The British Columbia government is expected to reveal how it plans to stimulate an economic rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic. Premier John Horgan and Finance Minister Carole James are scheduled to release details today of the $1.5-billion economic recovery plan.Last week, James announced the province's most recent financial numbers from April to June project an economic decline of 6.7 per cent for this year.She said the budget is forecast to post a deficit of almost $13 billion for the 2020-21 fiscal year.The Opposition Liberals have accused the NDP government of being too slow in respondin

Families with school-age children in British Columbia will soon be able to go to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control website for information about COVID-19 outbreaks and exposure events at schools. A joint statement from provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix says the site already links to notifications from Fraser Health and other health authorities will follow. Dr. Elizabeth Brodkin, Fraser Health's interim chief medical health officer, says the new page that reports COVID-19 exposures in schools is part of an effort to correct inaccurate details on social

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is making clear he doesn't want to be on the campaign trail this fall. At the same time, Trudeau says holding an election campaign, if one was forced on Canadians, would not be an irresponsible act. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is warning Canadians that we aren't immune as countries in Europe and elsewhere see a steady rise in new COVID-19 infections. Trudeau says we've come too far to give up now. He is urging Canadians to follow public health guidelines and stay vigilant. Trudeau is wrapping up a two-day cabinet retreat today. Cabinet meetings included talk of

Statistics Canada says the consumer price index in August was up 0.1 per cent compared with a year ago.The annual inflation rate was unchanged from the year-over-year increase of 0.1 per cent in July. The average economist estimate had been for a year-over-year increase of 0.4 per cent for August, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv. Gasoline prices remained down 11.1 per cent compared to August 2019, following a 14.9 per cent decline recorded in July.Excluding gasoline from the inflation calculations, the consumer price index rose by 0.6 per cent in August. Prices, though, wer

BC is reporting 97 new cases of COVID-19 and no additional deaths, leaving the death toll at 219. Heath officials say a new outbreak has been detected at the Opal retirement residence in Vancouver, meaning 11 long-term care or assisted-living facilities have ongoing outbreaks. Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Doctor Bonnie Henry say in a joint statement that the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 has ticked up to 63. There are 1,590 active cases in BC, while 3,000 people remain under active monitoring by public health workers after exposure to known cases.

International Trade Minister reserves the right to take action if necessaryis praising the Team Canada approach to fighting the tariff. Ng says Canada will no longer be announcing its own suite of retaliatory counter-measures but it reserves the right to take action if necessary. International Trade Minister Mary Ng says it's a good day for Canada's aluminum industry. And Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says things are back to where they should be. The comments come after the United States stepped back from a tariff dispute with Canada and is lifting a 10 per cent levy on aluminum. The

The United States is standing down in its tariff dispute with Canada and lifting a 10 per cent levy on aluminum imported from north of the border. The office of the U.S. Trade Representative says it will lift the tariffs retroactive to Sept. 1 because it expects Canadian exports to "normalize" over the remainder of the year. In a statement, the USTR says it will continue to monitor trade in aluminum and reimpose the tariff if levels spike unexpectedly. The sudden about-face comes just hours before the federal Liberal government was expected to announce a suite of countermeasures in retaliation

British Columbia has had 317 additional cases of COVID-19 and six more people have died since Friday. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says 1,595 cases are active in the province, including 58 people who are hospitalized. Nearly half of the active cases are people connected to long-term care and assisted-living facilities, including 471 residents and 320 staff. Dr. Henry says 5,446 people have recovered after testing positive for the illness and more than 3,000 people are being actively monitored for symptoms. The latest case numbers come as students head back to classrooms and smok

Environment Canada says air quality advisories posted across most of British Columbia since last week should spread east across Alberta due to wildfire smoke from the United States. Air quality statements have been issued for four regions of southwestern Alberta along the Rockies but the weather office says alerts will likely expand before smoke exits that province tonight. Relief will not come as quickly for B.C. residents, with the air quality index showing smoky conditions will improve only marginally by Tuesday. The index uses a scale of one to 10 to rank risk from stagnant or smoky air a