A House of Commons committee is unanimously urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to promise he won't call a federal election while the COVID-19 pandemic rages across Canada. In a report by the procedure and House affairs committee, even Liberal members supported a recommendation calling for a commitment that there will be no election during the pandemic, unless Trudeau's minority Liberal government is defeated on a confidence vote. The committee makes no similar call for opposition parties to promise not to trigger an election during the pandemic by voting non-confidence in the government. Ho

Canada is now recording an increase in new COVID-19 cases because of the spread of the variants. No province has been spared from these variants, but some continue to ease anti-pandemic restrictions. Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says more ground is being gained on the "vaccine-versus-variants leg of this marathon" every day. Federal Procurement Minister Anita Anand says a half-million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca's vaccine will arrive tomorrow. Three-hundred thousand of those doses expire in just a few weeks' time but Tam says all vaccines should be administered as soon as they

Four hospitals around Metro Vancouver have now been forced to close units because of COVID-19 infections. Fraser Health says 10 patients in one unit of Eagle Ridge Hospital in Port Moody have tested positive for the illness. That unit has been closed to all admissions, transfers and visits until further notice. The health authority said Sunday that outbreaks had occurred at separate units of Surrey Memorial and Chilliwack General hospitals, affecting a total of six patients. Vancouver Coastal Health says three units in the highrise tower of Vancouver General Hospital have also been closed sin

An autopsy is expected after the death of an 11 year old boy severely injured several days ago at his family's home east of Vancouver. Agassiz RCMP said Monday that the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team had taken over the case because the boy was not expected to survive. Sgt. Frank Jang, spokesman for the homicide team, says the child died later that day from extensive injuries, but few other details are being released. The boy had been rushed to hospital in critical condition Friday after being injured in his home in the community of Harrison Mills, about 100 kilometres east of Vancouve

Authorities say a semitruck has crashed into an SUV carrying 25 people on a Southern California highway, killing 13 people. The head of the California Highway Patrol says 12 people died at the scene Tuesday and another died after arriving at the hospital. Hospital officials earlier reported there were 15 killed and more people in the SUV. Multiple people from the SUV were flown or sent to hospitals for injuries that included fractures and head trauma. Authorities say it's unclear if the SUV had stopped at a stop sign before crossing into the path of the semitruck, which hit the vehicle. The U

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says the market is heating up so fast that home sales in the region doubled between January and February and have climbed by more than 70 per cent since last year. The board says February sales in the B.C. region totalled 3,727, a 73.3 per cent increase from the 2,150 sales recorded the year before and a 56 per cent spike from the 2,389 homes sold the month before. February sales were so strong that REBGV says they were 42.8 per cent higher than the month's 10 year sales average. The board says the region saw 5,048 new listings in February, up from 4

Surrey RCMP is providing a second update regarding to the investigation of an assault with a weapon that injured a youth at a high school in Newton. The third suspect has turned themselves in to police. On March 1, 2021, two other suspects were arrested. All three suspects were held in police custody and will appear in court today. All of the suspects are youth, and are not previously known to police. The initial indications are that the assault is related to an on-going dispute among parties known to one another. This incident is not related to gang activity and there is no indication of an o

The federal Conservatives say they're worried about vaccine hesitancy among seniors because of conflicting advice on the use of the recently-approved Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Tory MP Michelle Rempel Garner says the advice is confusing. A national panel of vaccine experts says provinces should not use the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on seniors. But Health Canada says it can be used on Canadians aged 65 or older. Michelle Rempel Garner on Twitter: We have called for an emergency meeting to understand why Health Canada is recommending use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in seniors when the

The Canadian economy posted its worst showing on record in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the country, shutting down businesses and putting millions out of work.Statistics Canada says real gross domestic product shrank 5.4 per cent in 2020, the steepest annual decline since comparable data was first recorded in 1961. The drop for the year was due to the shutdown of large swaths of the economy in March and April during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that crushed the economy.Since then, economic activity has slowly and steadily grown. Statistics Canada says the economy grew