Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says the response to COVID-19 will not be interrupted by the BC election next month. Dr. Henry says her powers under the Public Health Act are independent and she will be continuing to meet daily with senior health officials. She adds Premier John Horgan did not ask for her advice on an early election call. Dr. Henry says she has been working for months with Elections BC to ensure guidelines are in place for safe elections and details will be released tomorrow. The province is announcing 366 new cases of COVID-19 over the past three days. Dr. Bonnie

The leaders of the Liberal and Green parties in British Columbia are not happy that NDP Premier John Horgan has called a snap election for next month. Andrew Wilkinson criticized Horgan for calling an election that could potentially harm the health of B-C residents during a pandemic. He says the NDP are just trying to secure their own employment. The newly-elected leader of the BC Green Party says Premier John Horgan's decision to call a snap election in the middle of a pandemic is politics at its worst. Sonia Furstenau says the Green Party has worked in good faith with NDP for three years an

Investigators are asking drivers with any dash cam footage in the area of a fatal shooting in Richmond to contact them immediately. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says a 44 year old man died and another was injured in the shooting at the Manzo restaurant on Friday night. IHIT says both victims are well known to police and the shooting is believed to be targeted. But they say there's no evidence to suggest it's connected to the ongoing Lower Mainland gang conflict or any of the other recent acts of violence.

Weather warnings remain in effect for almost all of Atlantic Canada, as the expected track of hurricane Teddy now encompasses most of mainland Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, eastern PEI and the western half of Newfoundland. The hurricane is advancing toward the East Coast.The storm could make landfall Wednesday as a large and intense post-tropical storm on Cape Breton, but the region will see strong winds, heavy rain and pounding surf by tomorrow night. Wave heights offshore are expected to reach up to 15 metres by late tomorrow.

BC's Information and Privacy Commissioner, Michael McEvoy, will investigate a complaint by a coalition of First Nations about how the Health Ministry releases details about COVID-19. The Heiltsuk Tribal Council, Tsilhqot'in National Government and Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council say a lack of timely, specific information about confirmed cases makes it difficult to keep the virus out of their communities, or track cases when they emerge. McEvoy says he agreed to take on the complaint after he reviewed correspondence between the First Nations and the ministry and determined an informal solution w

The Public Health Agency of Canada is getting a new president as the country heads into the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has tapped Iain Stewart, currently head of the National Research Council of Canada, to take over the role. Last week, the federal public health agency's president, Tina Namiesniowski, announced she was stepping down. She sent a letter to the agency's staff saying that after months of responding to the health crisis, ``none of us are superhuman'' and that she needed a break. Stewart, who has been a senior member of the public service fo

The federal Liberals plan to spend $1 billion over the next six months so cities and other housing providers can keep people from becoming homeless. The rapid-housing funds can be used to buy properties being sold because of the COVID-19 pandemic, or to build new modular units.The Liberals expect the program will create 3,000 new affordable housing units across Canada.They want all the funds to be committed by the end of March 2021. The funding will be available to municipalities, provinces, territories, Indigenous governing bodies and agencies and non-profit organizations. Social Development

John Horgan met with Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin today, and later announced a provincial election. Election will be held on Oct. 24th. Horgan called an 11 a.m. news conference following the meeting with the lieutenant-governor. Horgan says, "British Columbians deserve a say in our economic recovery and will decide the future of our province.'' B.C. had a fixed election date set for October 2021, but Horgan had earlier said he was considering his political options. The NDP formed a minority government in B.C. three years ago after signing a deal with the Green party. But in recent weeks, Horgan has s

The B.C. government says it will launch three cannabis programs over the next two years to help small and Indigenous growers compete with larger rivals.A farm-gate program would allow growers to sell their products at stores located at their production sites. Another program would allow small cannabis producers, licensed by Health Canada, to deliver cannabis directly to authorized retailers. The government did not say how it will define small producers, but says nurseries will be included in the policy. Both programs are expected to launch in 2022, a year after the province hopes to start an i