Alberta's minister of Advanced Education says he can't help Athabasca University if the online-oriented school won't come to the table. Demetrios Nicolaides (duh-MEE'-tree-ohs nick-oh-LIE'-dezz) says he is willing to help with whatever the university wants -- including money -- to relocate up to 500 employees to the small town that's the school's namesake. Nicolaides says he asked earlier this year for a plan from the university to move staff, but says they failed to step up. The minister says he has little choice but to give the university until the end of this month to agree to the plan, and

Vancouver's Non-Partisan Association, a key part of the civic political landscape in the city, has parted ways with its high profile mayoral candidate just months before municipal elections. John Coupar, a three-term park board commissioner who was making his first bid for the mayor's chair, says in a statement that he resigned yesterday as the NPA candidate, although he didn't give reasons. A statement from the party thanks Coupar for his 11 years of ``tireless dedication,'' and wishes him well, but also does not offer a reason for the split. Coupar's appointment in April prompted three sitt

The BC Wildfire Service says almost 400 firefighters are now assigned to the blaze burning southwest of Penticton in the southern Okangaan. A flare-up yesterday forced the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen to order the entire community of Olalla to evacuate, affecting about 400 people, while the Village of Keremeos and surrounding areas are on evacuation alert. Highway 3A which runs through Olalla and connects Keremeos to Kaleden is also closed until further notice. Hundreds more homes are also on evacuation order or alert due to the blaze which was sparked last Friday and now covers

The latest numbers from Statistics Canada show Canada and BC both continue to report historic low unemployment rates. The jobless rate across the country was pegged at 4.9 per cent last month, unchanged from June, although the data shows 31,000 jobs disappeared, most of them in the public sector. Economists say more than one million job vacancies in all corners of the country are waiting to be filled. The number of people looking for work in BC barely budged in July, edging up to 4.7 per cent from its 4.6 per cent setting in June. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland commented on the report as

BC Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon says BC added just under 15-thousand full-time jobs in July as the provincial unemployment rate was set at 4.7 per cent, up one-tenth of a point from June. A statement from the ministry says more people joined the workforce in BC last month than in any other major province, while more new residents moved to BC in the first quarter of 2022 than at any time in over 60 years. Kahlon says the numbers mean BC continues to lead Canada's economic recovery. Statistics Canada says the jobless rate in Kelowna was four per cent in July, unchanged from June, while Vancouver's

The national capital saw an uptick in the new COVID cases as the city reported 2,419 fresh infections in the last 24 hours with the case positivity rate nearing the 13 per cent mark, as per a bulletin by the Delhi Health Department on Friday. This is the highest number of COVID cases reported in the last six months. The positivity rate is the highest in six and a half months. The city had reported 2,668 cases on February 3 earlier this year while the positivity rate was 13.32 per cent on January 23. The city logged 2,202 new COVID cases on Thursday with a positivity rate of 11.84 per cent. Wi

Alberta's police watchdog is investigating the arrest of a man at the Calgary Municipal Building earlier this week. Officers were called to the building early Tuesday morning for reports of a man brandishing a long-edged weapon and setting fires. Police have said the man likely got in by smashing the glass at the front of the building, which has been closed to the public since Tuesday. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team says in a news release that police tried to talk to the man, but were unsuccessful. It says several officers fired non-lethal weapons and the man was arrested with the

Star Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia clinched Gold Medal for India after winning the final against Canada's Lachlan Mcneil in men's 65 kg at the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 at Birmingham on Friday. Punia was extremely dominant in the first period and did not let his opponent score. He finished with a 4-0 lead over McNeil at the end of the first period. But McNeil made a comeback with a strong effort and he cut down the deficit by two points to make it 2-4. Punia took the lead once again after scoring two more points. The Indian did not look back from there and won the match 9-2. Punia rea

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Friday, has asked for funds for various central welfare schemes being implemented in her state. In a letter to PM Modi, Banerjee said, "I request for urgent release of funds due to state for implementation of schemes including MGNREGA, PM Awas Yojna and PM Gramin Sadak Yojna. Dues from the central government on these schemes amount to about Rs 17,996 crore." Chief Minister Banerjee, who is on a four-day visit to the national capital, met Prime Minister Modi at his residence on Friday. During the meetin