The BC Teachers Federation hopes the Labour Relations Board can resolve teachers' concerns about COVID-related health and safety issues in schools. The BCTF has filed a submission with the board asking it to propose solutions to what the union says are ``inadequate and inconsistent'' policies aimed at slowing the spread of the new coronavirus. Documents show the BCTF is seeking an ``expedited'' decision because union members feel ``pressured'' to work in unsafe situations and there's potential for job action by some teachers. Education Minister Rob Fleming says ``this is only week one'' and t

Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet has tested positive for COVID-19, but he says he feels fine. He will stay in isolation at his Shawinigan, Quebec home until September 26th. Blanchet's wife, Nancy, tested positive for the illness earlier this week. Quebec's public health rules say a person who tests positive but doesn't have serious symptoms must stay isolated for 10 days. The Bloc leader was already in self-isolation, along with much of his caucus and other aides, after a staff member contracted COVID-19.

A firefighter has died battling a wildfire in California that officials say was sparked by a device used to reveal a baby's gender. The U.S. Forest Service says the death happened Thursday in the San Bernardino National Forest as crews battled the El Dorado Fire.The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, has said that wildfire was sparked by a smoke-generating pyrotechnic device used for a gender reveal party. The identity of the firefighter is being withheld until family members are notified. The cause of the death is under investigation. Wildfires in California

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair says the partial closure of the border with the United States is being extended another month, to Oct. 21. Crossings of the border have been largely restricted to trade goods, essential workers and citizens returning home since March, in an attempt to limit the spread of COVID-19. Blair and his American counterpart, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, each tweeted the latest one-month extension of the closure agreement this morning. The pandemic has raged in the United States throughout the spring and summer, and cases in Canada have recently starte

New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh is accusing his Liberal and Conservative counterparts of doing the bidding of big business during the pandemic. Singh takes the swipe at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole in a speech today that lays out the NDP’s priorities ahead of next week’s throne speech. Singh is calling on the Liberals to do more to help working people cope with the economic hardship of the COVID-19 crisis. That includes extending benefits for unemployed Canadians that he says the Liberals are planning to curtail. He’s also calling on the governme

RCMP say they are investigating a targeted shooting in Surrey, B.C.A statement from the force says officers responded to reports of gunfire late Thursday in the Brookswood neighbourhood.A man was found suffering from gunshot wounds and remains in hospital.Staff Sgt. Joe Johal says the victim was likely the target.It's the third targeted attack this week in Metro Vancouver.Shots were fired at a man in Surrey's Newton neighbourhood on Monday but he was not hurt, and a man was fatally shot in one of three homicides in Vancouver on Wednesday.

BC is reporting a single-day record of 165 new cases of COVID-19. Provincial health officer Doctor Bonnie Henry says there has also been one death of a long-term care resident, bringing the total to 220 fatalities. Dr. Henry says there have been two new outbreaks at acute care units in the Fraser Health region. She is urging people to get ready for the coming respiratory season by keeping to their same ``safe six'' social circle and moving between different groups of six people.

Vancouver police say the latest statistics suggest an uptick in crime across the city. A report comparing numbers for the first six months of 2020 to the same period last year suggests an increase in violent crime by more than five per cent. Police noted increases in all areas of the city but they say areas including Strathcona, downtown and Yaletown recorded particularly high numbers. Deputy Chief Constable Howard Chow says police are, ``very concerned about the increase in the most serious crimes across the city.''

Three people have been killed in what Vancouver police say are two separate homicides in the city. Const. Tania Visintin says two people were found unresponsive in a hotel room in the Downtown Eastside at about 7 p.m. Wednesday. She says one died at the scene while the other died later in hospital. Officers were called to a southeast Vancouver neighbourhood about 30 minutes later for a report of shots fired. One person was found dead in front of a home. Visintin says the shooting and the two hotel deaths are not linked and the public is not believed to be at risk.