhile, a building in Nagaon tilted against its adjacent building. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also tweeted and prayed for the well-being of locals.

On April 28, India witnessed the highest-ever spike of COVID-19 cases in a day in the world. 3,60,960 new COVID cases reported in the last 24 hours and the total caseload now stands at 1,79,97,267. Currently, there are 29,78,709 active cases in the nation. With 3,293 new deaths were registered in 24 hrs, the country has crossed the 2 lakh mark of COVID death toll at its first. In the last 24 hrs, 2,61,162 people have been discharged.So far, 14,78,27,367 COVID vaccine jabs have been inoculated.

A truck driver has been killed in a collision between two semi-trailers on the Coquihalla Highway. The unnamed driver died just after six last night when one of the rigs rear-ended the other. RCMP Traffic Services Corporal Mike Halskov says the driver in the trailing semi likely caused the crash, and died on impact. The northbound lanes of the highway north of Merritt re-opened at around three this morning.

People age 30 and older may now receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in British Columbia, starting with hot spots for transmission. Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry say in a statement on Tuesday the vaccine will be made available across the province as B.C. receives enough doses to add more pharmacy appointments. Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommended last week that the vaccine may be offered to people 30 and up who don't want to wait for an approved mRNA vaccine, and if certain other conditions are met. Those condi

A report by British Columbia's auditor general says the province is effectively managing its highway avalanche safety program, but improvements can still be made. Michael Pickup says in a statement the audit found avalanche deaths on B.C. highways are rare events and road closures due to avalanches are declining. He says the audit looked at the Transportation Ministry's management of highway safety and the efforts to keep avalanche-related road closures to a minimum. Pickup says there haven't been any avalanche-related deaths on B.C. highways in more than 20 years and avalanche events are now

British Columbia has introduced legislation to convert an investment initiative into a Crown corporation with the authority to make independent decisions aimed at spurring economic recovery after the pandemic. The $500-million InBC investment fund was created last September as a way for the province to invest alongside the private sector to support small and medium-sized companies, which make up 98 per cent of all businesses in the province. The purpose of the fund is to make investments that achieve a financial return by meeting the government's social, economic and environmental policy obje

Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau spoke with his counterpart in India earlier today about how Canada could best help the country struggling with a deadly surge in COVID-19 cases. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government is ready to provide $10 million to the Indian Red Cross, through the Canadian Red Cross. He says this money would support everything from procuring more personal protective equipment locally to ambulance services. Trudeau says government in close contact with US about procuring more doses Canada is counting on a US promise to share surplus COVID-19vaccines