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

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.

Over a four-day period, B.C. is reporting 2,090 new cases of COVID-19, including four epi-linked cases, for a total of 194,581 cases in the province. Oct. 8-9: 603 new casesOct. 9-10: 634 new casesOct. 10-11: 468 new casesOct. 11-12: 385 new casesThere are 5,183 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 186,955 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 357 individuals are in hospital and 153 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation. In the past 96 hours, 28 new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 2,029.The new

BC health officials say they're considering implementing more COVID-19 restrictions in the Northern Health Region amid a surge in new cases. Dr. Bonnie Henry says public health officials are working with the Northern Health authority to determine what added measures are needed to break the chains of transmission across many communities. Dr. Henry says the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the north has left hospitals in the region ``pushed to the limit.'' Health Minister Adrian Dix says 55 critically ill people in the north have been transferred to intensive care units in other parts of the provinc

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is expanding the COVID-19 mask mandate to include children aged five and older. Dr. Henry has been under pressure from some teachers and parents to include all children instead of just those aged 12 and up in the order to wear masks in public spaces. She also announced today that BC is planning to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to about 340-thousand children aged 5 to 11 as early as November, pending approval by Health Canada. Dr. Henry says the start of the campaign will be prioritized in the northern region, where COVID-19 transmission rates are hig

Vancouver Police are investigating a serious hit-and-run that sent one man to hospital with life-threatening injuries, and are asking witnesses to come forward. The victim, 30, was crossing East 41st Avenue at Fraser Street at 6:25 a.m. this morning when he was struck by a vehicle that was travelling west, causing serious head injuries. The driver fled west without stopping."Although it’s early in the investigation, we believe the suspect’s vehicle is either a black pick-up truck or black SUV," says Constable Tania Visintin. "We need anyone with information or dash cam footage to call poli