British Columbia's budget deficit is expected to be lower than forecast but the COVID-19 pandemic remains a risk to the economy. Finance Minister Selina Robinson says the province's financial statement for the first three months of the 2021-22 fiscal year projects a deficit of $4.8 billion, about half the $9.7 billion that was originally forecast in the budget. She says the lower deficit projection is the result of an improved job market along with higher revenues from natural resources and federal transfers. Robinson says B.C.'s economy is forecast to grow by four per cent, slightly higher t

The ongoing battle over blockades set up to prevent old-growth logging on Vancouver Island is heading back to BC Supreme Court this week. Several days of hearings are scheduled in Nanaimo as logging company Teal-Jones seeks to extend an injunction order against protesters in the Fairy Creek area. The injunction granted is set to expire later this month, four months after police enforcement began and more than a year after the blockades were first set up. The RCMP say officers have made at least 989 arrests since May, including 110 people who've been arrested more than once.

Police on Vancouver Island say BC's police watchdog has been called to investigate after an officer fatally shot an armed man yesterday morning. They say officers in Saanich responded to a report of a man who was armed, in crisis, making threats and who allegedly stole from a nearby liquor store. A statement from police in neighbouring Victoria says they engaged with the man for about an hour until an ``interaction'' occurred and an officer shot him. They say officers and paramedics gave first aid, but the man died at the scene, the Independent Investigations Office has been notified.

B.C. is reporting 820 new cases of COVID-19, including 11 epi-linked cases, for a total of 173,158 cases in the province.There are 5,850 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 165,027 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 281 individuals are in hospital and 135 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.In the past 24 hours, nine new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 1,856.The new deaths include:Vancouver Coastal Health: threeInterior Health: threeNorthern Health: twoIsland Health: one From Sept. 2-8, pe

Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation, has issued the following statement on the release of Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey for August 2021:"The Labour Force Survey for August shows that B.C. is making great strides in our economic recovery with another 14,400 jobs gained throughout the province – 13,600 of these jobs are among women. All job gains are full-time."B.C. has one of the lowest unemployment rates and a job recovery rate of 101.1%, leading Canada as the only province with employment above pre-pandemic levels for the third straight month."In areas

One of Afghanistan's first two female Olympians is urging Canada to help female athletes escape the country. Friba Rezayee who lives in Vancouver, says her phone lit up with messages from women pleading for help after Afghanistan fell to the Taliban last month. Rezayee is also the founder of Women Leaders of Tomorrow, an organization that supports Afghan women with athletic and educational opportunities. The federal government says it has received assurances from the Taliban that Afghan citizens with travel authorization from other countries will be allowed to leave the country, but it warns

An emergency room nurse in Kamloops recalls the emotional toll of a verbal attack she recently faced from a woman at a grocery store after another gruelling workday. Jaime Gallaher says she was still red-eyed from crying at work after anti-vaccination protests outside the ER when a woman swore at her, so she left her carton of milk and went home after breaking down in tears. Experts are raising concern over, moral injury, among health-care workers suddenly targeted after several provinces brought in vaccine passports. Roughly 5,000 people gathered a week earlier outside Vancouver General Hospi

The wildfire situation is continually evolving and the information below is current as of 7 p.m. (Pacific time) on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021.Fires:Wildfires currently burning in B.C.: 208Since April 1, 2021:1,585 wildfires868,619 hectares of area burnedActive fires by fire centre:Cariboo: 25Coastal: 13Kamloops: 57Northwest: 5Prince George: 52Southeast: 56Resources:Firefighters and other personnel currently fighting the fires: 1,418Out-of-province firefighters: 61Helicopters and planes supporting ground crews: 43Evacuations:Evacuation orders: 3 (-1)Evacuation alerts: 13 (-1) Properties:Number of

B.C. is reporting 774 new cases of COVID-19, including three epi-linked cases, for a total of 172,338 cases in the province.There are 5,594 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 164,470 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 262 individuals are in hospital and 130 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation. In the past 24 hours, five new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 1,847.The new deaths include:Fraser Health: threeNorthern Health: oneIsland Health: oneThere have been no new health-care facility outb