BCOct 26, 2020
Fraser Health reports more COVID-19 cases at two other assisted-living sites
Fraser Health has confirmed outbreaks of COVID-19 at two more assisted-living or long-term care homes in the hard-hit region. The health authority says in a statement individual staff members at Amenida Seniors' Community in Surrey, B.C., and Agassiz Seniors' Community near Chilliwack have tested positive. It says enhanced outbreak control measures are in place at each site and communication with residents and families is underway at both facilities that are privately owned and operated. B.C. reported 223 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, tipping the number of active infections over 2,000, whi
BCOct 26, 2020
Investigation after attempted traffic stop, deadly crash, near Vernon, B.C.
A man is dead and a woman is hurt after their vehicle crashed as police tried to pull it over, just north of Vernon, B.C. A statement from RCMP says an officer from the Vernon North Okanagan detachment spotted the Mazda 6 near Armstrong just after 3 a.m. Sunday and suspected it was stolen. It crashed into a shallow ditch minutes later, killing the driver and injuring the female passenger. The Independent Investigations Office, which examines all police-involved deaths or serious injures in B.C., confirms it has been called. It says a team will determine whether police actions or inactions con
BCOct 25, 2020
B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan celebrates victory, thanks rivals for 'spirited' campaign
John Horgan says there are still hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots yet to be counted following Saturday's election, but one thing is certain: he's headed back to the premier's office on Monday.
The NDP leader took the risk of calling the snap election in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic to gain a majority government after working with the Greens in a minority for the last 3 1/2 years. The final results of the election won't be known until at least Nov. 16, after Elections BC staff have screened and counted an unprecedented number of mail-in ballots.
But Saturday's ballots were enough
BCOct 24, 2020
B.C. reports over 200 COVID-19 cases for third straight day; Take a step back from social interactions, says B.C.'s top doctor
British Columbia reported 223 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, tipping the number of active infections over 2,000. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says in a statement infections have been detected at two more assisted-living or long-term care homes and there are two new community outbreaks. The latest health-care outbreaks are at Laurel Place in Surrey and Fair Haven Homes at Burnaby Lodge, while the community outbreaks involve Coast Spas Manufacturing and Pace Processing in Langley. Outbreaks at a number of other care homes have been declared over, leaving 16 homes and two acute-c
BCOct 23, 2020
Snowfall warnings and special weather statements covered much of southern BC Friday morning
Snowfall warnings and special weather statements covered much of southern BC this morning as a winter-like system made many roads treacherous. Snowfall warnings are posted for the East Kootenay, the Fraser Valley east to the Okanagan Valley and all the way north to the Chilcotin region, while special weather statements extend from the inland central coast, across the south coast and entire lower third of the province. Environment Canada is calling for five to 15 centimetres at higher elevations before the storm moves on later today. The heavy, wet snow had already closed the Coquihalla Highwa
BCOct 23, 2020
Elections BC aiming for Nov. 16 to return final results
Huge numbers of mail-in ballots mean the results of tomorrow's BC election will be fuzzy at best and Elections B-C says even the announcement of the official, final result, normally available about three weeks later, could be delayed. Chief Electoral Officer Anton Boegman says ballots from advance polls and general voting will be counted tomorrow night in what's called an initial count, but at least 480,000 mail-in ballots, and possibly more, will still need to be tallied during a final count. That happens over what is usually a 13 day window following election day, but Boegman warns unpreced
BCOct 23, 2020
B.C. political leaders campaigning on the last day before voting
Candidates have just hours left to woo undecided voters as BC goes to the polls tomorrow, wrapping up a 28 day campaign. NDP Leader John Horgan started his day in New Westminster in the battleground riding of Richmond-Queensborough. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson visits ridings from North Vancouver to Maple Ridge today before concluding his bid for the premier's chair with a rally late this afternoon in Surrey. Green Leader Sonia Furstenau spends the last day of the campaign in her home riding on Vancouver Island, greeting voters and hold a news conference in Duncan.
BCOct 23, 2020
One day until B.C. voters go to the polls in snap election defined by pandemic
Voters in British Columbia go to the polls on Saturday in a snap election that has seen the Greens singing the praises of minority governments, the NDP asking for the stability of a majority and the BC Liberals accusing the New Democrats of playing politics with COVID-19.NDP Leader John Horgan's decision to call an election, more than a year ahead of schedule and during a pandemic, became a campaign issue right from the start.Horgan says he pulled the plug on his minority government because he is seeking the certainty of a majority during uncertain times, but he spent much of the campaign fen
BCOct 23, 2020
B.C.'s COVID-19 numbers break record for second consecutive day
BC has seen another big jump in COVID-19 cases with another record for a second straight day. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is reporting 274 new cases, up from the 203 reported yesterday. Dr. Henry says much of the recent surge in cases is due to social gatherings such as weddings and funerals and recommends people revise plans to small gatherings only. She warns additional measures will be put in place if necessary to break what she describes as ``large transmission events.''