Attorney General David Eby says B.C.'s New Democrat government is taking steps to ensure profits made by the Insurance Corporation of B.C. stay with the public insurer. Eby says he is preparing to bring in legislation that would prevent government's from skimming I.C.B.C. surpluses away from the corporation to use for other government initiatives. In an announcement this morning Eby says I.C.B.C. profits should be used to offset premium costs. He says previous Liberal governments stripped 1.2-billion dollars from I.C.B.C. between 2009 and 2016, eroding the financial stability of the Crown cor

The company behind the natural gas pipeline through traditional Wet'suwet'en territories says work on the Coastal GasLink project resumed today after a pause while hereditary chiefs, federal and provincial politicians discussed the disputed link. All sides say an agreement on rights and title lands was reached during talks that began Thursday and ended early yesterday. Hereditary Chief Woos (wahs') has called the pact a milestone. Wet'suwet'en approval is expected to take about two weeks, and details won't be released in the meantime.

Ontario is reporting three new cases of the novel coronavirus today, bringing the total in the province to 18.The province's chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, is expected to provide details about the new cases at a news conference this afternoon.A spate of new cases was reported over the weekend, all of them people who had recently travelled to Iran or Egypt, or family members of those who had visited the countries.Williams has said that so far it doesn't appear the virus known as COVID-19 is spreading locally.The province's first four cases were people with a travel history

A long time member of British Columbia's legislative assembly and former cabinet minister, Rich Coleman, has announced he will not seek re-election.Coleman was first elected as the B.C. Liberal MLA for Fort Langley-Aldergrove in 1996 and was re-elected five more times, most recently as the MLA for the newly created Langley East riding in 2017.Coleman wrote on Facebook that he chose Feb. 29 to announce the decision because it's the 24th anniversary of his original nomination as a candidate.Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson thanked Coleman, saying he was ``instrumental'' in the accomplishments of

Health officials in Washington state say a second person had died from the coronavirus.Researchers said earlier the illness may have been circulating for weeks undetected in the greater Seattle area.The victims are two men, one in his 70s and another in his 50s.Both had underlying health conditions, and both were being treated at a hospital in Kirkland, Washington, east of Seattle.Washington state now has 12 confirmed cases.

Canada's coronavirus case count is now up to 24. Ontario health officials say there are four more infections.The latest diagnoses bring the number of cases of COVID-19 in Ontario to 15, though three have since been resolved. Officials say the four patients are all from the Greater Toronto Area, and all had recently travelled overseas. British Columbia has reported eight cases and Quebec, so far, has one.

A Wet'suwet'en hereditary chief and senior government ministers say they have reached a proposed arrangement in a pipeline dispute that has prompted solidarity protests across Canada in recent weeks.Federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett and British Columbia Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser would not give details on the proposal, saying it first has to be reviewed by the Wet'suwet'en people.Fraser says that while the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline at the heart of the dispute is already approved and underway, the talks have helped develop a protocol to deal

Former U-S vice-president Joe Biden has won South Carolina's Democratic primary. It was his first victory in three tries at the Democratic nomination, and it came during the fourth Democratic primary contest of the 2020 election season.Biden's win could work to blunt front-runner Bernie Sanders' momentum heading into Super Tuesday, when 14 states and American Samoa weigh in on the race.Bernie Sanders has won second place in South Carolina's Democratic presidential primary, a respectable showing in a state dominated by Joe Biden.

Four new cases of the virus were reported in Canada today. The infections- three in the Greater Toronto Area and one near Vancouver- bring the total number of confirmed or presumed cases to 20. The United States also reported the country's first death from COVID-19. Washington state authorities say the man who died was in his 50s and had underlying health conditions. The governor has declared a state of emergency. In Ontario, York Region health authorities say in one case the patient was not wearing a mask when she flew to Pearson Airport from Iran, with transfers in Qatar and Copenhagen. They