British Columbia's top doctor and health minister say the overdose crisis is as important as the COVID-19 pandemic the province has been dealing with for over a year. Dr. Bonnie Henry and Adrian Dix say there's no vaccine to help end the deaths associated with toxic opioids that contributed to a record 1,713 fatalities in 2020. They say in a joint statement that another 1,278 people have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began last year. Nine more deaths have been recorded in the province and 449 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 72,305 cases. Dr. Henry and Dix say nearly 160,000 dose

RCMP say a south Okanagan man in his 40s and his dog died in yesterday's crash on the Coquihalla Highway just outside Hope that closed the route for 12 hours. Corporal Mike Halskov says the chain-reaction collision began when a semi-trailer stopped in the northbound lanes of Highway 5 in the S-curves and was hit from behind as the unnamed victim lost control of his pickup truck on the icy road. Halskov says about 50 people in at least two dozen vehicles, one of them a bus, were involved in the pileup and five people suffered significant injuries but only one person with broken bones remains i

City councillors in Vancouver have voted to name a new road in honour of Nora Hendrix, the grandmother of legendary musician Jimi Hendrix. But Doctor June Francis, co-chair of the Hogans Alley Society, says the city's naming committee didn't involve members in the process when they decided on Nora Hendrix Way. She says Nora Hendrix was a pillar of the Strathcona community and is held in high esteem but members needed to have a say in the decision and celebrate it after working closely with the committee. No one from the naming committee was available to respond to a request for comment. This

There's another 469 new cases of COVID-19 in BC. A joint statement from provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix says 230 people are hospital, 66 of those are in intensive care. There have been six more deaths for a total of 1,269 fatalities since the pandemic began. Dix and Dr. Henry are asking people to stay home this Family Day long weekend in an effort to stop the spread of the virus. To date, 157,797 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in B.C., 14,316 of which are second doses. There are 4,305 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. One new

Premier John Horgan says concerns about spreading COVID-19 as people from British Columbia and Washington state meet in a cross-border park should be directed to the federal government. The border has been closed for months to prevent the spread of COVID, but two Surrey-area members of the legislature say in a letter to Horgan that local constituents are worried as dozens of Canadians and Americans visit inside tents on the U.S. side of Peace Arch Park. B.C. Liberals Stephanie Cadieux and Trevor Halford say Horgan must contact Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and demand he close public access to th

One person has died and RCMP say there is an "undetermined number" of injuries in a crash just outside Hope, B.C. Cpl. Mike Halskov with RCMP Traffic Services says the multi-vehicle crash happened just before 10 a.m. The statement says an investigation is just beginning, but it appears road conditions were a major factor. Highway 5 northbound to the Coquihalla is closed at the junction with Highway 3 and there is no word when the route will reopen. Halskov urges drivers to consider delaying travel plans or to take an alternate route. DriveBC, the provincial government website providing detail

As one of the fastest growing cities in Canada, building new transit infrastructure is a massive priority for the City of Surrey. When it comes to new rapid transit, Surrey has been lagging behind for decades. That is why I wholeheartedly applaud this morning’s announcement by Prime Minister Trudeau. His commitment of $14.9 billion to public transit projects over the next eight years makes good sense. Despite the current malaise of the COVID pandemic, it will not last forever, and things will eventually return to normal. When that happens, people will once again turn to public transit to get

Ski resorts across BC are stepping up enforcement to reduce the surge of COVID-19 in places like Whistler, where provincial health officer Doctor Bonnie Henry says social gatherings are a major concern. Christopher Nicolson, who heads the Canada West Ski Areas Association, says work has been underway with various levels of government and community groups as part of a plan to avoid getting shut down by BC's top doctor. Nicolson says the messaging is clear for people to follow public safety orders because so much is at stake if the industry is forced to shut down. Whistler recorded 547 cases be

Snowfall warnings have been issued for parts of British Columbia's inner south coast as much of the province shivers through a deep freeze and forecasters call for the coldest day, yet. Environment Canada is warning of heavy flurries dumping as much as five centimetres of snow on Vancouver Island between Courtenay and Campbell River, as well as a section of the Sunshine Coast. The weather office says rapidly accumulating snow could make travel difficult in some locations, but it says conditions should stabilize as another system approaches Thursday. Extreme cold, arctic outflow and special we