Public-health officials are encouraging families and caregivers to get their kids vaccinated against influenza in advance of the holidays. There are several respiratory viruses causing illness in B.C. Some children have had more severe illness in the past few weeks, particularly from influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Many children have not been exposed to influenza and other respiratory illnesses following two years of low influenza rates due to COVID-19 public-health prevention measures implemented worldwide, including Canada and B.C. This is why it's especially important for c

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford are celebrating the opening today of Canada's first full-scale electric vehicle manufacturing plant. Trudeau says electric delivery vans have started rolling off the line today at the General Motors CAMI production plant in Ingersoll, Ont., which has been retooled to build the company's BrightDrop all-electric vehicle brand. The prime minister was joined by Ford and the province's Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli to mark the milestone. The provincial and federal governments each invested $259 million toward GM's $2-billion pl

A Railtown man faces firearms charges after he allegedly began shooting a gun inside his apartment building, a volatile situation that drew more than three dozen Vancouver Police officers to the East Vancouver neighbourhood Sunday night. Vancouver Police crisis negotiators and specially-trained members of VPD’s Emergency Response Team were among the officers who responded just after 7 p.m. last night, when a man in his fifties began firing rounds inside a building near Main Street and Alexander Street. A person who was with the man when he began firing quickly fled and called 9-1-1, reporti

The jobless rate across Canada didn't budge much last month. Statistics Canada says the employment rate fell by a single basis point to 5.1 per cent in November, down from 5.2 per cent the month earlier. The agency says just 10,000 jobs were created across Canada in November, with job losses in construction, wholesale and retail trade offset by gains in industries ranging from finance, insurance and real estate to information, culture and recreation. BC's unemployment rate nudged up two basis points to 4.4 per cent in November while Abbotsford-Mission and Victoria recorded identical drops of

The pace of Canada’s economic recovery has made it hard for employers, including those in the tourism industry, to find the workers they need. The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, and the Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, announced that Canada is extending work permits to family members of temporary foreign workers. Expanding the eligibility for work permits to family members accompanying the principal applicant to Canada will help address labour shortages by assisting employers in finding the worke

Approximately one year ago, on December 7, 2021, the Delta Police reported that the community of Delta tragically lost one of our youth - 17-year-old Maaike Blom. Maaike had been reported missing by her family on December 5, 2021, and was located deceased on December 7, 2021, at a south Delta residence located in the 2400 Block Falcon Way.As a result of the circumstances surrounding Maaike’s disappearance and subsequent death, an investigation was initiated by the Delta Police Department Major Crime Section. The police investigation determined that Maaike did not die as a result of a homicid

BC's Medical Services Commission has applied to provincial Supreme Court for an injunction against Telus Health's LifePlus Program alleging contraventions of the Medicare Protection Act. Health Minister Adrian Dix says he asked the commission earlier this year to review Telus Health following public complaints of illegal extra billing. Dix says the province will allow the legal process to proceed as it should, but it will continue to strongly defend the public health-care system. BC Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau says she wonders why it's taken so long for Dix to act when she raised conce

Two city councillors in Metro Vancouver want to find ways to avoid any further traffic chaos like the hours-long tie-ups that stranded thousands of commuters during Tuesday night's snowstorm. Daniel Fontaine of New Westminster and Linda Annis of Surrey say it's time for a ``snow summit'' bringing together Lower Mainland municipalities, the provincial government, transit operators, and road maintenance contractors to find a solution. Annis says it took her nine-and-a-half hours to reach South Surrey from downtown Vancouver during the storm and Fontaine says the weather was not a surprise, so h

A Winnipeg man who was charged earlier this year with killing a 24 year old Indigenous woman has now been accused of killing three other women. Jeremy Skibicki was arrested in May after the remains of Rebecca Contois were found in a garbage bin near an apartment building. Police said at the time that they weren't ruling out more victims. They've now charged Skibicki with first-degree murder in the deaths of 39 year old Morgan Beatrice Harris, 26 year old Marcedes Myran and a fourth victim who has not been identified.