Wildfires burning near Hope and Manning Park, and in the Peace region, Kootenays and U-S Pacific Northwest have all combined to blanket much of BC under a smoky pall. The BC Air Quality index shows the level of potentially harmful particulates linked to the smoke are especially high in Cranbrook, Castelgar, Squamish and Whistler. Environment Canada is maintaining air quality statements across the lower third of BC and in the northeast where two large fires have forced evacuation orders and alerts west of Fort St. John and southeast of Tumbler Ridge. The BlueSky Canada smoke forecasting system

New Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre used his first speech to his caucus today to issue a challenge to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He says if Trudeau understands the suffering of Canadians due to inflation, he should commit to no new tax increases for workers and seniors. Meanwhile, Trudeau is slamming Poilievre's economic policies as irresponsible. The prime minister is currently meeting with his caucus ahead of the House of Commons resuming next week.

Surrey RCMP are looking for a driver involved in a hit-and-run with a pedestrian. Police were called to King George Blvd near 72 Ave at about 9 p.m. Sunday.Officers say a silver sedan heading south on King George struck a woman who was crossing the street between intersections.Police say the sedan, which may have been a Honda, continued south bound without stopping.The vehicle sustained obvious front end damage in the collision, likely to the right bumper.The 40 -year-old pedestrian was taken to hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.

British Columbia's financial outlook is showing improvements, with a budget surplus of $706 million forecast for the current fiscal year. Finance Minister Selina Robinson says preliminary financial numbers for the first three months of 2022-23 show the province is in a strong position despite ongoing global economic risks. The quarterly report Robinson posted today also indicates financial improvements over the next three years, but includes forecasts of budget deficits for two of the three years. The government recently announced the province's final audited budget for 2021-2022 produced a s

The murder of famed Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala is not under investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), official sources said on Monday. The clarification came after the counter-terror agency on Monday conducted searches at 50 places across North India in the investigation of cases against activities of gangsters with international and inter-state ramifications. "NIA is conducting searches today at 50 places across North India relating to investigation of cases against activities of gangsters having serious International and inter-state ramifications. The case of Sidhu Moose

Two people are dead, including a paramedic, following a collision involving an ambulance southwest of Edmonton. RCMP say members responded to a report of a crash between an ambulance and an older Buick Skylark on Highway 39 just west of Thorsby early Saturday. Police say the driver and lone occupant of the Buick, a 27-year-old man from Edmonton, as well as the 51-year-old woman who was driving the ambulance, were both pronounced dead at the scene. Alberta Health Services later identified her as a paramedic but released no other details. A male passenger in the ambulance, who AHS said was also

Surrey RCMP is asking for the public’s assistance with locating a missing 27-year-old man. Rohit Verma was reported missing on September 6, 2022 at 10:44 a.m. by his friend. He was last seen in the area of 11600-block of 99 Avenue and his vehicle has been located in the area of 11700-block of 130 Street, in Surrey.Rohit has not gone missing before and all attempts to contact him has been negative. Police and family are concerned for his well-being.Rohit is described as South Asian male, 5’7 tall, 141 lbs, with a black beard and balding black hair. His last known clothing description is unk

King Charles the Third has made his first public address since his mother's death. Speaking at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, Charles says he feels profound sorrow and called Queen Elizabeth ``an inspiration.'' As he takes the throne in an era of uncertainty for both his country and the monarchy itself, the King vowed to carry on his mother's lifelong service to a nation now in mourning. Britain began a 10 day mourning period with people around the globe gathering at British embassies to pay homage to the queen, who died yesterday in Scotland at the age of 96.

The number of people looking for work across Canada climbed by half a percentage point last month to 5.4 per cent, but the jobless rate in BC barely budged. Statistics Canada says unemployment in this province was 4.8 per cent in August, up one tenth of a point from July, and the second lowest rate in the country after Quebec. StatsCan blames the hike in the national jobless numbers on losses in the education services and construction sectors, although it says those declines were offset by more jobs in professional, scientific and technical services. Unemployment in Vancouver and Kelowna was