Vancouver city council has unanimously approved an emergency fund of up to $30 million to help hundreds of homeless residents.The money will be used to buy or lease vacant hotels, apartments and single-room occupancy buildings and to provide other services to support as many as 750 people who lack safe shelter.Many of the potential sites will need renovation, so council also approved plans for the immediate use of a city-owned motel and a hostel on Vancouver's west side.It's expected that residents of an unsanctioned encampment in Strathcona Park will begin moving to those sites soon.The deci

British Columbia's provincial health officer is urging businesses to ensure they are in compliance with health and safety standards to protect employees from COVID-19. Dr. Bonnie Henry says public health teams would provide guidance if a worker contracts the illness but it's up to businesses to make it easy for anyone who is unwell to stay away. Dr. Henry says employees should be screened daily, tracked for where they're working and who they're with, and meet virtually as much as possible. She says businesses should contact WorkSafeBC with any concerns about what is expected of them and get g

One man has suffered non-life-threatening gunshot wounds and a second man is injured after an attempted arrest in Langley. The Independent Investigations Office investigates all matters of officer-related injury or death and confirms it has been called. A statement from Delta police says its officers had tracked the men to Langley as part of a Delta-related case and the injuries occurred last night as the arrest was underway, but it doesn't say how the second man was hurt. The IIO is appealing for any witnesses to the arrest while Delta police say the criminal case against the men has been ta

Officers with B.C.'s police watchdog are trying to determine if police actions played a part in an early morning shooting that left a man seriously hurt. A statement issued by the RCMP says the Independent Investigations Office was called after a man turned a gun on himself just as Mounties arrived at a call of a possible robbery. The police statement says Surrey Mounties were responding to a report of a man with a knife allegedly trying to rob people, but the man shot at police as the first cruiser arrived and then shot and seriously wounded himself. The officer was not hurt but RCMP say the

Police are investigating an attack by a man armed with a pellet gun in the Metro Vancouver city of Port Moody. Police say in a news release that officers learned the attack followed a minor dispute on the street Wednesday between a 22 year old man and a male suspect that he knows. The suspect followed the victim to his home, where police say he was shot several times in the back with a pellet gun before he could make it safely inside. He was taken to hospital by ambulance for treatment because the pellets had penetrated his skin. Police say the man is expected to make a full recovery. The rel

British Columbia's Liberal and NDP leaders squeezed in campaign promises of small business tax breaks and transit expansion before they square off at a board of trade event later today. Speaking in Langley, NDP Leader John Horgan says his party will complete the SkyTrain expansion to Langley during a campaign stop there. He says he would make construction of the $3.1-billion Surrey-Langley SkyTrain a provincial capital project, ensuring it moves forward quickly and project funding is secured with the federal government. Responding to BC NDP's announcement Surrey's MayorDoug McCallum states, "

A BC Liberal government will immediately eliminate the 2% small business income tax in a move to give more help to businesses, workers, and families at a time when it is needed most, promised BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson today. "Small businesses represent the best of British Columbia and are the backbone of our economy. They need our support now more than ever, which is why a BC Liberal government will immediately eliminate the small business tax," said BC Liberal Andrew Wilkinson. Wilkinson was in Delta Thursday morning for his election campaign. The BC Liberals have also committed to d

BC Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau has released a plan to help tourism operators and small businesses battered by the COVID-19 pandemic get through the winter. Furstenau says if the Greens win the election later this month, the targeted plan will get help more quickly where it's really needed. It includes a 300-million dollar rent subsidy program that would cover 25 per cent of rental costs for qualifying small businesses. Furstenau is also promising to retool the provincial grant program to focus on supporting small tourism operators and to ensure grant money can start to flow immediately.

Residents of a Vancouver neighbourhood want the city to shut down a homeless encampment at a park where people have been living in about 400 tents since the summer. Kelsey Mulyk says families in Strathcona have lost use of the park in June. Data from police show calls to the area more than tripled between June and September compared with the same period last year. Mayor Kennedy Stewart has called a special council meeting for tomorrow night on the city's homelessness problem. He wants councillors to approve his 30-million-dollar plan to buy or lease hotels and vacant commercial buildings to h