BC's chief electoral officer says schools won't be used as polling places during the upcoming election, at least not on weekdays. Anton Boegman says two days of advance polling fall on the weekend, and school gyms and auditoriums will be used then, while election day is a Saturday, so school facilities will also be available. But he says advance polls slated for weekdays will be held in other facilities because he understands parents' and teachers' concerns about keeping COVID-19 exposures out of schools. Boegman says using schools for election activities on weekends means all necessary clean

B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson promised today that if elected, BC liberal government will immediately eliminate the provincial sales tax (PST) for a year. In second year, the PST will be slashed down to three per cent from the current seven percent rate, until the economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, said Wilkinson. Wilkinson hopes the step will save people money, bring investment back to BC and stimulate growth for struggling small businesses. "Countless people are still out of work, small businesses are facing bankruptcy, and the public health threat from COVID-19 is still very

BC has another 98 cases of COVID and one new death to report. A statement from provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says there are over 1,300 active cases in the province. Around 3,500 people are under health monitoring because they were exposed to those who have the virus. COVID-19 has killed 230 people in the province. 62 people are in hospital and 19 are in intensive care. There have been 8,641 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in B.C. and 230 deaths.

The head of B.C.'s money laundering inquiry has delayed the resumption of the hearings because of the B.C. election. Austin Cullen says the hearings will start again on Oct. 26, two days after the provincial election is to be held. Cullen says in a statement he delayed the hearings to preserve the independence of the commission and to protect the integrity of the electoral process. The inquiry was to resume on Oct. 13, and Cullen says he was told the inquiry would hear about issues that had been identified, but not the complete evidence and that could invite speculation. He says difficulty ar

Ski resorts in BC and across Canada are preparing for what could be a difficult season as they try to maintain profits while protecting the health of guests. All resorts will require skiers and boarders to wear masks on lifts and gondolas, but as many as eight could be allowed to ride in gondolas and few operators, including Whistler Blackcomb, are putting formal limits on the number of guests allowed on the hill. Instead many say they will allow passholders to reserve lift tickets while daily tickets will be available online only if there's enough capacity. A spokesman for Whistler says it's

BC New Democrat leader John Horgan says the previous Liberal government disregarded the housing crisis and left a legacy of ``runaway'' housing costs. He says the NDP government has built more housing in three years than the Liberals did in 16. Horgan says the NDP's speculation and vacancy tax saw 11 thousand empty condos become occupied, bringing in 115-million dollars in new revenue.He says that money comes from people who live somewhere else and who looked at Vancouver as a place to invest rather than a place to put down roots.Horgan, who's campaigning in Coquitlam today, says a re-elected

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