British Columbians are invited to provide input into the development of made-in-B.C. permanent paid sick leave to support workers and protect workplaces."One of the most critical lessons from the pandemic was the importance of people staying home when they are sick, to contain the spread of an illness and keep workplaces productive," said Harry Bains, Minister of Labour. "But many workers, especially those in lower-paying jobs without benefits, simply can't afford to lose wages by missing work due to illness or personal injury. That's why we are creating a permanent paid sick leave entitlement

Quebec Premier Francois Legault says the government will impose a vaccine passport system following a recent rise in COVID-19 infections. Legault said today that Health Minister Christian Dube will announce details in the coming days about how the system will work and when it will begin. The announcement came as health officials reported 305 new COVID-19 cases in the province, including 72 in Montreal that are still under investigation and could be corrected. There were no new deaths attributed to COVID-19, but 60 patients were listed in hospital, an increase of two, with one less patient in i

Damian Warner has become the first Canadian to win the gold medal in the decathlon.The 31-year-old from London, Ontario set an Olympic record in the process -- with nine-thousand and 18 points.That shattered the previous Olympic record of 88-hundred and 93 points.Warner often wore an ice vest during the competition to battle the high heat and humidity in Tokyo during the gruelling 10-event competition.Pierce LePage of Whitby, Ontario finished fifth, with a personal-best score of 86-hundred and four points.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated wrestler Ravi Dahiya who bagged a Silver medal in Tokyo Olympics on Thursday. "India is proud of Ravi Dahiya for winning the wrestling Silver at #Tokyo2020. You came back into bouts from very difficult situations and won them. Like a true champion, you demonstrated your inner strength too. Congratulations for the exemplary wins & bringing glory to India," tweeted Rashtrapati Bhavan.Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country takes great pride in Ravi Dahiya's achievement. "Ravi Kumar Dahiya is a remarkable wrestler!

Family members of Indian Hockey players Manpreet Singh and Mandeep Singh celebrated the team's win in the Bronze-medal bout versus Germany on Thursday.Scenes of celebration and overwhelming emotion were witnessed from households of both the players. Mandeep's mother said that all hard work has finally paid off.'It was a good performance. Players worked really hard on the field and they gave their all. We have got a medal and all the hard work has paid off. There will be lots of celebrations today," said Davinder, Mandeep's mother.The player's father too was elated after India added another med

The Lok Sabha was on Thursday adjourned till 2 pm as Opposition Parliamentarians continued to create ruckus in the House over various issues.Earlier in the day, Congress MP Manish Tewari gave adjournment motion notice in the Lower House over the 'Pegasus Project' issue.Tewari in his notice said, "Reports have pointed out that the Government of India has procured the surveillance tool Pegasus developed by Israeli company NSO Group for surveillance of Journalists, Civil Society Activists, Politicians and Supreme Court Judges."He further stated that since the NSO group's policy is that clients ar

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says home sales dipped last month when compared with June's figures, but sales are still stronger than they were during the depths of the pandemic last year. The board says just over 33-hundred homes changed hands last month, a skid of more than 11 per cent since June, but up 6.3 per cent compared with July 2020. The board also says there are nine per cent fewer homes on the market since June and almost 20 per cent fewer when compared with last July. Despite that, economist Keith Stewart says prices haven't changed much since June and are up about 14

B.C. is reporting 342 new cases of COVID-19, including six epi-linked cases, for a total of 150,973 cases in the province.There are currently 1,764 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 147,409 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 55 individuals are in hospital and 23 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.The new/active cases include:66 new cases in Fraser HealthTotal active cases: 38857 new cases in Vancouver Coastal HealthTotal active cases: 258171 new cases in Interior HealthTotal active cases: 94513 new cases

The wildfire situation is continually evolving, and the information below is current as of 7 p.m. (Pacific time) on Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021.For real-time updates on evacuation alerts and orders, visit: https://twitter.com/EmergencyInfoBCFor the latest wildfire information, visit: www.bcwildfire.caFiresWildfires currently burning in B.C.: 262Since April 1, 2021:1,336 wildfires557,459 hectares of area burnedActive fires by fire centre:Cariboo: 50Coastal: 20Southeast: 57Prince George: 53Northwest: 7Kamloops: 75ResourcesPersonnel:British Columbia: 2,737794 BCWS firefighters376 BCWS support/overhead