B.C. has reported its first case of avian flu in 2025, confirmed in the Fraser Valley. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced that bird flu was detected at a commercial facility in Abbotsford yesterday. The number of infected chickens in the province has now surpassed 8.5 million, according to the latest figures on the CFIA website. The federal agency also emphasized that the virus poses no food safety risk, as it does not spread to humans through properly cooked poultry and eggs.

A new home-flipping tax in British Columbia will go into effect on January 1, 2025. Under the new rules, profits from homes sold within two years will be taxed. If a person buys and sells a new home within one year, they will be required to pay a 20% tax on their profits. If the home is sold after 18 months, the tax will be reduced to 10%. Homes sold after two years will be exempt from the home-flipping tax. Exemption will also be made in cases of divorce, job loss, or changes in family circumstances. The provincial government introduced this measure to crack down on speculators who purchase

A letter sent to the editor of The New England Journal of Medicine signed by Canadian health officials says the British Columbia teenager who tested positive for avian flu has been taken off of supplemental oxygen and is no longer infectious. The letter, which was published Tuesday and provides a summary and timeline of the case, was signed by doctors from the BC Centre for Disease Control, BC Children’s Hospital, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and B.C.'s agriculture ministry. It says the patient was a 13-year-old girl who went to a B.C. emergency room on Nov. 4 with a fever and conjunc

A man has been charged with allegedly assaulting a nurse at a Metro Vancouver hospital in an incident police say left her seriously injured last month. Police in Port Moody say a charge of assault causing bodily harm has been approved against a 41-year-old man with no fixed address. He is scheduled to appear in court in Port Coquitlam on Feb. 10. Investigators say the man was arrested after officers responded to a call at Eagle Ridge Hospital on Nov. 20 about a discharged patient who allegedly attacked a female nurse. Police say they arrested the man immediately after the alleged attack. The s

Online predators are becoming increasingly resourceful in trolling media platforms where children gravitate, prompting an explosion in police case loads, said an officer who works for the RCMP Integrated Child Exploitation Unit in British Columbia. Data show the problem spiked during COVID-19 when children began spending more time online but rates did not wane as police anticipated after lockdowns ended. In B.C., they soared, almost quadrupling from 2021 to 2023. Const. Solana Pare is now warning exploitation of children is likely here to stay, as a technological race between police and preda

Calgary police say a nine-year-old girl died after a multi-vehicle collision that happened on the morning of Boxing Day. Police responded to reports of a pharmacy robbery at PharmasaveMillrise at around 9 a.m., where the suspect allegedly assaulted a pharmacist and ran away in a stolen car. The driver was chased by police but because of the driver's unsafe driving behaviour and traffic, officers stopped the pursuit and instead used helicopter air watch. The suspect continued to drive recklessly when he ran through a red light at the intersection and hit multiple vehicles, criticall

Mounties in British Columbia have approved six impaired driving charges against a 29-year-old man over a crash that killed an elderly Good Samaritan near Qualicum Beach earlier this year. The 80-year-old man from Red Deer, Alta., had stopped to help a woman whose minivan hit a power pole on Highway 19A around 2:30 a.m. on March 2. The 36-year-old woman driver was seriously injured and the passerby killed when a third vehicle, driven by a man from Coombs, B.C., crashed into them. BC Highway Patrol says its investigation has led to six charges including dangerous driving causing death and operat

A pet food company in Oregon sent out a voluntary recall after a house cat died from eating its products, which tested positive for bird flu, and the company says the same contaminated batch was sold in British Columbia. Northwest Naturals in Portland, Oregon, says in a statement that it is recalling one batch of its two-pound Feline Turkey Recipe raw frozen pet food after it tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza virus. The company says the same product was sold in several states including California, Colorado, Washington and B.C. in Canada. The Oregon Department of Agriculture

BC Premier David Eby described this year’s election as the most challenging of his political career in an interview at the end of the year. He said it was the election from which he learned the most throughout his entire career. Eby noted that the message from voters was clear that they are giving them another chance, but they need to do a better job for the community. He also acknowledged that his party had failed to establish stronger connections in rural areas. Eby promised to address this issue moving forward. At the same time, he expressed his commitment to public safety. He referred t