The BC Federation of Labour is sponsoring rallies in Victoria and at two locations in Metro Vancouver today as it urges workers to speak out in support of legislation providing 10 days of paid sick leave to BC employees. Today marks the final day of consultation over whether the province should require employers to provide three, five or 10 days of paid sick leave annually. The federation supports 10 paid sick days, saying that is the best way to ensure workers stay home when they are ill and don't share infections on the job. The rallies take place at 4 pm in Burnaby and Surrey, while suppor

The union representing workers at LifeLabs says a tentative agreement has been reached to avert a strike by nearly 1,600 members. The BC General Employees' Union says it expects to present members with details today before they vote on whether to accept the deal. It says a ban on overtime and work-to-rule job action began on Saturday and was expected to continue until November 1st but will be discontinued until the vote is held. Workers voted 98 per cent to strike in July and over 200 of them rallied outside a lab on Saturday before the union and the company met at the bargaining table that e

Capacity limits have been lifted in BC as of today for organized events like sports games and movie theatres as well as gatherings like weddings. But 50 per cent capacity limits will remain at venues and gatherings in some areas of the province where vaccination rates remain low, including parts of the Fraser, Interior and Northern regions. Masks must still be worn and anyone attending an event will be required to show their BC Vaccine card, at least until January. Meanwhile, all health-care workers in the province will have to be fully vaccinated by tomorrow as a condition of their employmen

Anyone hoping to board a BC ferry this morning will be out of luck thanks to a forecast calling for high winds. BC Ferries has cancelled nearly two dozen sailings, starting at 5:15 a.m. in Tsawwassen and Duke Point, and customers who made an advance booking will get a full refund. It says service will resume as soon as it's safe to do so. Environment Canada has forecast gusts as high as 100 kilometres an hour for parts of Vancouver Island. BC Ferries on Twitter: Sailings across multiple routes have been cancelled due to strong winds. Impacted customers will be advised of cancellations & r

Wind warnings and special weather statements remain posted for Vancouver Island and British Columbia's inner south coast, but it appears the region has dodged significant damage from a powerful storm. Environment Canada says a rapidly deepening cyclone approached waters off the coast Saturday night and peak wind speeds of at least 100 km/h were reported at three locations off Vancouver Island on Sunday. Winds have eased slightly, but the weather office says gusts of 90 to 100 km/h are still possible in many areas as the storm tracks northeast and is expected to pass over northern Vancouver Is

B.C. is reporting 649 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 200,898 cases in the province.There are 5,106 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 193,325 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 365 individuals are currently in hospital and 143 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.In the last 24 hours, 13 new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 2,109. The new deaths include:Fraser Health: twoVancouver Coastal Health: threeInterior Health: threeNorthern Health: threeIsland Health: two There have been no

Vancouver Police are appealing for witnesses after a staff member of a Downtown Eastside coffee shop was assaulted earlier this week.A woman entered the Tim Hortons near Pender and Abbott streets on October 20 around 10 a.m. and ordered a coffee. Surveillance footage shows the female employee handing the woman a cup of hot coffee, which the suspect then threw back in her face."This employee was just trying to do her job," says Constable Tania Visintin. "It’s appalling that she was subjected to this type of abuse and it’s extremely fortunate that she was not seriously injured."The suspect i

A Burnaby woman says she was picking up a package of peanuts as a snack on September 28th, when something told her she should buy a lottery ticket as well. It certainly paid off, netting Christine Lauzon a 70 million dollar lottery win, the largest-ever lottery prize won in BC. Lauzon says her first priority will be talking to a financial adviser about what to do with the windfall, followed by gifting some of the cash to her immediate family. She added that she's going to take some time before deciding how to treat herself with the winnings.

The BC Coroners Service says it will hold an inquest into the deaths of two people shot just over five years ago during a confrontation with police in the tiny northern Interior village of Granisle, on the shore of Babine Lake, east of Smithers. 39 year old Jovan Williams and his 73 year old mother Shirley Williams were shot as RCMP responded to what they described as a ``neighbour dispute involving a handgun.'' The officer who fired the shots was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Independent Investigations Office with the IIO report finding Jovan Williams ran from a home, pointed a rifle and