Premier John Horgan has released the following statement on Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colours:"This week, on the last full moon in the lunar month of the Hindu calendar of Phalguna, people and communities here in British Columbia and around the world will be celebrating Holi."Known as the Festival of Colours, Holi marks the end of winter and the start of spring. It is a time for new beginnings and renewal, for hope and optimism."After two of the most challenging years we have ever faced, British Columbians are coming back together to reconnect, recover and rebuild stronger than ever."For tho

B.C. is reporting 240 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 353,379 cases in the province.There are 298 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 and 49 are in intensive care.In the past 24 hours, seven new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 2,960.The new deaths include:Fraser Health: threeVancouver Coastal Health: oneNorthern Health: twoIsland Health: oneThere have been no new health-care facility outbreaks. The outbreak at Greenwoods (Island Health) has been declared over, for a total of eight facilities with ongoing outbreaks. From March 9-15, people not fully vaccinated accoun

Vancouver Police are asking for the public’s help to find a 40-year-old man who violated his long term supervision order, and is now wanted Canada-wide. Marcel Lawson was ordered by the courts to remain at a hospital while receiving medical treatment, but failed to do so. He has a history of committing serious sexual offences and he is at risk to re-offend.Lawson is Indigenous, five feet eight inches tall, and weighs about 230 pounds. He has short black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a black sweater with a white Under Armour logo on the chest, was carrying a black backpack, an

RCMP are investigating a homicide in Lillooet. Police say paramedics found a seriously injured man on a street in the community on Tuesday night. He was taken to hospital but did not survive. Investigators are not releasing the victim's name and say the attack appears isolated and they don't believe anyone else is at risk.

The British Columbia government is expanding supports for former youth in care as part of a cross-government approach to target the root causes of homelessness.Several cabinet ministers gathered for a news conference to share details of $633 million first announced in Budget 2022 for supports over three years for people experiencing homelessness.Mitzi Dean, minister of children and family development, says $35 million over three years will help former youth in care, almost half of whom experience homelessness at some point in their lives.It will help cover an unconditional one-year income supp

A Burnaby RCMP investigation has resulted in two charges against an employee at a Burnaby skincare business, and police are urging any others with information to come forward.An investigation was launched in 2019 after a victim reported to police that she was sexually assaulted during treatment at a business operating as Fab Skin Care at 5481 Kingsway in Burnaby.In 2021, a second victim who underwent treatment by the same practitioner at the clinic also came forward to police, allowing Burnaby RCMP’s Child Abuse and Sexual Offence Unit (CASO) to gather additional evidence.On March 14, 2022 4

British Columbia is reporting another eight deaths due to COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 2,953.Hospitalization numbers continue to drop in the province, with 329 people in hospital Wednesday compared with 345 a day earlier while 51 people are in intensive care.Surrey Memorial Hospital is reporting a new outbreak.There are nine facilities with ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks, most of them in long-term care homes.Nearly 91 per cent of eligible people aged 12 and up have had their second vaccine and 56.8 per cent of those have had a third dose.Since December 2020, almost 11.5 million doses of va

Three people have now been charged after The Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia’s (CFSEU-BC’s) Joint Illegal Gaming Investigation Team (JIGIT) conducted an investigation into an illegal gaming house.In October 2020, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) responded to a residence in the 200 block of W. 45th Ave, after receiving a 911 call. When VPD officers arrived, evidence of an alleged illegal gaming house was observed.CFSEU-BC’s JIGIT was immediately engaged and began an investigation into the alleged illegal gaming house activity and executed several search w

British Columbia's housing minister says a new method for collecting data on homelessness is the first of its kind in Canada and will help the province tackle the issue. David Eby says the government used anonymized data from multiple ministry databases to paint a picture of homelessness across B.C. in 2019 that found trends like high per capita rates in northern rural communities and among men. The report shows that just over half of people experienced homelessness temporarily rather than on a chronic basis. Eby says the province previously relied on data from point-in-time counts in 25 comm