The newly appointed cabinet minister Premier John Horgan has tabbed to lead economic recovery says he will mount a large team effort from inside and outside government. Ravi Kahlon says the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred innovation by many businesses, communities and governments, and he wants to ensure the teamwork continues. The former Olympian says his initial priorities as jobs, economic recovery and innovation minister involve helping small businesses survive the pandemic, but supporting innovation will be the impetus of the future. Kahlon previously served as a parliamentary secretary in

British Columbia's top doctor has a message for people who don't follow a provincial order to wear a mask in indoor public spaces: order takeout, shop online or stay home. Dr. Bonnie Henry says she's saddened after hearing about store and restaurant employees facing aggressive customers who refuse to wear masks as COVID-19 numbers rise. The RCMP say they arrested a shopper at a Walmart in Dawson Creek this week after he allegedly assaulted an employee who asked him to wear a mask. Henry says B.C. set another single-day record with 911 cases of COVID-19. There have been a total of 30,884 diagno

A man has died after a confrontation with Vancouver police and the office that handles all cases of police-involved death or serious injury in British Columbia is investigating. Police say it happened at about 6 p.m. Thursday night in a fast-food restaurant at the east end of False Creek. A man had been asked to leave the restaurant's bathroom and became agitated. Officers were called and say the man was aggressive and combative when he came out of the bathroom, leading to a physical altercation. An email from police says the man went into medical distress and died, despite the efforts of par

Premier John Horgan says, "belligerent people should grow up" and follow COVID-19 measures. Horgan says he recently witnessed a group of customers abusing two young waiters and a receptionist at a restaurant when they wanted to sit at one table. He says similar behaviour will not be tolerated in the retail sector because police can be called to remove aggressive customers not wearing a mask. Provincial health officer Doctor Bonnie Henry introduced an order recently to make masks mandatory in all indoor public spaces.

A temporary drive-thru site to test for COVID-19 was supposed to close Saturday in Whitehorse but will now be open for an extra two weeks as new cases of the virus have been confirmed. Officials in Yukon announced the measure following news that cases of the illness had reached 39 yesterday afternoon and then, just hours later, officials announced another three confirmed cases to bring the total to 42. Health Minister Pauline Frost says the drive-thru testing option has been very successful and she wants to thank health-care staff who have been working in the cold at a car wash. The Yukon gov

A 30 year old Dawson Creek man faces assault and mischief charges related to an attack on an employee at the Dawson Creek Walmart who asked the man to wear a mask. RCMP say the attack happened yesterday and a review of surveillance tape helped them identify a suspect and arrest him at his home. The employee received minor injuries but didn't need medical attention. Police say they must enforce the provincial health order requiring masks in all indoor spaces and, with a few exceptions, anyone defying the order faces a 230 dollar fine, plus identical, additional fines if the person is abusive o

British Columbia has recorded 887 new cases of COVID-19 as the province nears 30,000 infections from the illness. Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry say in a joint statement Thursday that 13 more people have died, for a total of 384 fatalities. The statement says 294 patients are in hospital, 64 of them in intensive care. Dix and Dr. Henry are calling on the public to keep their contacts small as a way to support health-care teams working to track the virus. A total of 10,307 people are being monitoring by public health-care providers as a result of iden

The new Cabinet of B.C.:Anne Kang is Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training.Lana Popham is Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries.Lisa Beare is Minister of Citizen Services.Mitzi Dean is Minister of Children and Family Development.Katrina Chen is Minister of State for Childcare.Jennifer Whiteside is Minister of Education.Bruce Ralston is Minister of Energy and Mines.George Heyman is Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for TransLink.Selina Robinson is Minister of Finance.Katrine Conroy is Minister of Forests, Lands and Rural Development.Nathan C

COVID-19 has changed a lot of things this holiday season but it hasn't changed the need to keep drinking drivers off the road. The Insurance Corporation of BC, RCMP detachments and municipal police forces around the province launch annual CounterAttack holiday road checks tomorrow night, continuing through December and into the new year. ICBC says an average of 67 people die in BC annually because of impaired driving, with the highest number in the southern Interior where an average of 23 people are killed by drunk drivers. Statistics from ICBC show an average of 17 people are involved in fat