BC Hydro crews worked through the night to restore power to thousands of customers in southern British Columbia following a wicked snow and wind storm that arrived on the first day of winter.Hydro was reporting as many as 90,000 customers were in the dark at the peak of the storm but crews had whittled that back to about 38,000 across Vancouver Island and the inner south coast by early Tuesday.Highway crews cleared most major routes into the Interior that were closed Monday as at least half a metre of snow blanketed the Coquihalla causing dozens of spinouts and accidents.The B.C. government's

British Columbia's top doctor says every regional health authority has received doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Bonnie Henry says vaccine deliveries last week were concentrated in the Lower Mainland, where case counts and transmission rates are highest. But she says B.C.'s immunization campaign is set to roll out on Vancouver Island, and in the Northern and Interior health regions, which have also seen rising cases. The vaccine must be stored at ultra-low temperatures and Henry says so far, Pfizer requires doses to be administered at points of arrival, so people receiving i

In the midst of dual public health emergencies, the BC Coroners Service continues to urge extreme caution due to the increasingly toxic illicit drug supply in British Columbia. The BC Coroners Service reports 153 suspected drug toxicity deaths in November 2020, an 89% increase over November 2019 (81), and a 7% decrease over the number of deaths in October 2020 (164). The latest data is equal to five people per day losing theirlives to illicit drug overdoses."Tragically, as we reach the end of 2020, our province is facing a record-breaking year for lives lost due to a toxic illicit drug supply,

The Trudeau government is restricting travel from the U.K. in an effort to prevent a new strain of the virus that causes COVID-19 from making it to Canada.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the move comes into effect at 12:01 a.m. and will last for 72 hours.The move doesn't apply to cargo flights or stops where passengers do not disembark, according to a Notice to Airmen. It comes after a closed-door meeting with members of the Incident Response Team.The ministers of health, transport, foreign affairs, intergovernmental affairs and public safety were all in attendance.Several European countri

There were 624 new cases of COVID-19 reported Friday and 11 additional deaths, for a total of 724 fatalities. A joint statement from provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix on Friday says 2,592 doses of vaccine have been given so far. Tickets worth $18,400 issued to representatives from three places of worship in Fraser Valley The RCMP say they have served tickets totalling $18,400 to representatives from three places of worship in British Columbia's Fraser Valley for violating public health orders. The Mounties say in a news release the churches were hosti

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he’s frustrated China doesn't understand the rule of law and continues to imprison Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. Trudeau says China is only hurting itself by using such coercive diplomacy by arbitrarily detaining the pair. Kovrig and Spavor were arrested December 10th, 2018 and eventually charged with violating China's national security, which Canada and its allies have reject as trumped-up charges. They say China is retaliating for the arrest by Canada of a Chinese high-tech executive on an American extradition request. Huawei's Meng Wanzhou is s

A high volume of online applications for the British Columbia COVID-19 recovery benefit has slowed the process. Some users have reported getting an error on the site when making their application for the benefit of up to $1,000. A Finance Ministry spokeswoman says there were about 2,500 applications in the first few minutes of the site opening on Friday, but the page hasn't crashed and those applying are being urged to be patient. Finance Minister Selina Robinson has asked the public to be respectful to staff at a Service BC call centre as they help people apply for the benefit, which was pro

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne is shooting back at China's criticism of efforts to build international support for freeing two detained Canadians. Champagne tells The Canadian Press he'll take no lessons from China when it comes to defending Canadian interests and standing up for Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. He has led Canadian efforts to create a coalition of dozens of countries pushing China to release the two men, whom they say are being arbitrarily and unjustly imprisoned. Kovrig and Spavor were arrested two years ago this month and now face what Canada and its

British Columbia's top doctor is advising people with chronic health conditions to contact their family doctor to determine if they should get vaccinated for COVID-19. Dr. Bonnie Henry says the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was tested primarily on healthy people of varying ages and it's not known if it will work or is safe for those with chronic liver or kidney diseases, for example. Clinical trials of the Moderna vaccine, which is expected to be the next one to be approved in Canada, also excluded people who are immunocompromised. Dr. Henry says 1,215 health-care workers have been vaccinated so fa