The proposed ride-hailing Inter-Municipal Business Licence (IMBL) that is supported by virtually all of Mayors’ Council takes a major step forward in addressing the unfair advantage that ride-hailing companies currently have over taxi companies. The following was approved almost unanimously by the Mayors’ Council: Endorse the principles and framework for establishing and administering an interim Inter-Municipal Business Licence (IMBL); Urge municipalities within Region 1 to adopt the associated interim IMBL bylaw as quickly as possible; Urge municipalities within Region 1 to harmonize

The head of Ukraine International Airlines is thanking Canada for its part in investigating the crash of one of its planes outside Tehran in early January. In a long statement on the airline's website today, Yevhenii Dykhne also says the company expects the formalities for compensation to families of the 176 people killed will be "finalized in the immediate future." Iran admits an air-defence battery shot the plane down, hours after Iran launched missiles into Iraq in retaliation for the American killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. The Iranian government says the operators of a missi

BC's provincial health officer says this province and the country are entering a critical phase in the global effort to halt the spread of a new type of coronavirus. At a news conference in Vancouver this morning, Henry says anyone who visited China and departed before that country imposed recent travel restrictions may be incubating the flu-like virus, and could begin showing symptoms now. She says testing is underway in BC to identify anyone who may be at risk of developing the illness, and 114 people have been checked so far, with testing expected to continue for at least another week.

Ontario health officials say the province now has a third confirmed case of the novel coronavirus, bringing Canada's total number of cases to four. Ontario's chief medical officer of health says the latest case is a woman in her 20s in London, Ont., who travelled to the affected area in China. Dr. David Williams says initial testing in Ontario showed the woman was negative for the virus, but tests at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg came back as ``weakly'' positive. Officials say the woman had no symptoms when she returned to Canada, only left her home to go to hospital, and s

Human trafficking related charges have been laid against four British Columbia residents following arrests in Saskatchewan.The four adults were taken into custody after an off-duty RCMP officer reported three vehicles, apparently in convoy, racing at more than 150 km/h on the Trans-Canada Highway toward Swift Current.Mounties pulled over the vehicles and while questioning a 36-year-old woman and 23-year-old man from Victoria and 19-year-old twins from Nanaimo, officers discovered two young women travelling with them.Neither teen carried identification and Swift Current RCMP say there were ind

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne has spoken to his Chinese counterpart about the coronavirus outbreak, a day after the World Health Organization called it a global health emergency.A statement from Champagne's office today says he and China's Wang Yi also discussed the situation of the two Canadians imprisoned in China without access to lawyers or family members for more than a year.Canada is seeking Chinese approval to send a plane to the Chinese city of Wuhan to collect the 196 Canadians who have asked for help to leave. Champagne says Wang responded positively to that re

China's foreign ministry said Friday it will send charter flights to bring home residents of virus-afflicted region from overseas. The one-sentence statement gave few details, but said those from Hubei province and its capital Wuhan would be sent directly back to Wuhan in light of the “practical difficulties" they were encountering. The new type of virus originated in Wuhan and has since spread to more than a dozen nations and regions overseas. Most of the overseas cases were found among people who had travelled from Wuhan, although physicians are concerned about person-to-person transmissio

The man, who held hostage more than 15 children at a house in Farrukhabad, has been killed and all of them have been safely evacuated, Uttar Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary Home, Awanish Kumar Awasthi said. "The person who was holding the children as hostages has been killed in an operation and all children have been safely evacuated," Awasthi told ANI here. "Chief Minister (Yogi Adityanath) has announced an award of Rs 10 lakhs for the Uttar Pradesh Police and its team that successfully carried out the operation. All personnel who took part in operation will be giv

The Premier's Office has issued the following statement: "We welcome today's announcement by the Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs that they will join the Province of B.C. at a Wiggus/Respect Table."This Wiggus/Respect Table is an opportunity for all parties to work in good faith towards de-escalation, and we view this announcement as a positive sign that all involved are determined to find a peaceful resolution."