Canada is joining the United States, the United Kingdon and Australia in a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights concerns. The announcement came after the White House, the Australian government and the UK government confirmed diplomatic boycotts of the Winter Olympics in February to protest Chinese human rights abuses. China has vowed to react with ``firm countermeasures.'' Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government has been talks with allies about it in recent months. The diplomatic moves by Canada, the U.S., Britain and Australia do not affect t

Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart says next year's budget will include significant funding for climate action and public safety. The mayor says Budget 2022 includes nine-million dollars for a new annual climate fund for electric vehicle chargers, transit infrastructure and building retrofits. He says the leading driver of budget growth is once again spending on police and firefighters -- which represents nearly half of the budget's property tax increase. Stewart says the budget includes a request for the city's new auditor general to review cost pressures on the police department.

The Transportation Ministry is warning drivers to expect slow traffic with reduced speed limits on Highway 1 through the Fraser Valley. The major artery fully reopened yesterday between Abbotsford and Hope, restoring an essential link in the provincial supply chain after severe flooding. While it is not officially subject to a travel order, the government is asking people to avoid non-essential travel on the highway to ease the movement of goods and services. As massive repair and recovery work begins across the province, WorkSafeBC is warning employers and employees to be aware of hazards at

B.C. is reporting 326 new cases of COVID-19, including nine new epi-linked cases, for a total of 220,856 cases in the province.There are 2,814 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 215,577 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 242 individuals are in hospital and 82 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.In the last 24 hours, one new death (Northern Health) has been reported, for an overall total of 2,363.There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks, for a total of five facilities with ongoing outbreaks. Fr

There are now five cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant confirmed in British Columbia. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says three of those who tested positive for the variant are fully vaccinated and two are unvaccinated, while all have mild or asymptomatic symptoms. She says the people range in age from 18 to 60 and all had been travelled to places like Nigeria and Egypt. Dr. Henry says the first case, which was confirmed on November 30th, involved someone who returned to BC before on-arrival testing was introduced at airports, and that person was tested later. She says more case

A 17 year old girl who was reported missing Sunday has been found dead inside a home on Tsawwassen First Nation lands south of Vancouver, B.C. Delta police say officers searching for Maaike Blom discovered her body Tuesday. A man has been arrested in connection with her death, though police stress the investigation is in its early stages. They say in a statement that Blom was last seen by family members on Dec. 3 and her disappearance was considered out of character. Police said Monday when they released a missing person advisory that the teen went missing from her home on Tsawwassen First Na

Military police say they have charged the former head of human resources for the Canadian Armed Forces with one count of sexual assault. Vice-Admiral Haydn Edmundson has also been charged with one count of indecent acts. Edmundson stepped down as head of military personnel command in March due to a police investigation after a CBC report of alleged sexual assault. He has denied the allegations. The charges come weeks after Defence Minister Anita Anand announced she had accepted a call to have the investigation and prosecution of military sexual assault cases transferred to civilian authoritie

Delta police have posted a tweet and given information about a missing man who has been located deceased. Delta police posted a tweet: We have sad news to share. Unfortunately 21-year-old missing man Anmol JAGAT has been located deceased. Our thoughts are with his family and his loved ones. His death is not considered suspicious. Anmol Jagat was last seen on Oct. 24th He was last captured on video at 12:42 am, October 24 walking northbound in the 8100 block of 112A in North Delta. He was believed to have headed northbound on 112th after this. Any individuals or businesses with CCTV or dashcam

Surrey RCMP is informing the public of multiple complaints of vandalism to public washrooms within Surrey parks.Over the last few months, Surrey RCMP have received multiple calls of vandalism to public washroom facilities, particularly in the Cloverdale area. The damage has included smashed toilets, broken doors, partitions, vents, as well as stolen soap dispensers.Police are aware that these incidents could be related to a social media trend where youth film themselves causing damage to washrooms and post to apps such as TikTok.These acts of vandalism are unacceptable and have caused signific