New Democrat Raj Chouhan is the new Speaker at the BC legislature. He was first elected as the member of the legislature for Burnaby-Edmonds in 2005 and previously served as deputy Speaker. Chouhan was acclaimed Speaker this morning. The office of the Speaker says he is the first person of South Asian heritage to be elected to the post in British Columbia or in any Canadian parliamentary jurisdiction. Premier John Horgan paid tribute to Chouhan's achievement, saying his election today to serve as the Speaker of the B-C legislature makes history.

Vancouver police say the body of a man was found on the athletic track at Strathcona Park on Sunday. The park is the site of a large homeless camp. Vancouver Constable Tania Visintin says they don't yet know the cause of death. She says investigators won't speculate on that if the death is suspicious.

Politicians get back to work today at the BC legislature with one main goal in mind after the NDP won a majority government. Premier John Horgan says this short session before Christmas will be used to start the process of getting out the COVID relief benefit of one-thousand dollars for eligible families and 500 dollars for individuals. The session will start with a throne speech with some members in the house while others attend virtually because of COVID-19 restrictions. Interim Liberal Leader Shirley Bond says she'd like to see an update on the province's finances after the government esti

Today's the day that provincewide COVID-19 restrictions are supposed to be lifted, but BC's top doctor has hinted there may be an extension of the controls. Dr. Bonnie Henry said last week that it was clear transmissions were not dropping as health officials had hoped. The daily case counts ranged from near 600 to over 800 last week, while the death toll didn't go below 11 each day. Dr. Henry even introduced more restrictions late last week on adult sports and indoor fitness classes.

Lawyers for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou are back in a Vancouver court today amid a swirl of speculation over a proposed plea agreement with the United States. A Wall Street Journal report said US officials were discussing an agreement that would see Meng admit some guilt over allegations she violated American sanctions against Iran, charges she's always denied. Today's BC Supreme Court hearing was scheduled to gather evidence based on her lawyer's claims of an abuse of process by police and Canada Border Services agents when she was arrested two years ago. Meng's arrest at the Vancouver air

British Columbia's top doctor and the health minister are urging the public to slow the spread of COVID-19 this weekend by limiting any festive gatherings to immediate households. Dr. Bonnie Henry and Adrian Dix say 711 new infections have been recorded in the province and 11 more people have died, for a total of 492 fatalities. British Columbia is recording 711 new cases, bringing the total number of active cases to 9,050. They say in a joint statement that B.C. is continuing to see a significant surge in community transmission so all public health orders must be followed as more than 36,000

The South Asian Business Association firmly stands with farmers from Punjab and across India in their demands for a peaceful, faithful, and expeditious resolution to the concerns they have raised.SABA is concerned by the troubling images of peaceful protesters being denied their democratic rights with the use of water cannons, tear gas, and other aggressive methods.India is the model of the power that peaceful protests can have, SABA strongly believes that the heavy-handed methods should be put aside for constructive dialogue that respects the needs of farmers. Over the coming weeks, SABA will

The RCMP say the B.C. Prosecution Service has approved 13 charges against a former social worker alleged to have stolen money from foster children in his care. The Mounties say in a news release they began an investigation nearly three years ago into the alleged fraudulent activity of Robert Riley Saunders. They say Saunders was employed with the Ministry of Children and Family Development from 1996 to 2018. Supt. Kara Triance of the RCMP's detachment in Kelowna says the police began their investigation in March 2018. Prosecutors have approved 13 charges against Saunders including 10 counts o

CN Rail says it's investigating why one of its trains derailed overnight Wednesday in the Fraser Canyon. The company says in a statement that seven empty grain cars went off the tracks near North Bend, across the Fraser River from Boston Bar. The statement says there is no danger to public safety and there were no leaks, fires or dangerous goods spilled. It says no one was hurt, no train cars went into the river and rail operations returned to normal yesterday.