Foreign Affairs Minister Francois Philippe Champagne says that the first charter flight from Wuhan will bring 211 Canadians home. Addressing a media briefing he said that a second charter flight is being considered. Champagne informed that weather complications delayed the flight to Wuhan by 4 hours. The 211 people on the manifest have been asked to reach the airport by 5PM local time. 308 Canadians had applied to be evacuated from the infected area in China, out of which 280 are Canadian citizens. China has maintained that only the people with foreign passports will be allowed to fly out of C

There has been a new presumptive confirmed case of the novel coronavirus in British Columbia. B.C. health officials says the latest case is a woman in her 50s who lives in the Vancouver area. Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, says the woman had family visiting from Hubei province in China, which is at the centre of the outbreak in that country. She says the woman's family members are still in Canada and health officials are monitoring them. For the case to be confirmed, the results must also come back positive from tests done on samples at the National Microbiology Laborato

The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed the latest challenge of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion today. Four First Nations from British Columbia filed court challenges after the federal government approved the project a second time last June. A court hearing in December focused on the government's consultation with the First Nations between August 2018 and June 2019. The consultation took place after the Court of Appeal struck down the first project approval in August 2018 in part because of insufficient dialogue with Indigenous groups. At the hearing last month, the Tsleil-Waututh Nat

Surrey RCMP say the man charged in a 2017 shooting and two of his alleged associates are each facing 15 new charges. Abd'l Malik Loubissi-Morris was arrested in December and Tien Roy Mai Dang was arrested last Thursday. Police say an arrest warrant has been issued for a third man, Noah Didhra, who is described as South Asian, 21 years old, five-foot-ten and 230 pounds. Mounties say the investigation had expanded to include Vernon, and Kelowna, where a search turned up about $177,000 , 6 fire arms, and significant quantities of fentanyl, heroin and other drugs.

Environment Canada has issued snow alerts in several areas of British Columbia for Tuesday. Special weather statements cover eastern and inland Vancouver Island, the Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, the Sunshine Coast and Metro Vancouver. The forecaster says snowfall amounts will vary significantly depending on elevation and how close the area is to the water. It says five to 20 centimetres of wet snow is expected with the highest amounts likely over Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, where the snow is expected to persist the longest. It says warmer air will arrive by Tuesday afternoon and

Several British Columbia communities are cleaning up and digging out after a storm swept over the southern part of the province on Friday, prompting flooding and landslides. Local states of emergency were declared in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island and the District of Kent in the Fraser Valley. Both areas were overwhelmed with up to 140 millimetres of rain Friday that washed out or flooded major roads and forced the evacuation of dozens of people. Kent Mayor Sylvia Pranger says about 40 homes were evacuated north of Harrison Hot Springs when Rockwell Drive washed away. As many as 500

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday exuded confidence that budget 2020-21 will fulfil the country's current needs and also the expectations from this decade."I am confident that this budget will increase income and investment, demand and consumption and bring new vigour in financial system and credit flow," said Prime Minister Modi in an address after budget presentation. "This budget will fulfill the current needs of the country as well as the future expectations from this decade," he said.Stressing on major highlights of the 90th Union Budget, Modi said several tax concessions have been

The proposed ride-hailing Inter-Municipal Business Licence (IMBL) that is supported by virtually all of Mayors’ Council takes a major step forward in addressing the unfair advantage that ride-hailing companies currently have over taxi companies. The following was approved almost unanimously by the Mayors’ Council: Endorse the principles and framework for establishing and administering an interim Inter-Municipal Business Licence (IMBL); Urge municipalities within Region 1 to adopt the associated interim IMBL bylaw as quickly as possible; Urge municipalities within Region 1 to harmonize

The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak of new virus from China a global emergency after the number of infected people spiked more than tenfold in a week. The United Nations health agency made the determination on Thursday as more cases of human-to-human transmission were being reported worldwide. To date, China has reported more than 7,700 cases, including 170 deaths. Eighteen other countries have reported cases, as scientists race to understand how exactly the virus is spreading and how severe it is.