Several businesses on Vancouver's west side have been severely damaged in an overnight fire. Flames broke out at about 2 a.m. in an older building (on Cambie Street, just north of 25th Avenue) and quickly swept through as many as five shops, including a cafe, dry cleaner and possibly a pharmacy and pet-boarding facility. Firefighters rescued several cats from the pet business and worked past dawn to keep the flames from jumping concrete walls protecting a newer building to the north and several smaller shops on the south side. No one has been hurt, a cause of the blaze is under investigation,

Ottawa police say they have charged a woman with violating the Quarantine Act after she went to work four days after returning from a trip outside Canada. They say she came back to Canada on Sept. 26 and went to her job at a long-term care facility on Sept. 30 rather than self-isolating for the legally required 14 days. Her bosses sent her home upon learning of the situation and no cases of COVID-19 there have been traced to her, according to a police statement. The 53 year old is charged with two counts under the Quarantine Act: one of violating the self-isolation requirement and a separate

The Chinese ambassador to Canada is warning the Trudeau government not to grant asylum to Hong Kong residents fleeing a widely criticized national security law imposed by Beijing. Ambassador Cong Peiwu brands pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong as violent criminals and says if Canada grants them asylum that amounts to interference in China's internal affairs. Cong says if Canada cares about 300,000 Canadian citizens in Hong Kong and the Canadian companies doing business there it should support Chinese efforts to fight what he calls fight violent crime. Cong also flatly rejects Prime Ministe

The British government has moved London to its second-highest COVID-19 alert level. Authorities seek to slow the exponential rise in infection rates across the country. The government also increased the risk level in seven other areas, meaning millions of people will be barred from meeting socially with anyone from outside their households and they will be asked to minimize travel. Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the House of Commons that he recognized these restrictions are hard on individuals and businesses, but says tough decisions are needed now to keep people safe.

At least a dozen new projects to go after online hate are being funded through Ottawa's anti-racism strategy today. Diversity Minister Bardish Chagger says 85 projects are getting money through the anti-racism action program. That program is part of the $45 million the federal government set aside in 2019 for the anti-racism strategy. The Liberals promised to double the funding for the strategy in the 2019 election campaign but that has not yet happened. Projects to target online hate were given priority in the action program and a dozen were approved, including one by the Canadian Anti-Hate

Advance polling has started in BC for the provincial elections. Elections BC says almost 139-thousand vote-by-mail packages had been returned as of Tuesday. That's about 20 per cent of the estimated 699-thousand voters who asked for mail-in ballots. All three main parties in the BC election have now released platforms outlining their promises if elected on October 24th. The Greens unveiled their platform on Wednesday, with Sonia Furstenau promising a stronger, more equitable and sustainable province. Part of the platform includes bolstering income security with a move towards a basic income p

Opposition MPs are bracing for another marathon meeting of the House of Commons ethics committee today as they ramp up efforts to revive their investigation into the WE Charity affair. Indeed, Conservative MP Michael Barrett says he and his colleagues are prepared for the meeting to drag on for days, if that's what it takes to finally force an end to a filibuster by Liberal committee members who've been blocking opposition demands for more documents. At issue is a motion put forward by Barrett last week calling on Speakers' Spotlight, the agency that arranged speaking engagements for Prime Mi

The number of active cases of COVID-19 has ticked up to just under 1,500 as B.C. reports 158 new cases on Wednesday. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and deputy health minister Stephen Brown say in a joint news release that 84 people are in hospital, including 24 in intensive care. They say no one else has died from the illness since the province's last update, leaving the death toll at 250. The outbreak at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver is now over, while outbreaks are ongoing at two other acute care facilities and 17 assisted living or long-term care homes. More than 3,600 peopl

The COVID-19 pandemic has Canadians spending more time and money online. Statistics Canada says a survey conducted last month found that 44 per cent of Canadians had dropped more money on technology, including computers, laptops and tablets, and 42 per cent had sprung for more video streaming services. The survey also found about a third of Canadians say they've received attempted identity-theft attacks and 14 per cent reported at least one attack related to COVID-19 test results, a potential cure for the virus or about the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. Analyst Christopher Collins says t