The pace of economic growth in Canada slowed in August as real gross domestic product grew 1.2 per cent in the month, Statistics Canada said Friday. The rise compared with a revised 3.1 per cent gain in July, up from its initial reading for the month of 3.0 per cent. The report came as the agency also released a preliminary estimate for a gain of 0.7 per cent in September to bring growth in the third quarter to about 10 per cent. Economists on average had expected an increase of 0.9 per cent for August, according to financial data firm Refinitiv. TD Bank senior economist Sri Thanabalasingam

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says the latest death from COVID-19 shows even small social gatherings can be dangerous. Dr. Henry says an 80 year old woman in the Fraser Health region has died after contracting the virus at a small birthday party where a guest did not know they had the virus. She is also reporting 234 new cases of COVID-19 today, pushing the total past 14,000. The province's active caseload also reached a new record high of 2,344. The number of people in hospital decreased by one, to 84, with 24 patients in intensive care or critical care units. Dr. Henry says

A young Tunisian man armed with a knife and carrying a copy of the Qur'an attacked worshippers in a French church and killed three Thursday, prompting the government to raise its security alert to the maximum level hours before a nationwide coronavirus lockdown. The attacker was seriously wounded by police. Thursday's attack prompted the government to raise its security alert status to the maximum level hours before a nationwide coronavirus lockdown. It was the third attack in two months in France that authorities have attributed to Muslim extremists, including the beheading of a teacher. It c

A man is dead and a woman is injured after what homicide detectives say was a family dispute that ended in a stabbing in Maple Ridge, east of Vancouver. Ridge Meadows RCMP say the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team was called after officers arrived at the home in the Silver Valley neighbourhood at about 11 last night. An injured woman was rushed to hospital and is expected to survive but police say an unnamed man in his mid-20s was pronounced dead at the scene. A suspect in his early 20s was arrested in the home and remains in custody and Mounties say all three are from the same family an

Detectives are making slim progress in a three-year-old cold case in Squamish. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the body found inside a burned vehicle in 2017 has now been identified as US resident Davis Wolfgang Hawke, also known in the local climbing community as Jesse James. I-HIT Sergeant Frank Jang says the 38 year old died of a gunshot wound before being left in the burning truck, which was found on a forest road just north of Squamish on June 14, 2017. Few other details, such as when Hawke came to Canada or what he was doing in Squamish, are still under investigation and

Vancouver Police are looking for more victims of sexual assault to come forward involving a man posing as an Uber driver. On October 22, 24 year old Langley resident, Hirdeypal Batth was charged with sexual assault and forcible confinement in relation to a file this past August. Batth allegedly forcibly confined the victim and sexually assaulted her near Oak Street and King Edward Avenue on August 26. It is believed Batth had posed as the victim’s Uber driver with his white 2020 Land Rover. "We believe that Batth may have targeted other victims" says Constable Tania Visintin, VPD. "Investiga

A border officer who assisted in the three hour detention and examination of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou before her arrest at Vancouver's airport two years ago says collecting the phone passcodes is routine during secondary examinations of foreign nationals. Scott Kirkland told the BC Supreme Court he didn't intend to share passcodes for her phones with RCMP. But if he realized at the time that the piece of paper where he wrote them would be passed on to RCMP along with her devices, he would have acted immediately. Kirkland is the second in a series of witnesses called to testify at the req

An inquiry into money laundering in BC has heard the RCMP didn't have the resources to investigate illegal activities at the province's largest casino. Ward Clapham, the former officer-in-charge of the Richmond RCMP detachment, says he tried twice to establish a new unit directly assigned to the River Rock Casino but his requests were denied by the city. The provincial government launched the inquiry after commissioning reports that outlined how money laundering was affecting real estate and housing affordability, luxury car sales and gambling in BC. The inquiry also heard from Gord Friesen,

Victoria police say two men have been arrested in an investigation that led to the seizure of fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and other drugs. Police say they also found a loaded firearm. The bust followed an investigation into a ``dial-a-dope'' drug trafficking operation in the city in which suspected traffickers took orders for drugs by phone or text messages. The names of the accused and what they have been charged with have not been released.