The teenager who is infected with the first human case of H5N1 avian influenza acquired in Canada remains in critical care at BC Children’s Hospital, officials said Tuesday. Speaking at a news conference in Victoria, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the young person is stable, but still very sick. “Our thoughts remain with them and their family, and we remain hopeful, as they have made some progress in the last few days, that they will recover from this very severe infection,” she said. Over the past two weeks, public health officials have tested and monitored dozens of h

British Columbia is making disaster financial assistance available to victims of floodwaters that gushed through several communities when an atmospheric river dumped hundreds of millimetres of rain on parts of the province last month. The province says flood-affected residents of Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam, the Squamish First Nation and North and West Vancouver are eligible. The financial aid of up to $400,000 per claim is aimed at compensating for "sudden, unexpected and uninsurable losses," such as damage to a principal residence and debris removal. The deadline for applications is Feb. 23 ne

Home sales and prices are on the rise in BC. The British Columbia Real Estate Association reported 7,119 residential unit sales in October, a 33.5 percent increase compared to the same month last year. Although it took longer than expected, home sales have now returned to normal levels, according to BCREA chief economist Brendan Ogmundson. He noted that buyers had been waiting for high interest rates to ease, and this shift is now encouraging their return to the housing market. The association also reported a 0.3 percent increase in home prices across the province in October, bringing the aver

There won't be a sitting of the British Columbia legislature this fall as originally planned. The Office of the Premier issued a brief statement Friday saying that Raj Chouhan has been confirmed to serve again as the Speaker of the legislature, so there is no need to hold a sitting. Premier David Eby previously said there would be a brief sitting to elect a speaker before the end of the year. But the new statement says the legislature will instead return in February, starting with a speech from the throne. Eby's government was elected with 47 seats, giving it a one-seat majority

A Boeing 767 cargo jet that went off a runway at Vancouver International Airport has been safely removed. Vancouver International Airport says the north runway will remain closed until further notice as systems and infrastructure are assessed. The aircraft went off the runway after landing Tuesday afternoon, though none of the three crew members aboard were hurt. The Amazon Prime Air jet remained in the grass off the runway nose down, with both engines on each of the mud-splattered wings touching the ground. The airport authority says after the Transportation Safety Board granted permission to

BC Hydro is warning customers in remote areas of Vancouver Island that they may be without power until late Saturday, as winds from another powerful storm hit the coast. The latest in a series of fall storms has brought gusts up to 100 km/h but Environment Canada says it isn't as strong as the bomb cyclone that knocked out power to more than 300,000 properties this week. BC Hydro says crews have reinstated power to most customers, but "small pockets" on Vancouver Island may still be blacked out until Saturday evening. BC Hydro's outage list shows more than 11,000 customers without power, with

B.C.'s South Coast is under a storm warning once again for Friday. The storms have already caused widespread damage. According to Environment Canada, severe weather will continue to affect the Washington coast through Thursday night and will move onto Vancouver Island by Friday morning. A severe weather warning has been issued for Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast, while a strong wind warning is in effect for the southern part of Howe Sound, including Bowen Island. Officials say strong winds will begin in Howe Sound overnight, with gusts reaching up to 90 kilometres per hour expected by

BC Hydro says it has restored power to 90 per cent of customers who lost electricity this week when hurricane-force winds slammed into parts of the British Columbia coast, but forecasters say a new storm is on the way. Winds from the so-called bomb cyclone weather system exceeded 100 km/h in some places Wednesday, with Environment Canada data showing remote Sartine Island off northern Vancouver Island hit by the most powerful gusts of the day, reaching 113 km/h. The power utility says that as of 6:30 a.m. Thursday, 290,000 of the 320,000 customers affected by outages had regained power. That l

The union representing port supervisors in British Columbia is formally challenging the legal and constitutional authority of the federal labour minister to order them back to work. In a legal document dated Tuesday, International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 says it's questioning whether the order issued by Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon last week violates the right to collective bargaining and the right to strike. The union says these rights are protecting by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It says the questions will be considered by a panel of the Canada Industrial Relation