Job-protected leave has been written into British Columbia's Employment Standards Act to give workers time off to get their COVID-19 vaccinations. Labour Minister Harry Bains says the safeguard will ensure that no one will lose their job if they need time away to get vaccinated. The changes allow part-time and full-time workers to take as much time as needed to travel and receive the vaccine or to take a dependent family member to get their shot, though no specific time has been set out. Bains says he know that most businesses understand the importance of having their employees vaccinated to

An inspection of a long-term care home that was the site of BC's deadliest COVID-19 outbreak found staffing levels were low and cleaning was inadequate as the virus spread throughout the facility. The Vancouver Coastal Health inspection report obtained through a freedom of information request says these two issues were corrected while the outbreak was still underway in Little Mountain Place. Bernadette Cheung filed a complaint that prompted the report after her grandmother died of COVID-19 at the Vancouver home along with 40 other residents. Cheung says the report doesn't provide details, suc

Beginning one month today, electric car drivers will have to pay to power-up their vehicles at fast-charge stations. BC Hydro gave the thumbs up to start applying user fees after getting the OK from the BC Utilities Commission to charge anywhere from 12 to 27 cents per minute. But John Stonier of the Vancouver Electric Vehicle Association worries the rates are too low. He says that in order to encourage hotels, restaurants and service centres along highways to install charging stations, those businesses need to get their money back through charging.

A decision by the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal says anyone denied service for refusing to wear a mask must be ready to prove they have a disability if they intend to file a complaint. The warning is contained in a screening decision published Wednesday as tribunal member Steven Adamson addresses what he describes as a large volume of complaints alleging discrimination related to mask requirements. Screening decisions are among the first steps in a tribunal investigation and are rarely released, but Adamson says he's publishing his findings because there have been many similar compla

British Columbia is introducing new training requirements for commercial truck drivers that the government says will make highways safer.B.C. is the latest province to require mandatory entry-level training (MELT) for commercial drivers, requiring 140 hours of training.It says in a news release the mandatory entry-level training for new Class-1 commercial licence applicants exceeds national requirements.The training for applicants will be required before road tests, beginning October 18th and list of approved training providers will be released by mid-June, the province announced.Lawrence and

British Columbia has set a new record for daily COVID-19 cases and breached the 100,000 mark for total infections both on the same day. Health officials say in a statement that one thousand and 13 cases were confirmed, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 100,048. There are 7,405 active cases, while 304 of those are in hospital, including 80 in intensive care. Three more people have died, bringing the death toll to 1,458. Officials say a delay in sequencing analysis means new cases involving variants of concern identified in the last 24 hours are unavailable. More than 756,000 vacci

A lawyer for Meng Wanzhou says payments between a Huawei subsidiary and an HSBC client that were cleared in American dollars do not give the United States jurisdiction to charge the executive. American authorities are seeking the extradition of the Huawei chief financial officer on fraud charges linked to a 2013 meeting in which they allege she lied to the bank about a subsidiary of her company. The subsidiary, Skycom, was doing business in Iran, which authorities allege put HSBC at risk of violating American sanctions, and they also point to payments that were cleared through the United Stat

British Columbia's provincial health officer and Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg are receiving honorary degrees from the University of British Columbia. Dr. Bonnie Henry and Thunberg are among 18 people being honoured this spring as part of a tradition that recognizes individuals for their substantial contributions to society. UBC president Santa Ono says Henry has served as a leading voice on public health during the pandemic while 18-year-old Thunberg has been an inspiration on climate change issues. Henry has participated in international initiatives such as a polio eradicatio

A daycare operator and entrepreneur is the second person to join the race for the leadership of British Columbia's Liberal party. Vancouver resident Gavin Dew says he will "invite and inspire" younger and diverse voters in a bid to renew and modernize the party. He is seeking the job alongside Ellis Ross, a former Haisla Nation chief councillor and elected member for Skeena. A statement announcing Dew's candidacy says the father of two will focus his campaign on supporting and empowering people and families to ensure a better life for future B.C. generations. Dew is described as a "longtime B