British Columbia's representative for children and youth says the system of funding child welfare services for Indigenous kids is ``deeply flawed'' and there's an urgent need to overhaul practices to make data accessible and transparent. Jennifer Charlesworth says in a report released today that data from the Children's Ministry makes it impossible to compare allocation of funds for First Nations, Metis, Inuit and urban Indigenous youth with non-Indigenous service providers. Charlesworth says there's no way to know how much money is being spent on child welfare for Indigenous children in orde

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the discovery of unmarked graves at residential school sites has highlighted for all Canadians the horrors of our past for which we all bear some responsibility. Trudeau will visit the Williams Lake First Nation Wednesday, just two months after the band announced it had found 93 "reflections," indicating unmarked graves of children around the former St. Joseph's Mission residential school.The prime minister was in Vancouver on Tuesday to speak to a climate change conference shortly after his government released its new emissions-reduction plan.Trudeau says he

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says she will deliver this year's budget next week. Freeland tells the House of Commons she will unveil the government's spending plans on April 7 in a document that has been expected to focus on measures to spur economic growth. The budget is also expected to have new social programs promised as part of an agreement to earn the backing of the New Democrats in key parliamentary votes. That includes the first steps on national pharmacare and dental care. The budget is also expected to have billions of dollars in housing-related measures that the Liberals and

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia says it has suspended a doctor from practising while it completes an investigation into allegations that he circumvented COVID-19 public health orders.The interim suspension order, effective March 24 but posted on the college's website on Monday, affects Dr. Stephen Malthouse, a family practitioner on Denman Island.The order says an inquiry panel hasn't decided on the merits of the allegations, but it has determined there would be "a real risk of harm to the public" if Malthouse continued to practise without restriction.It says Malthou

Surrey R-C-M-P are investigating more gunfire reports in the city, following a series of targeted shootings over the past week.Police say they received reports of shots fired in Whalley yesterday and found evidence of a shooting, including bullet casings in the street, but no victims or suspects were found.The Mounties say Monday's gunfire was the fourth reported shooting in the past six days, with the other three believed to have been targeted attacks.They are investigating possible ties between the series of shootings and the local drug trade, as well as the wider Lower Mainland gang conflic

Over a three-day period, B.C. is reporting 556 new cases of COVID-19, including one epi-linked case, for a total of 355,648 cases:March 25-26: 207 new casesMarch 26-27: 197 new casesMarch 27-28: 152 new casesThere are 288 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 and 48 are in intensive care.In the past 72 hours, six new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 2,989.There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks. The outbreak at Hillside Village (Interior Health) has been declared over, for a total of six facilities with ongoing outbreaks. From March 18-24, people not fully vacc

Alberta has introduced a bill to consolidate rules on continuing care for more consistent and stronger enforcement. Health Minister Jason Copping says the aim is to bring together six related pieces of legislation and three standards of care, some going back more than 30 years. All care facilities including home care, designated supported living facilities, and hospices would be licensed and regulated. There would be more authority for the minister to monitor and enforce standards, and penalties for violations would increase to $100,000 a day from the current maximum of $1,000. The government

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is defending the use of a meme from the Oscars as a contemporary way to draw attention to what he considers failing green energy policies. The meme, shared widely online, is a photo of actor Will Smith slapping comedian Chris Rock on stage over comments Rock made about Smith's wife at the Hollywood awards show on Sunday. In the version shared on Kenney's social media accounts, the word ``Reality'' is written in text over Smith with ``Green Energy Policies'' in text over Rock. Opinions on the premier's use of the meme have varied online, with some critics saying it

Amendments to the Property Law Act introduced on Monday, March 28, 2022, will enable the creation of a new Homebuyer Protection Period to protect people buying a home in a challenging real estate market. The Homebuyer Protection Period, sometimes called a "right of recission," responds to concerns that in the highly competitive housing market, buyers are reporting pressure to submit offers without basic conditions intended to protect their interests.The amendments would enable the creation of a period to give people buying a home more time to consider their offers, ensure financing and obtain