Elections BC says seven days of advance voting for the provincial election will begin on Thursday. An extra day has been added for those wishing to vote early in the election, up from six days in 2017. Elections BC says the extra day is aimed at helping reduce the number of people at voting places during the pandemic, and voters should note that some voting places won't be open on every advance voting day. Polling stations will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. from this Thursday to next Wednesday, and safety precautions will include protective barriers, physical distancing and officials wearing

The Palestinian prime minister says if US President Donald Trump is re-elected, quote, ``God help us, God help you and God help the whole world.'' Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh says the last four years of the Trump administration have greatly harmed the Palestinians. He spoke remotely to European lawmakers on Monday and said that the last four years of the Trump administration have greatly harmed the Palestinians. Trump has cut off hundreds of millions of dollars of American aid to the Palestinians, shut the Palestinian diplomatic offices in Washington, recognized contested Jerusalem as I

Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam says trick-or-treating outside, with the right physical distancing and masks, will be safe in most places this Halloween. Treats could be prepackaged and handed out at the end of a hockey stick to avoid children rummaging through a bowl of goodies. Dr. Tam says Canadians don't want to see a yo-yoing effect from rounds of openings and closures, citing the need for a sustained rhythm that is more predictable for people. Marking holidays and celebrations is one way to preserve a sense of normalcy. But she says Canadians should observe the inst

Police in Kelowna are looking for witnesses to a collision that killed a 60 year old motorcyclist on Highway 33 near Kelowna. RCMP say a white Chevrolet Tracker travelling westbound crossed the centre line and struck a red Honda motorcycle, seriously injuring the rider, who died in hospital. The driver of the Tracker was not injured, remained at the scene and is co-operating with investigators. Police are asking for any dash camera video that shows the collision or the driving behaviour of the small SUV before the crash.

A leading Canadian expert on government-funded basic incomes says the oft-debated idea could have averted much of the economic effects of COVID-19. Evelyn Forget says a basic income program would have automatically provided help to hard-hit Canadians instead of forcing governments to set up emergency aid in a rush. Basic income is essentially a no-strings attached benefit governments provide to citizens that sets a financial floor for individuals and families. Advocates of such a program have pointed to the Canada Emergency Response Benefit as an example of how the country could make basic in

The B.C. Liberal party says it would implement a new economic response plan to the COVID-19 pandemic within 60 days if it wins the Oct. 24 provincial election. In the party's platform, the Liberals say the plan would involve eliminating the PST for a year, launching a comprehensive review of regulatory processes to ensure more timely approvals and establishing an emergency pandemic response committee to work with all parties and the provincial health officer. The party says it would also appoint an independent Fair Tax Commission to review all provincial taxes and recommend adjustments, reduc

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says opposition parties can keep digging into the WE Charity issue, but his government is focused on helping Canadians through the COVID-19 pandemic. Before Trudeau prorogued Parliament in August, two House of Commons committees spent months investigating a multimillion-dollar federal program for students awarded to WE Charity in the spring. But the federal Conservatives are calling for a new anticorruption committee to roll those two probes of the now-defunct Canada Student Services Grant into one. Sidestepping questions about whether he supports the creation of

The leaders of B.C.'s three main political parties will meet Tuesday in a televised debate that political experts say could be one of the few events where voters get a chance to truly assess the leaders in what has been a largely scripted online election campaign. New Democrat Leader John Horgan called a snap election last month during the global COVID-19 pandemic and the debate comes with less than two weeks remaining before election day on Oct. 24. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson, Green Leader Sonia Furstenau and Horgan will appear live on television, radio and online for the 90-minute deba

The federal Conservatives want MPs to create an anti-corruption committee to investigate the WE Charity issue. Tory ethics critic Michael Barrett says the new forum would press for answers to lingering questions about the controversy. In the meantime, the Conservatives plan to press the House of Commons ethics and finance committees this week to resume looking at the matter. They say the proposed new anti-corruption committee could soon take over the probe of the Liberal government's choice of WE Charity to administer the the multimillion-dollar Canada Student Service Grant program. Oppositio