British Columbia officials are celebrating the planting of 10 billion seedlings since reforestation efforts began nearly a century ago. A statement from the Forests Ministry says two billion of those seedlings have been planted in the last seven years. It says the 10-billionth seedling was among 305 million that were planted throughout the province last year, and Forests Minister Bruce Ralston planted a ceremonial tree in Surrey's Green Timbers Urban Forest Park to mark the milestone on Monday. Ralston says in a statement that it's easy to get lost in the large number, but there's a human stor

Shiromani Akali Dal has not given a Lok Sabha ticket to Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa or his son Parminder Singh Dhindsa from Sangrur seat, the politics within the party has heated up. Bibi Jagir Kaur said that as Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa returned to the party with the intention of strengthening the Shiromani Akali Dal, his trust should not be broken. He said that everyone was wondering if the Akali Dal would field the Dhindsa family from Sangrur but instead the party surprised everyone by giving the ticket to Iqbal Singh Jhunda. Bibi Jagir Kaur said that she is not criticizing the decision of the par

In Punjab, the BJP has released the second list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. In this, former Akali Minister Sikandar Singh Maluka's daughter-in-law Parampal Kaur Sidhu, a retired IAS officer, has been given a ticket from Bathinda. Here he can compete with Harsimrat Kaur Badal, wife of Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal, who has been a three-time member of parliament. Meanwhile, Anita Som Prakash, wife of Union Minister Som Prakash, has been given a ticket from Hoshiarpur. Due to poor health of Som Prakash, his wife has been made a candidate. BJP has given ticket to Manjit

Aam Aadmi Party has released its final list for 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. In this, the party has announced the names of its three current MLAs, including the former Akali MLA. Tickets have been given to Ashok Parashar from Ludhiana, Jagdeep Singh Kaka Brar from Ferozepur, Amansher Singh Sherry Kalsi from Gurdaspur and Pawan Tinu from Jalandhar. Pawan Tinu left Akali Dal and joined AAP a few days ago. The party had already announced 9 Lok Sabha candidates in the last two lists. Thus, five cabinet ministers and three MLAs of the AAP government are in the fray in Punjab.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is finally set to present the federal budget in the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon, showcasing how the government plans to win back support from disgruntled Canadians worried about the cost of living. The Liberal government has already unveiled significant planks of the budget over the last few weeks during a campaign-style pre-budget tour aimed at drumming up attention for their agenda. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged the upcoming spending plan will earmark billions of dollars to build more homes, expand child care, beef up the military and

The federal leader of the New Democrats is insisting his party's position on carbon pricing remains unchanged. But Jagmeet Singh is refusing to say explicitly whether he supports Canadians having to pay it on consumer items like gasoline. Singh met with reporters today for the first time since a speech last week created confusion about the NDP position on the federal consumer levy on fuel. In it, Singh sang the praises of "affordable, low-carbon options" and vowed to "not punish people" who can't change how they heat their homes or get to work. He later said he was trying to emphasize initiati

The Punjab-Haryana High Court has severely reprimanded the Bhagwant Mann government over the security arrangements of the jails. The High Court said that the state government should take a lesson from Haryana where security arrangements in jails are much better than Punjab jails. The High Court asked the Punjab government that why all the cases of using mobile phones in jails, extortion calls and running rackets come to light only in the jails of Punjab, why such cases do not come up in the jails of Haryana? One thing is clear from this that the security arrangements in the jails of Haryana

The federal government is doubling its investment to train urban firefighters to battle wildfires a growing threat to Canada's cities and towns. Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says the government is giving $800,000 to the International Association of Fire Fighters to conduct additional training. That's twice the sum spent last year on 25 instructors who then trained more than 300 firefighters in Chilliwack and Kamloops, B.C, and Grand Prairie, Alta. The impacts of climate change and population growth are combining to increase the risk that wildfires happen in or near urban areas

Vancouver police say they're investigating a suspected overnight homicide in the city's south end. Police say they were called to a report of gun shots around 11 p.m. Friday at the intersection of East 55th Avenue and Main Street. They say officers found the body of 24-year-old Chirag Antil in a vehicle. Police say there have been no arrests and the investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information on the case is encouraged to come forward.