Advance polling has started in BC for the provincial elections. Elections BC says almost 139-thousand vote-by-mail packages had been returned as of Tuesday. That's about 20 per cent of the estimated 699-thousand voters who asked for mail-in ballots. All three main parties in the BC election have now released platforms outlining their promises if elected on October 24th. The Greens unveiled their platform on Wednesday, with Sonia Furstenau promising a stronger, more equitable and sustainable province. Part of the platform includes bolstering income security with a move towards a basic income p

The number of active cases of COVID-19 has ticked up to just under 1,500 as B.C. reports 158 new cases on Wednesday. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and deputy health minister Stephen Brown say in a joint news release that 84 people are in hospital, including 24 in intensive care. They say no one else has died from the illness since the province's last update, leaving the death toll at 250. The outbreak at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver is now over, while outbreaks are ongoing at two other acute care facilities and 17 assisted living or long-term care homes. More than 3,600 peopl

BC Hydro says all but a handful of customers on the south coast were able to have a warm breakfast this morning after a powerful windstorm blacked out large areas of the region yesterday and overnight. Hydro says 192-thousand customers lost power at some point during the storm that began yesterday morning, hammering parts of Vancouver Island and the eastern Fraser Valley. Its website shows about 3,000 customers, mostly in Chilliwack or the Duncan area are still in the dark. The rest had power restored before sunrise this morning.

BC's three main political parties are being criticized for failing to include the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women in their election platforms. A coalition of 18 groups, including the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, has sent a letter to the New Democrat, Liberal and Green leaders expressing ``grave concern and disappointment'' about the lack of any policies to implement the findings of a national inquiry into murdered and missing women. The coalition says the COVID-19 pandemic proves governments can move quickly when lives are at risk, yet the failure to act on missing and murdered w

A 69 year old Penticton man has pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder for the shooting deaths of four Okanagan residents in April 2019. John Brittain entered the pleas in BC Supreme Court in Kelowna this morning, after his lawyer told the judge last week that Brittain intended to admit to the slayings. Rudi Winter, Barry and Susan Wonch and Darlene Knippelberg died, and court documents show Brittain's sentencing for the attacks is also set to be held today. The murders all happened on the same day and the victims were all neighbours that B

New Democrat Leader John Horgan was in New Westminster this morning, attacking the former Liberal government's record on care for seniors and repeating the N-D-P pledge to improve conditions he says left care homes vulnerable when the pandemic hit. Horgan says New Democrats will to hire seven-thousand new health care workers and end practices by care home operators that affect wages and force staff to work at multiple facilities to make ends meet. NDP Leader John Horgan is trying to clarify an answer he gave on white privilege during Tuesday night's leaders debate in the B.C. election. In a st

BC has recorded 549 more cases of COVID-19 over a four-day period and five additional deaths. The province's death toll has climbed to 250. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says while the numbers are higher than they'd like to see, there was also a backlog of about 6,000 tests now completed from last week that increased the count. Dr. Henry says four more long-term care centres also have outbreaks in the province. Almost 9,000 of those initially diagnosed with the virus are considered recovered.

BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson says he was embarrassed and appalled by comments a party candidate made about the NDP's Bowinn Ma. But Wilkinson says he did not feel he needed to say anything to Jane Thornthwaite during an online roast about remarks that have been widely condemned as sexist. He was peppered with questions today about why he laughed at the comments that Ma says sexualized her relationship with retiring M-L-A Ralph Sultan. Wilkinson says that there's no place for those kind of sexist remarks in society and he apologized to Ma.

Elections BC says seven days of advance voting for the provincial election will begin on Thursday. An extra day has been added for those wishing to vote early in the election, up from six days in 2017. Elections BC says the extra day is aimed at helping reduce the number of people at voting places during the pandemic, and voters should note that some voting places won't be open on every advance voting day. Polling stations will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. from this Thursday to next Wednesday, and safety precautions will include protective barriers, physical distancing and officials wearing