British Columbia has confirmed 125 new cases of COVID-19 in the past day. The number of active cases ticked up by 16 to 1,284, including 72 people who are in hospital. In a joint statement, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and deputy health minister Stephen Brown say public health workers are monitoring more than 3,200 people who were exposed to a known case. They say outbreaks are ongoing at 14 long-term care or assisted-living homes and three acute-care facilities. B.C. has recorded 9,138 cases of COVID-19 so far and 7,591 people who tested positive for the illness have recovered.

Bloc Quebecois Yves-Francois Blanchet says his party voted in favour of the Liberal government's new financial-aid package for workers because Canadians need help. But he's complaining MPs were not able to do their jobs to analyse the legislation and propose improvements because the Liberals rammed it through Parliament early this morning. Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole feels the same way, and both parties are criticizing the NDP for helping the Liberals fast-track the bill. But the NDP says it did that so Canadians who had been getting the Canada Emergency Response Benefit could get assist

Health Canada has given the green light to a rapid test for COVID-19. First rapid test for COVID-19 has been approved by HealthCanada. The Abbott Diagnostics ID Now test has been in use in the US for several months already, and can produce results in less than 13 minutes in the same place a nasal swab is taken from a patient. Health Canada's approval comes a day after the federal government had signed a deal with Abbott to buy 7.9-million of the test kits. The products from Abbott are one of several rapid tests being reviewed by Health Canada as COVID-19 cases in several provinces surge to le

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has reserved her decision on whether to allow Meng Wanzhou's lawyers to advance an argument that United States officials misled Canada when they described allegations against the Huawei executive. Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes also reserved her decision on whether to admit additional evidence that would support that claim in Meng's fight against extradition to the U.S. Meng is wanted in the United States on fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud charges that both she and Huawei deny. She is accused of misrepresenting Huawei's relationship with Skycom in a Pow

Ontario is reporting another 52 cases of COVID-19 in schools across the province. The government says at least 32 of those infected are students, while eight are staff and 12 have not been identified. Wednesday's development brings the total number of cases in schools to 342. 188 of these cases are in students. The government says 282 of the province's 4,828 schools have at least one case of COVID-19. It says three schools have been shut down due to the virus. Overall, the province has reported 51,710 cases of the novel coronavirus.

The Commission on Presidential Debates says it's adding new ``tools to maintain order'' to the upcoming debates after a chaotic first debate between President Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Trump's frequent interruptions of the Democratic presidential nominee defined Tuesday night's debate, with Biden frequently unable to complete a sentence. Moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News pleaded with Trump several times to allow Biden to speak uninterrupted, to no avail. The nonpartisan commission has organized every general election presidential debate since 1988. In a statement, the commission said the

Hundreds of Canadian employees of Royal Dutch Shell could be affected by its plan revealed Wednesday to cut between 7,000 and 9,000 jobs worldwide by the end of 2022.The company has 3,500 workers in Canada, accounting for about 4.2 per cent of its global workforce of about 83,000 employees, confirmed Shell Canada spokeswoman Tara Lemay.If the cuts are made proportionately, they would result in between 294 and 378 fewer jobs in Canada."We do not have an exact figure because the details are still being worked out and we have never had a target to reduce a particular number of jobs," Lemay said i

Kentucky's attorney general is asking a court to delay the release of secret grand jury proceedings in Breonna Taylor's killing by police just as audio recordings were set to be made public. Attorney General Daniel Cameron's office filed a motion Wednesday asking for a week delay to the release so officials could redact names and personal information from the recording. A court in Louisville was expected to release the audio recordings on Wednesday. Meanwhile, one of two Louisville police officers shot during protests last week held a news conference calling for peace and unity between law en

BC NDP Leader John Horgan says elders living in long-term care facilities in British Columbia deserve their own rooms. He is promising a 10-year plan today that would cost $1.4 billion to revamp elder care after the COVID-19 pandemic showed a vulnerability in the system for people living in care facilities. Horgan says the NDP campaign platform for the Oct. 24 election will include more details of the party's plan in the coming days, but at a campaign stop in Surrey he said workers can expect fair wages and families more dignity for their loved ones. He says the pandemic has hit older people