Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says hospitals in hard-hit regions are feeling the strain from COVID-19 infections with a record number of people in intensive care. There are 853 more cases of COVID-19 today and one new death, bringing the total in the province to 1,577. Dr. Henry also announced that 508 people are in hospital, including 178 people in an ICU. She says the province is expecting increased vaccine shipments in the coming weeks, but BC is in a tug-of-war with COVID-19, and people need to hold the line by following public health orders. Fraser Health says it is no long

Police in Nanaimo say a woman has given up hope over recovering 27,000 dollars lost in a lottery scam where she was tricked into believing she'd won 750 million dollars. Police say the unnamed senior received several calls last month from the same man who told her she had won the grand prize and all she needed to do to claim the winnings was pay some taxes up front. Over the next three weeks she was told to send cash to various addresses along with prepaid gift cards totaling more than 27,000 dollars. Police say when the money didn't show up, she spoke with a relative who convinced her she'd

An Alberta man has lost his vehicle for a week and been handed nearly 800 dollars in tickets for a stunt pulled at a Victoria park just 30 metres from an occupied playground. Police say they were called yesterday afternoon when witnesses reported a Chevy Camaro burning circles, also known as doing donuts, in the grass at Irving Park. When officers spoke with the driver they learned he drove to Victoria from Alberta, in the unregistered and uninsured vehicle, in order to camp in a city park. Traffic officers impounded the vehicle for seven days for the donuts and handed the driver 794 dollars

Surrey RCMP has arrested a man for breaching conditions thanks to a call from the public, and help from bystanders during a foot pursuit in Whalley.On April 27, 2021 at approximately 02:00 am, Surrey RCMP responded to a call reporting a vehicle alleged to have a its rear plate covered in the 9500-block of 132 Street. Police attended the area and spoke to a man and woman associated to the vehicle in the parking lot of a convenience store. During the interaction with police, the man suddenly ran.Bystanders who witnessed the incident intervened, stopping the man, which allowed the officer to catc

Toxic drug deaths killed 158 people in British Columbia last month, pushing the total number of deaths linked in the province's overdose crisis to 498 since the start of the year. A statement releasing the figures from the BC Coroners Service and the Public Safety Ministry says the deaths in March are a 41 per cent increase over the 112 fatalities recorded in the same period last year. The deaths also mark the third consecutive month that more than five people died every day from illicit drug use in the province. The coroners service says carfentanil, which is 100 times stronger than the opio

Ontario will send half its available COVID-19 vaccines to hot spots in the first two weeks of May to help fight the virus in those hard-hit regions. That will be an increase from the current 25 per cent allocation for hot spots and follows a recommendation from the province's science advisers to allocate shots based on transmission rate rather than age group. The government says it will return to a per capita distribution for vaccines across the province on the week of May 17. Officials say Ontario will also lower the age eligibility for mass vaccination clinics to 55 and older starting tomor

Thomas Berger, a British Columbia politician, lawyer, judge and commissioner whose work led Canada to recognize Aboriginal title to land, has died at the age of 88. In confirming the death, B.C. Premier John Horgan says Berger was a "giant," who "spent a lifetime working to address injustice." Berger was a former leader of B.C.'s New Democratic Party, and a B.C. Supreme Court justice, but it was his belief in Indigenous rights and his compassionate management of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry that confirmed his place as an icon of legal and social justice. Berger acted for Nisga'a elder

Police in Delta say they worked with other police departments to recover two trucks and two trailers stolen from different locations last Monday. They say police traced two trucks and one of the trailers to Langley the next day, and the remaining trailer was later found in Abbotsford. They say the last trailer was full of appliances worth about 280-thousand dollars, all of which police were able to recover, except a single microwave. Police say it seemed an attempt had been made at the Abbotsford property to hide a suspicious amount of large boxes. Delta police on Twitter: Delta Police pieced

The Liberal government is tapping former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour to lead what it says is an independent review of the military's handling of sexual assault, harassment and other misconduct. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan announced Arbour's appointment today, nearly three months after the government and Canadian Armed Forces were rocked by allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour by the military's top commanders.Arbour, the former UN high commissioner for human rights, is being asked to help set up an independent system for victims and others to report incidents and also to re