New Democrat Leader John Horgan was in Coquitlam this morning for a housing announcement where he pledged to build many more units of affordable housing and prevent the BC Liberals from abolishing the housing speculation tax. But a statement from the Liberals says the NDP government has only completed a fraction of the homes it planned to build and just five per cent of those are affordable rental housing. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson focused on the homelessness crisis during a stop in Vancouver's Yaletown neighbourhood this morning. Green party Leader Sonia Furstenau doesn't have any publ

BC is reporting 148 new cases of COVID-19 as well as two more deaths. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says both deaths were in the Fraser Health region and she also revealed an Indigenous elder died last weekend in the northern region. Dr. Henry acknowledged it's taken some time to develop a consistent reporting system of all cases in schools and says she has full confidence in reporting by Vancouver Coastal Health. British Columbia's top doctor is thanking supporters after revealing she has faced abuse and death threats related to her public health orders during the COVID-19 pand

Green Leader Sonia Furstenau is disputing her NDP counterpart's claims that her party stood in the way of improving child care in BC. John Horgan says his minority government couldn't fulfil the NDP's 2017 platform promise of providing daycare for 10 dollars a day because it couldn't get support from the Greens. But in a statement, Furstenau says she has been pushing the New Democrats for the legislation. Instead, she says Horgan chose to call an election. The Green leader also spoke to the Union of BC Municipalities today, telling the local politicians the election was unnecessary. Furstenau

Opposition leader Andrew Wilkinson is warning Surrey residents to be cautious about the NDP’s pledge to build a second hospital in the city, saying voters should look beyond campaign announcements to see whether real progress is being made. Wilkinson argued that residents need details on timelines, funding approvals, and procurement steps before trusting the promise. The government says the project is moving through the province’s capital planning process – from concept plan to business case, then Treasury Board funding, followed by design and construction. Officials insist Surrey’s ra

British Columbia health officials say the number of COVID-19 cases across the province continues to be too high. Dr. Bonnie Henry and deputy health minister Stephen Brown say in a joint statement that thousands of residents are being forced to deal with the stress of self-isolating as a result of others not following proper COVID-19 safety precautions. They say everyone needs to follow the proper safety guidelines to ensure businesses and communities can remain open. B.C. announced 91 new cases on Wednesday for a total of 8,395. There are 1,376 active cases, with 62 people in hospital and 18

Police say an injured man may have been attacked and left lying in a Vancouver park for hours before help was called. Const. Tania Visintin says an unknown person called paramedics about the victim and he was rushed to hospital after being found unresponsive in Strathcona Park on Monday. Visintin says hospital staff alerted police to the suspected assault and the man remains in critical but stable condition. A statement from police says he may have been on the ground for up to 12 hours before help was called. Investigators haven't been able to identify the victim and say he's in his late 20s,

BC NDP leader John Horgan while talking to Connect FM in SVER WALA SHOW today, said that BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson delayed the construction of a much-needed Surrey hospital by selling off its potential site. He said the second hospital for Surrey is a "done deal" and the money for the hospital is already in the budget. Responding to a question about Surrey-Langley-Sky Train extension, Horgan said that he and the federal government are committed to seeing it through. He said that for Surrey’s mayor Doug McCallum or anyone else to say that his government is not moving fast enough on t

Airbnb is launching a new program for cities and tourist organizations aimed at helping them ensure compliance with local rules. Vancouver and Calgary are among the 10 North American cities included in the new portal, which Airbnb says will also aid in rebuilding post-pandemic tourism and providing technical support. The short-term home rental company says the first phase of its City Portal directly connects local governments to the Airbnb platform,providing real-time details about specific rentals and remitted tourist tax revenue. It also includes a central location for resources, such as Air

The BC Coroners Service has published updated reports on illicit drug toxicity deaths and fentanyl-detected drug deaths to the end of August 2020, with 147 illicit drug toxicity deaths reported in the month.The illicit drug toxicity death total represents a 71% increase over the number of deaths in August 2019 (86) but a 16% decrease from the number of deaths in July 2020 (176). The BC Coroners Service has detected a sustained increase of illicit drug toxicity deaths since March, and B.C. has now recorded six consecutive months with over 100 illicit drug toxicity deaths.From April to August 20