Counting is underway as Elections BC begins its final, official tally of votes following last month's provincial election. The independent agency says the count began this morning, is expected to take at least three days, and will include the more than 660,000 absentee and mail-in ballots submitted up to the October 24th vote. Not all of those ballots may be added to the final tally as officials say some might be excluded if problems are found once the certification envelopes are opened. Elections BC says the final count will be followed by a six-day window to permit judicial recounts of any

Another grim COVID-19 case count for BC as those who tested positive in the last day reaches 589 people. The provincial health officer has called a news conference for Saturday, an unusual weekend occurrence for Dr. Bonnie Henry. The statement gives no hint about what will be announced, although Henry did say earlier this week that they were consulting with regional health authorities on more specific restrictions as case counts rise. Today's figures shows 402 people in the Fraser Health regiontested positive and two more people have died. 104 people are hospitalized, 28 of whom are in inten

Premier John Horgan says the latest unemployment data shows his NDP government is focused on measures to help BC overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. Horgan says October's employment numbers show BC led the country by creating more than 33,000 jobs. At eight per cent, he says the province's unemployment rate is well below the national average of 8.9 per cent. Horgan says employment in BC now stands at 97.6 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in February.

The federal government says authorities have seized 380 shipments of counterfeit or unauthorized COVID-19-related goods along the BC border with the US. Officials says the seizures by the Canada Border Services Agency, Health Canada and the RCMP happened between March 20 and June 30, 2020. The seized goods include 4.5 million units of personal protective equipment, 48,000 COVID-19 test kits and 33,000 prescription pills and tablets. Border officials seized the mislabelled or improperly declared goods, referring others to Health Canada. The unauthorized or counterfeit goods were referred to th

Metro Vancouver Transit Police say a man wanted on a Canada-wide warrant escaped from custody on Wednesday night. Police say they checked a man in the area of Surrey Central Station on Wednesday, discovering that he was wanted for break-and-enter. During the attempt to arrest him, the suspect was able to break free and left behind a hockey bag containing a handgun and ammunition. Transit police are asking for the public's help in tracking down Sean Cuddeford, saying they anticipate recommending several more charges to add to the original charge of break-and-enter.

A former RCMP officer testified that a British Columbia cabinet minister told him in 2009 that the gaming minister knew about organized crime at casinos but was more focused on the revenue generated by gambling. Fred Pinnock who was formerly in charge of the now-defunct illegal gambling enforcement team, made the comments yesterday at the provincial inquiry into money laundering. Pinnock says he met with then solicitor general Kash Heed, who told him his concerns were legitimate but that gaming minister Rich Coleman was ``all about the money.'' The inquiry also heard that the arrests of sever

British Columbia reported a record of 425 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases to 16,560 across the province. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says a rise in cases was anticipated as people moved indoors during colder months. The request to temporarily end open houses follows an order last week by Henry to limit the size of gatherings in private residences to the immediate household plus their so-called "safe six." The bulk of the cases are in the Fraser Health region at 268 with another 126 in Vancouver Coastal health. The province now has 3,389 acti

New Westminster police say a 47 year old man has been charged with three counts of violating the Quarantine Act. A statement from police says Makhan Singh Parhar was arrested after the city resident refused to comply with a mandatory 14 day self-isolation period following a trip to the United States last month. Police say a violation ticket was first issued but when the man repeatedly left his home, he was arrested November 2nd. Parhar is being held in custody and his next court date is set for November 16th in New Westminster.

A Metro Vancouver Transit officer has been seriously hurt in a two-vehicle crash in Surrey. RCMP say the unnamed officer suffered undetermined injuries and a person from the second car was also taken to hospital. The crash occurred at about 11 last night in the Whalley neighbourhood. At least one of the vehicles careened through a section of fence along the back of a private home but there are few details about the cause of the crash and police say the investigation continues.