BC is reporting 68 new cases of COVID-19, the lowest daily rate since last August, as the province prepares to enter the second stage of its restart plan tomorrow. The new cases announced are among 277 diagnosed since Friday for a total of one-thousand-537 active infections, including 136 people who are in hospital. Another four people have died, pushing the death toll in BC to 1,734. Just over 74 per cent of all eligible residents aged 12 and up have now had at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine out of more than four million shots administered overall. Health Minister Adrian Dix and provinci

An inquest begins next week to examine the death in police custody of an 18 year old Indigenous woman just hours after she was airlifted to hospital from RCMP cells in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island. Jocelyn George died in June 2016 and a report by the Independent Investigations Office cleared RCMP of wrongdoing, finding her death was due to inflammation of the lining around her heart following toxic drug use. The mother of two young children was held in custody because she seemed intoxicated and, at one point, appeared well enough to be released, but deteriorated after being picked up agai

Lieutenant-General Mike Rouleau says his recent golfing trip with former defence chief Jonathan Vance was only an attempt to reach out and quote ``ensure his wellness.'' But Rouleau is apologizing, saying he understands how the activity could be perceived as a potential conflict of interest and controversy. Rouleau has announced he is stepping aside from his role as vice-chief of the defence staff. He will join the Canadian Armed Forces Transition Group, which helps members shift into civilian life. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan confirmed in the House of Commons that Lieutenant-General Mike

British Columbians can hit the road again, Premier John Horgan says restrictions are being lifted on travel within the province. Horgan announced the change as he, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and several cabinet ministers confirmed BC is moving to Step Two of its restart plan. That means non-essential travel within the province is allowed, but travel elsewhere in Canada is still not recommended. Starting tomorrow groups of up to 50 can gather outdoors, movie theatres can re-open and sports fans can watch events in person, while masks remain mandatory in indoor public places. Ba

British Columbia's police watchdog says a woman suffered potentially life-threatening injuries after she was pulled over in a traffic stop in Castlegar on Saturday. The Independent Investigations Office says an officer ordered the woman who was riding an electric scooter to pull over late Saturday. The office, which investigates all cases of serious injury or death involving the police, says in a statement that a check turned up an outstanding warrant for the woman's arrest. The office says it has been told an ``interaction'' occurred as the RCMP officer attempted to take the woman into custo

Opponents of old-growth logging on southern Vancouver Island say they've begun a hunger strike in downtown Vancouver. Extinction Rebellion spokesman Zain Haq says the hunger strike is in support of protesters camped near old-growth forest logging areas west of Victoria, which have been the scene of more than 220 arrests in recent weeks at Fairy Creek. Haq says the hunger strikers will refuse food until they can meet with Premier John Horgan, Forests Minister Katrine Conroy and Jonathan Wilkinson, the federal minister of environment and climate change. Last week, the BC government approved the

Prosecutors have laid terrorism charges against a man accused of driving down and killing four members of a Muslim family in London, Ont.The Crown says Nathaniel Veltman's four counts of first-degree murder constitute an act of terrorism and prosecutors have upgraded those charges under section 83 of the Criminal Code.Veltman also faces one count of attempted murder due to terrorism activity.The upgraded charges were laid as Veltman made a brief court appearance via video this morning.Salman Afzaal, 46, his 44-year-old wife Madiha Salman, their 15-year-old daughter Yumna and her 74-year-old g

Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers DV Sadananda Gowda on Monday said that 1,06,300 vials of black fungus drugs Amphotericin B have been allocated to states, union territories and to the Central Institutions."Ensuring significant availability of Liposomal #Amphotericin B, additional 106300 vials of the drug have been allocated across all the States/UTs and Central Institutions today," Sadananda Gowda said in a tweet.The Minister said that a total of 53,000 vials of Conventional Amphotericin B have also been allocated to all the states, UTs and Central Institutions today."A total of 53

Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, have issued a joint statement regarding updates on the COVID-19 response in British Columbia:"Today, we are reporting that 75.1% of all adults in B.C. and 73.1% of those 12 and older have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. In total, 3,893,581 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in B.C., 497,932 of which are second doses."We have had 180 new cases of COVID-19, including five epi-linked cases, for a total of 146,176 cases in British Columb