The British Columbia government is pushing the minimum wage up to $15.65 an hour, which it says is the highest among the provinces. Labour Minister Harry Bains announced today that the hourly wage will jump by 45 cents starting June 1.The increase is the first to be tied to B.C.'s annual inflation rate, which was 2.8 per cent last year.Bains says the decision to use the provincial rate of inflation rather than the national rate was made to better reflect the needs of B.C. workers.He says the increase is expected to attract more workers to the province, while providing certainty of costs for bu

Plans are in the works in British Columbia for the province to accept thousands of Ukrainians fleeing as Russia's invasion pushes further into their country. Premier John Horgan says he has met with Ukrainian community leaders, refugee settlement agencies and faith groups to make preparations to meet the housing, health and transition needs of those fleeing the war.Horgan says he's not sure about the number of people from Ukraine who might come to B.C., but he told a news conference it could be tens of thousands.He says community leaders indicate housing will be the top issue and discussions a

January was another grim month in BC for deaths caused by toxic illicit drugs. Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe says 207 people died, an average of 6.7 every day, the third-highest monthly toll since 2016 when a public health emergency was declared due to rising toxicity of street drugs. Lapointe says there were also concerning increases in drug-related fatalities in small and medium-sized communities in January, with 11 deaths in Kamloops and 19 recorded across the Northern Health region. She says a safer drug supply is one key to solving the crisis, a recommendation contained in a report issued

BC is repealing its indoor mask order as well as capacity limits on faith gatherings tomorrow and will end its COVID-19 vaccine card system on April 8th. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says restrictions on visitors to long-term care facilities will also be lifted by March 18th as long as visitors are fully vaccinated and screened. Dr. Henry says high levels of vaccination and decreasing transmission of the coronavirus are allowing the province to switch to what she describes as an ``empowered self-management approach.'' She is calling on people to support those who wish to continu

RCMP say a couple in Nanaimo, B.C., who thought they had won more than $18 million and a luxury vehicle in a lottery were instead scammed out of almost $400,000. A statement from police says the couple, who are both in their late 80s, were contacted by phone early last year. They were told they had won $18.5 million and a Mercedes-Benz but would have to pay administrative fees in order to collect. Over the year, police say the couple received official-looking documents and weekly calls from the scammers directing them to pay taxes and other fees through bank drafts sent to various addresses.

A report examining thousands of deaths linked to illicit drugs in BC says the province must act over the next 90 days to develop a policy that delivers a safer supply of drugs. The death review panel report released by chief coroner Lisa Lapointe calls on the government, the BC Centre for Disease Control and the BC Centre on Substance Use to find a way toward a safer supply, with measurable action taken over the next 30, 60 and 90 days. The report looked at 6,000 deaths between August 2017 and July 2021 and found increasingly toxic drugs, coupled with a policy of prohibition, forces reliance

B.C. is reporting 254 new cases of COVID-19, including one epi-linked case, for a total of 351,141 cases in the province. There are 419 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 and 63 are in intensive care.In the past 24 hours, one new death (Fraser Health) has been reported, for an overall total of 2,915.There have been no new health-care facility outbreaks. The outbreaks at Three Links Manor (Interior Health), Amica on the Gorge and Nanaimo Seniors Village (Island Health) are over, for a total of 14 facilities with ongoing outbreaks. Since December 2020, the Province has administered 11,382,63

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced sanctions against 10 more Russian political and business leaders. At a news conference in London, he took a clear jab at President Vladimir Putin, pointing out the 10 were identified by Alexei Navalny, the jailed Russian opposition leader who is considered Putin's main rival. Trudeau, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte also acknowledged the need to increase defence spending in response to both Russia's actions and growing instability around the world. Trudeau wouldn't say if that would extend to Canada meeting N

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is heading to Europe to meet with key allies as Russia intensifies its attacks on Ukraine. Trudeau will spend next week in meetings in London, Berlin, Riga, Latvia and Warsaw as leaders present a united front against President Vladimir Putin. Trudeau says allies will also work on countering the disinformation and misinformation that is a particularly strong facet of the war in Ukraine. Earlier today, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly attended a NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels, which was followed by a G-7 foreign ministers' meeting. The ministers d