Health Minister Patty Hajdu says "the whole research community" is working on the newly detected strain of the virus that causes COVID-19. They're trying to determine whether it's more of a threat to public health than the more familiar strains of the virus. Hajdu says the appearance of the new strain in the United Kingdom is a reminder that international travel is a bad idea during the pandemic. Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the new strain appears to spread much more easily. The Canadian government temporarily shut down flights from the U.K. Sunday evening. Public Safety Mi

The apparent drowning death of a prominent Pakistani dissident in Toronto is provoking suspicion. Police said they had found 37 year old Karima Mehrab dead yesterday. Mehrab, widely known as Karima Baloch, had been reported missing a day earlier. A close friend and fellow activist tells The Canadian Press that Mehrab had recently received death threats. Her body was pulled from waters near downtown Toronto. Police in Toronto say they are not treating the apparent drowning death of a prominent Pakistani dissident as suspicious. But Lateef Johar, a friend of Karima Mehrab, says the family fears

Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says this is a perilous time, and Canada is set for an even stronger resurgence of COVID-19. She is urging all Canadians to obey public health advice to keep the situation from getting worse and to protect health-care workers. Dr. Tam says so far, officials have not detected any cases of the new strain of COVID-19 sweeping southern England. Ottawa has temporarily banned flights from the UK. Public Safety Minister Bill Blair says officials are considering bringing in even stricter border-protection measures.

Police are looking for a teenager who they say may be linked to an alleged sexual assault involving two children in Delta, BC. A statement from police says two boys were playing on the grounds of South Delta Secondary School in Tsawwassen on Sunday when they were approached by the teen. Police say he allegedly tried to grab the children by their arms, then touched them in a sexual manner. Police describe the suspect as an Asian male between the ages of 15 and 18, of average height, wearing a red jacket. Police say they want to speak to several basketball players who were playing nearby and ma

BC's Health Minister says provincial health officials are reviewing a proposal by the National Hockey League that could restart play next month. Adrian Dix says the NHL's so-called bubble earlier this year was quite successful. COVID-19 case counts were lower across Canada during that period. Dix says the illness is more prevalent now and health officials in BC and across Canada will respond to the league's proposal in the coming days. He adds there are many other hockey leagues across BC and it's important that everyone is treated fairly.

Arhtiyas also known as commission agents have closed grain markets across the state for 4 days against Income Tax raids on them and also in support of the farmers' protest. Kharar Market Arhti Association, Chairman Rajesh Sood claimed that raids were conducted to threaten Arthi Mandis to take back support from the farmers' protest. Sood said, "We have shut the markets for 4 days as PM Modi wants to suppress the farmers' protest. They also tried to pressurize Arhti so that we take back our support but this will not happen. Everyone is in support of Farmers' protest. And this protest will be suc

BC Hydro crews worked through the night to restore power to thousands of customers in southern British Columbia following a wicked snow and wind storm that arrived on the first day of winter.Hydro was reporting as many as 90,000 customers were in the dark at the peak of the storm but crews had whittled that back to about 38,000 across Vancouver Island and the inner south coast by early Tuesday.Highway crews cleared most major routes into the Interior that were closed Monday as at least half a metre of snow blanketed the Coquihalla causing dozens of spinouts and accidents.The B.C. government's

The Central Government must shun its ego and agree to the demands of the farmers that are reasonable and the farm laws must be repealed with immediate effect, said Raghav Chadha, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader. "Centre must let go of this ego and agree to all demands of farmers. No resolution seems to be in sight. The government must repeal three black laws with immediate effect," said Chadha. "Modi government seems to be in this ego clash with farmers. The demands of Indian farmers are reasonable," he added.Speaking about the new strain of coronavirus identified in southeast England, Chadha sai

British Columbia's top doctor says every regional health authority has received doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Bonnie Henry says vaccine deliveries last week were concentrated in the Lower Mainland, where case counts and transmission rates are highest. But she says B.C.'s immunization campaign is set to roll out on Vancouver Island, and in the Northern and Interior health regions, which have also seen rising cases. The vaccine must be stored at ultra-low temperatures and Henry says so far, Pfizer requires doses to be administered at points of arrival, so people receiving i