The British Columbia government is asking residents to provide input on proposed anti-racism legislation as members of marginalized communities say the collection of data will help groups flourish. Rachna Singh, the parliamentary secretary for anti-racism initiatives, says the public feedback will help better identify systemic racism in existing government programs. B.C. residents can share their thoughts through an online government portal until Nov. 30. Singh says systemic racism has led to a mistrust in government programs by marginalized groups. Dr. June Francis, an assistant professor at

The province has released details of its plan to trap and kill dozens of coyotes in Stanley Park over the next two weeks, and the Forest Ministry confirms the cull is underway. It says one coyote was euthanized on Tuesday night and modified foothold traps which minimize the chance of any pain are being used to capture and hold the animals until a provincial wildlife officer arrives to deal with them. The ministry says relocation is not an option, the coyotes are food-conditioned and aggressive, and the stomach contents of each animal will be examined to determine its diet, while all the coyot

Victoria police say they arrested a man last week who they believe has connections to Lower Mainland organized crime groups, and has been the subject of a drug-trafficking investigation since late July. Police say they stopped a vehicle in the 4700 block of Sooke Road, arrested the man and seized cash, drugs and the car. Police say they seized nearly 350 grams of cocaine, more than 260 grams of methamphetamine, nearly 100 grams of fentanyl and nearly 22,000 dollars in cash. They say the street value of these drugs is estimated to be more than 60,000 dollars. Victoria police on Twitter: VicPD'

The wildfire situation is continually evolving, and the information below is current as of 7 p.m. (Pacific time) on Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021.Fires:Wildfires burning in B.C.: 209Since April 1, 2021:1,584 wildfires868,604 hectares of area burnedActive fires by fire centre:Cariboo: 25Coastal: 13Kamloops: 59Northwest: 5Prince George: 52Southeast: 55Resources:*Updated weekly and current as of Sept. 2Firefighters and other personnel fighting the fires: 2,522Out-of-province firefighters: 434Helicopters and planes supporting ground crews: 63Evacuations:Evacuation orders: 4 (-1)Evacuation alerts: 14 (-

B.C. is reporting 814 new cases of COVID-19, including 16 epi-linked cases, for a total of 171,564 cases in the province.There are 5,550 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 163,793 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 261 individuals are in hospital and 129 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.In the past 24 hours, no new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 1,842.From Aug. 31-Sept. 6, people not fully vaccinated accounted for 77.8% of cases and from Aug. 24-Sept. 6, they accounted for 85.9% of ho

Any plans BC might have for booster shots of COVID-19 vaccine may be on hold until at least next year. The World Health Organization issued a call this morning for a ``moratorium'' on coronavirus booster shots until the end of December. Health Minister Adrian Dix has said B-C is prepared to offer boosters if health officials say they are required and recommended, but the province has not announced any plans for additional shots for those who are already fully vaccinated. Critics of COVID boosters question the ethics of giving more doses to the fully vaccinated when billions of people in devel

Nearly a dozen Vancouver Police officers are recovering after being injured or assaulted during the Labour Day weekend. "Policing is a tough job, and every day our front-line officers put their own safety at risk," says Sergeant Steve Addison. "Unfortunately, we continue to see officers getting hurt while trying to do their jobs and keep others out of harm’s way."Recent incidents of note:A 21-year-old woman was arrested near Knight Street and East 54th Avenue on Monday after a man was stabbed and robbed of his bike. The suspect spat in the face and hair of the arresting officer, who was read

A Metro Vancouver hospital is now the first in BC to use COVID-19 rapid tests on patients needing urgent, unscheduled surgery. Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster is using the 15 minute tests after a trial on more than one-thousand asymptomatic patients earlier this year detected two positive cases of the virus. A statement from Fraser Health says those patients went on to develop COVID-19 while recovering from surgery but were already being treated on a COVID ward protecting staff and other patients. The health authority says a follow up study also found the rapid tests increase the

B.C.’s maximum allowable rent increase amount for 2022 is being set at 1.5%, based on inflation.This increase cannot take effect prior to Jan. 1, 2022. If landlords choose to increase rent, they must provide a full three months’ notice to tenants using the correct notice of rent increase form.To support British Columbians, the Province enacted a rent freeze at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The freeze has since been extended to Dec. 31, 2021.The 2022 maximum allowable rent increase is significantly less than what it would have been prior to changes made by the Province in 2018 tha