The motion picture academy has banned Will Smith from attending the Oscars or any other academy event for 10 years following his slap of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards. The move comes after a meeting Friday of the academy's board of governors to discuss a response to Smith's actions. The academy in a statement called Smith's actions ``unacceptable and harmful.'' Smith pre-emptively resigned from the academy last week during the run-up to the meeting and said he would accept any punishment the academy handed down. The academy also apologized for its handling of the slap and allowing Smith to

A missile hit a train station where thousands of people had flocked to flee in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities said 50 people died Friday's strike. They also warned they expect to find more evidence of war crimes in areas abandoned by Russian troops. Photos from the scene showed bodies covered with tarps on the ground and the remnants of a rocket with the words ``For the children'' painted on it in Russian. The office of Ukraine's prosecutor-general said about 4,000 civilians were in and around the station. Most were women and children heeding calls to leave the area before Russia launc

The unemployment rate fell from 5.5 per cent in February to 5.3 per cent last month, knocking it down to its lowest rate since Statistics Canada started keeping records in 1976. The agency reports the economy created 72-thousand, 500 jobs, with the majority of the gains coming in Quebec and Ontario. CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham believes there may be room for the unemployment rate to fall a little further.

Two people were taken to hospital in stable condition yesterday afternoon, after a light aircraft crashed in a Metro Vancouver provincial park. BC Emergency Health Services says it was notified of an aircraft in Alouette Lake, part of Golden Ears park near Maple Ridge, around 3:30 pm. Two people were reportedly helped ashore by boaters before being transported to hospital by ambulance in stable condition.

Metro Vancouver mayors say they need 190-million dollars in provincial grant funding, plus additional loan financing, and they want the same amounts from the federal government if they hope to address the region's housing crisis. The mayors made the request during an online meeting with David Eby, the minister responsible for housing. Eby told the group that one of his main concerns is getting faster approval from local governments to build homes that can handle what he says is BC's ``population explosion.'' The minister has previously warned municipalities he could bring in legislation that

The first weekly report of COVID-19 data after the province moved away from daily updates shows 11 people died due to the virus during the week of March 27th to April 2nd. The report also shows 193 people were admitted to hospital with COVID-19 and a total of just over 1,700 new cases were confirmed. The Health Ministry says the switch to weekly reports aligns with a shift away from a case-management model to a surveillance model. It says the weekly reports will focus on identifying meaningful changes in key COVID-19 measurements and trends over time. Click the link to read about the changes

As British Columbia continues to take the next step in its COVID-19 response, the Province is transitioning from daily to weekly COVID-19 reporting.Beginning on Thursday, April 7, 2022, COVID-19 dashboards and reports issued by the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control will be updated on weekly basis here: http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/dataThe new reports will focus on key measures of severity and trends over time, similar to how other communicable diseases are reported.The new system continues to provide the data required to guide public health decision-ma

A grand welcome given to Punjabi Press Club of BC in BC Legislative Assembly, Victoria The Speaker of the BC Legislative Assembly Hon'ble Raj Chauhan specially invited the Punjabi Press Club of BC, the premier body of the Punjabi media in British Columbia to BC Legislative Assembly, Victoria. This was a special initiative on the 75th anniversary of the right of Indians to vote in Canada and the 'Sikh Heritage Month', dedicated to the Khalsa Sajna. This was the first time in the BC assembly that the Punjabi Press Club was given such an honour as an institution. In the BC Assembly, Ms. Harvinder

Efforts to provide COVID-19 vaccines to as many drug users as possible in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside have paid off, prompting an advocate to urge communities with similar, vulnerable populations across the country to learn lessons from a targeted, well-resourced approach. Karen Ward said a study that showed high vaccine uptake in the neighbourhood also suggests a co-ordinated strategy can work with a marginalized group that sometimes faces discrimination in the health-care system.Ward, who was not involved in the study, said drop-in clinics, including at a community centre, a market, a hote