Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says provinces must do more to address racism in the health-care system, saying reconciliation with Indigenous people is not up to the federal government alone.The issue of anti-Indigenous racism in health care gained new attention from outrage over the treatment of Joyce Echaquan, who used her phone to livestream hospital staff using racist slurs against her as she lay dying in a Quebec hospital last month.Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller said Thursday the federal government is ready to use its financial leverage over the health system to fight anti-Indig

The annual flu vaccination campaign has begun as officials in the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health authorities remind residents across BC that a flu shot is especially important this year as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. Fraser Health launched its campaign today while Vancouver Coastal says clinics will open later this month and shots are available through some family doctors, many local pharmacists, walk-in clinics and at public health influenza clinics. Locations of all BC clinics or pharmacies where the vaccine is available are listed on the Immunize BC (dot) ca website under ``find

Environment Canada says as much as 20 centimetres of snow could blanket parts of eastern BC by this afternoon and it warns of potentially hazardous conditions, especially through mountain passes. Snowfall warnings cover higher elevations of the Shuswap, Columbia, Yoho, Yellowhead and Kinbasket regions north to the Peace River area, although the northern edge of the system is easing and only another five centimetres is expected around Tumbler Ridge and the Yellowhead Pass. The weather office says snow should change to rain and then taper off this evening, and it says heavy rain that drenched t

The more than 700,000 people who have asked for a vote-by-mail package in British Columbia's election should get their ballots into the post. Saturday is the deadline recommended by Elections BC because the ballots must be received no later than 8 p.m. on election day, Oct. 24. Those who don't mail in their votes in time can drop off the completed package in person at district electoral offices, voting places and some Service BC locations. Information on the Elections BC website shows about 25 per cent of the 717,000 ballots sent out have been returned. The mail-out ballots requested for the

The BC Green party says it has set the record for its best fundraising month ever and October is only half over. A statement from the party says between October first and the 15th, just over 441-thousand dollars has been raised, about two-thousand dollars more than the previous record set in April 2017, during the last provincial election. More than 100-thousand dollars of the newly raised funds has come in since Tuesday, when Leader Sonia Furstenau represented the Greens at the televised leaders' debate. The party says another record has also been shattered because donors have already contri

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government will not stop standing up for human rights in China or calling out Beijing for its coercive approach to diplomacy. Trudeau says that includes the situation in Hong Kong, where pro-democracy activists have been protesting a widely criticized national security law imposed on the territory by Beijing. On Thursday, the Chinese ambassador to Canada warned Ottawa against granting asylum to Hong Kong residents fleeing the situation, saying it amounts to interfering in its internal affairs. Cong said if Canada cares about 300,000 Canadian citizens in

British Columbia's election campaign continues today after a turbulent day for the Liberals.The B.C. Liberals announced Thursday that Laurie Throness would not be representing the party in Chilliwack-Kent after making comments at an all-candidates meeting comparing free birth control to eugenics. Throness has been a member of the legislature since 2013, and his name and party affiliation will remain on the ballot for the Oct. 24 election.The campaign saw NDP Leader John Horgan and Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson take verbal shots at each over in a radio debate on Thursday, as each criticized

Metro Vancouver isn't the only housing market in Canada where sales are surging. The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold across the country last month set a September record, while the average price soared 17.5 per cent over the same period last year. But the association says the average price of 604,000 dollars would be about 125,000 dollars lower if trends in the Vancouver and Toronto markets were excluded. Strong sales on Vancouver Island also helped buoy the national market, as sales there and across Greater Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa and the Hamilton area of On

B.C. has recorded its first confirmed case of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in a child after antibody testing showed evidence of COVID-19. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the child, who is under the age of five, has since recovered. She made the announcement while reporting 142 new cases of COVID-19 and no additional deaths at a briefing on Thursday. Dr. Henry says 16 children have been investigated for the syndrome in B.C. so far, but until now, none had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The syndrome is associated mostly in children and symptoms include inflammat