British Columbia's health minister says the province has hired more staff and increased operating-room hours to catch up on cancelled surgeries but a significant surge in COVID-19 cases could impact recovery. Adrian Dix says 32,400 procedures were not done or not scheduled as of mid-March to retain beds that may have been needed for COVID-19 patients. Combined with patients already on wait lists, the number of people waiting for procedures ballooned to over 95,000. However, Dix says over half the patients whose surgeries were cancelled in the spring had them between May 18 and June 25. Michae

BC Transit has launched a province-wide campaign encouraging considerate etiquette on all BC buses, SeaBuses and SkyTrains. The ``Together We Ride'' campaign reminds riders to be courteous and respectful during the ongoing pandemic and whenever possible to wear a mask while travelling. The eight week campaign will use a variety of methods from TV commercials to social media posts to reach target audiences. Transit says although wearing a mask is not mandatory, it can help to promote a more comfortable experience as people return to transit while the economy gradually re-opens.

A 23 year old cyclist has died after being hit by a pickup truck while riding on the Lougheed Highway through Maple Ridge. The woman was hit late yesterday afternoon and Ridge Meadows RCMP say she died at the scene. The 37 year old Mission man driving the pickup stayed to speak with police and is co-operating with the investigation. Police say drugs and alcohol do not appear to have been involved but the case is still open and further information is not being released.

The Liberal government's cancelled contract with an organization connected closely to the prime minister will be back in the spotlight today.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected in the House of Commons, with the opposition raring to press him on how his cabinet decided to approve handing control over a $900-million student program to the WE Charity organization. The Conservatives' latest line of attack is linked to media reports of internal problems with WE, including one by Canadaland suggesting auditors had raised red flags about how the organization has handled its finances in recent y

Many questions remain in the case of a Quebec father whose body was found hours after the funeral for his two young daughters.Provincial police announced on Twitter Monday night they found what they believe is the body of fugitive Martin Carpentier in the area of St-Apollinaire, Que., southwest of Quebec City.Police said it appears Carpentier took his own life, but did not offer further information or say how he'd gone undetected during an intense 10-day manhunt.The discovery came 12 days after Carpentier and his daughters were involved in a car crash on the evening of July 8 in St-Apollinair

The floods in Assam have affected 24 districts, causing damages to 1,09,600.53 hectares of crop area and affecting over 24 lakh people in the state.According to the flood situation report by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) on Monday, the rising water levels have affected a total of 2,254 villages.Earlier on Monday, the increased water flow in the Brahmaputra led to floods in several areas of Dibrugarh.The government has set up 276 relief camps and 192 relief distribution centres across the districts to help the people affected by the floods in the state.Moreover, 113 anim

There are 111,124 confirmed cases in Canada. Quebec: 57,616 confirmed (including 5,657 deaths, 50,190 resolved) Ontario: 37,739 confirmed (including 2,752 deaths, 33,513 resolved) Alberta: 9,587 confirmed (including 167 deaths, 8,308 resolved) British Columbia: 3,300 confirmed (including 189 deaths, 2,858 resolved) Nova Scotia: 1,067 confirmed (including 63 deaths, 1,003 resolved) Saskatchewan: 962 confirmed (including 15 deaths, 802 resolved) Manitoba: 343 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 318 resolved), 11 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 262 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 259 resolved) N

British Columbia's provincial health officer says a higher number of COVID-19 cases over the last three days means the province could experience a rapid rebound of infections after successfully ``bending the curve.'' Dr. Bonnie Henry says B.C. recorded 102 cases of the virus since Friday because people have increased their contacts by 20 or 30 people in some cases, from a low of three to four, so it's time to ``pay attention now.'' Henry says she's concerned the province is at a ``tipping point'' and it's more challenging for public health workers to do contact tracing when an infected person

The federal government is rejecting a Conservative accusation that it was either ignorance or corruption that led the Liberals to briefly award a huge contract to the WE charity. The group had paid members of Justin Trudeau's family for speaking engagements. During question period in the House of Commons, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer pointed to reports that auditors had been concerned while reviewing WE Charity's financials. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland maintained it was civil servants who favoured WE running the 900 million dollar student jobs program. The House of Commons is