The British Columbia government says a $132 million program that adds staff, beds and services across the province seeks to help people who require substance-use treatment and recovery care. Sheila Malcolmson, the province's minister of mental health and addictions, says the program will include 65 new or improved services, about 130 more staff and 195 new substance-use treatment beds. She says some of the new initiatives include a sobering centre in Prince George, an addiction medicine treatment team at Burnaby Hospital and withdrawal services at several locations in B.C.'s Interior. Dr. Pat

The BC Federation of Labour is launching a campaign aimed at encouraging the province to include 10 days of employer-paid sick leave when it announces details of BC's new permanent sick leave program in the next several weeks. Federation president Laird Cronk says 10 days of sick leave is needed to ensure workers don't have to choose between going to work sick or paying their bills. The campaign includes an open, multilingual letter calling on the Minister of Labour, key cabinet ministers and local politicians to back the government's 10 day option. Rallies are also planned in Victoria, Burna

We should find out tomorrow if the Transportation Safety Board has any evidence that a passing freight train could have sparked the wildfire that destroyed Lytton. The board has called a news conference for tomorrow morning, one hour after it posts the results of its investigation on its website. Two people died in the June 30th blaze that tore through the Fraser Canyon village, destroying most of it and causing an estimated 77 million dollars in insured damage. Safety board investigators were sent to the village after the RCMP and wildfire service shared information about a possible cause of

The RCMP arrested a woman after she tried to rob a passenger and threatened to stab a BC Ferries staff member at the Swartz Bay ferry terminal in North Saanich on Saturday. Police say the victim refused to give the woman their phone and BC Ferries workers intervened, resulting in the woman threatening to stab the staff before she fled the terminal. While officers were responding, they say they received another call that the woman was attempting to break into a nearby residence, and they soon found and arrested her. RCMP say the woman, who is from Victoria, now faces multiple charges including

Hundreds of people in Spain's Canary Islands are fearing for their homes and property after a new lava stream from an erupting volcano threatened to engulf another neighborhood on the island of La Palma. Island authorities ordered the evacuation of around 800 people from a coastal town after the lava took a new course on its way to the Atlantic Ocean. It was the first mass exit since 6,000 people were told to leave after the Cumbre Vieja volcano first erupted on Sept. 19. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez traveled to La Palma on Wednesday. He says that scientists say the volcano's activity

A trio of BC ski resorts will be requiring staff to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to be eligible to work. Grouse Mountain, Whistler Blackcomb and Big White Ski Resort have all brought in vaccine mandates for their employees. Michael Ballingall, from Big White, which was the site of a large outbreak earlier in the pandemic, says no one is really pushing back against their mandate. He says he's hoping for a more financially successful ski season this year, adding the Lower Mainland is the resort's biggest market in the world.

Hollywood's Captain Kirk, 90-year-old William Shatner, has blasted into space and safely returned to Earth in a convergence of science fiction and science reality. He set out Wednesday morning for the final frontier aboard a ship built by Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin company. The ``Star Trek'' hero becomes the oldest person to ride a rocket. The fully automatic spacecraft reached an altitude of 66.5 miles over the West Texas desert. The up-and-down flight lasted about 10 minutes, with Shatner and his three fellow passengers parachuting back to Earth in the capsule.

Last rites of slain solider NK Mandeep Singh were performed in Gurdaspur, Punjab on October 13.Indian Army personnel and his family members paid tributes to late Mandeep Singh. Full state honours were also given to the slain solider. A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and four Jawans of the Indian Army were injured in anti-terrorist operations and later lost their lives in Poonch, Jammu and Kashmir on October 11.

Congress delegation led by Rahul Gandhi, met President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan on October 13 over Lakhimpur Kheri violence. The delegation of Indian National Congress leaders comprised Mallikarjun Kharge, AK Antony, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. While interacting with media Rahul Gandhi said, "We told the President that the accused's father who is MoS Home Ajay Mishra Teni, should be removed from the post as a fair probe is not possible in his presence. Likewise, we also demanded inquiry be done by two sitting judges of Supreme Court." "The President