Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says suspending incoming passenger flights from India and Pakistan for the next month must be done to keep Canadians safe. Trudeau says it's necessary because there has been a concerning surge of COVID-19 cases and the emergence of more variants of concern in certain parts of the world.Also, the federal health minister has said half of the people who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus after arriving in Canada by plane have come from India.The new travel measures were announced yesterday following pressure from provincial leaders, who said not enough w

Canada's top public health doctor says there's been an increase of more than 200,000 COVID-19 cases since last month, but there are signs the epidemic is easing.Dr. Theresa Tam says average case counts have more than doubled over the past month, with upwards of 8,400 infections reported daily over the last week.But Tam says there's reason for hope due to Canada's declining reproduction rate, which represents how many people are infected by each new case.She says this measure has fallen below the key threshold of one for the first time in weeks, meaning the rate of transmission is trending dow

Hundreds of scheduled surgeries in British Columbia have been postponed as the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals reaches a new peak. Health Minister Adrian Dix says 1,750 surgeries at nine affected hospitals in the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health regions have been delayed. There are 502 people in hospital and more than 160 of those are in intensive care units. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says pressure on B.C.'s health-care system is ``immense'' right now. The government is also asking specially trained health workers who are now in community settings to return to int

Daunte Wright was remembered at his funeral Thursday as a dedicated father whose life was ended too soon at the hands of police. Civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton delivered a thundering eulogy, promising that Black people will never ``shut up and suffer,'' and that changes to federal law are coming. Wright was shot by police during a traffic stop in suburban Minneapolis during the murder trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd. He was convicted two days ago. Hundreds of people packed into Shiloh Temple International Ministries to remember the 2

The man fatally shot outside a sports complex in Langley, B.C., has been identified by police as a longtime gang associate targeted in what investigators believe is an intensifying gangland conflict that has simmered for almost two decades. The victim of Wednesday's shooting is 46 year old Todd Gouwenberg and although police have not yet found an obvious motive for his slaying, they say it was targeted. Assistant Comm. Manny Mann, chief officer of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, the south coast agency focused on gang conflict, says Gouwenberg had been connected to the United Nat

The interim leader of the B.C. Liberal party says reports of money laundering at casinos had the attention of the government when she was the minister in charge of gaming a decade ago. But Shirley Bond says civil forfeiture, gang violence and gambling addiction were also big issues during those 11 months as part of her duties as the solicitor general and minister of public safety. She told the Cullen commission today that she never discussed reports of millions of dollars of suspicious cash at casinos being linked to money laundering and organized crime with former premier Christy Clark. Clar

Transport Canada is halting all direct passenger air traffic from India and Pakistan for 30-days, starting at 11:30 tonight. Transport Minister Omar Alghabra says cargo flights will be allowed to ensure the continued supply of vaccines and PPE. Alghabra says passengers who depart from the two countries via an indirect route will need obtain a negative COVID-19 test at their last point of departure. The announcement comes just after MPs voted in favour of Canada suspending international flights from countries where COVID-19 outbreaks are raging.

The BC Centre for Disease Control and its public health lab are reviewing the genetic sequencing of what they are now calling a ``variant of interest'' that has made its way to this province. A statement from the Ministry of Health says 39 COVID-19 cases involving the B.1.617 variant first identified in India were found in B-C by April 4th, but the strain was not then considered a variant of concern or a variant under investigation. The statement says the ministry should be able to provide an update by later this week on the number and severity of cases linked to the latest variant. Quebec id

The man in charge of Canada's COVID-19 vaccine rollout is warning there will be more delays in the delivery of the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot before June. Major-General Dany Fortin says escalating case numbers in India mean shipments of the vaccine from that country are temporarily on hold. India is reporting a global record daily tally of more than 314-thousand new infections. Deputy Chief Public Health Minister Dr. Howard Njoo says Canada will be making adjustments at the border for incoming flights ``very soon.'' Njoo says the prime minister and the government are looking at COVID-19 data an