British Columbia is providing a one-million-dollar grant to expand access to resources aimed at preventing overdose deaths in the construction industry. The province says the program, dubbed the Tailgate Toolkit, was developed on Vancouver Island last year in partnership with people in the industry who have experience with illicit drug use. Sheila Malcolmson, the minister of mental health and addictions, says it's now set to be expanded across the province. She says it aims to reduce the stigma that can deter people from asking for help and that drives them to hide their substance use and con

A review of more than 3,000 new applications for membership in the British Columbia Liberal Party is underway as the Feb. 5 leadership vote approaches. A statement from co-chairs Rozanne Helm and Colin Hansen of the party's election organizing committee says 3,025 memberships are undergoing confirmation reviews before those people will be allowed to vote in the leadership contest. The party has about 43,000 members. A spokesman for leadership candidate Val Litwin says the campaign has sent a letter raising concerns about memberships. The Liberals are replacing former leader Andrew Wilkinson,

Only days before Canadian truck drivers were required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 to get into the country or face quarantine, the federal government is backing away from the vaccine mandate. The new rule will still take effect for American truckers starting this weekend, with drivers being turned away at the border unless they've been inoculated. But a spokesperson for the Canada Border Services Agency told The Canadian Press late Wednesday that unvaccinated Canadian truck drivers, or those who have had only one dose, will not have to quarantine. The head of the Canadian Trucking Allia

At least five people have died and more than 45 were injured when a train derailed in India's West Bengal state. Twelve coaches of the train went off the rails and three capsized. Images from the scene show passengers stuck in twisted metal and debris as rescuers rushed to pull them out. Railway authorities have ordered an investigation into the cause of the derailment. Accidents are common on India's massive but aging railway network. Safety standards have been an ongoing concern on the state-run system, which operates 9,000 passenger trains and carries about 23 million passengers every day.

BC's largest lab service provider is the latest to face staffing shortages as a result of the rapidly spreading Omicron variant of COVID-19. LifeLabs says it has been forced to close 11 of its 129 locations, and five will operate with reduced hours. It says employees from the closed sites will be redeployed to nearby locations. The company says it will be monitoring the situation and will provide an update in two weeks. BC is reporting two-thousand-859 new cases of COVID-19 and six new deaths for a total of two-thousand-455. It says 500 people are currently in hospital and 102 of those are in

B.C. is reporting 2,859 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 288,939 cases in the province.Note: The numbers of total and new cases are provisional due to a delayed data refresh and will be verified once confirmed.There are currently 36,641 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 246,693 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 500 individuals are currently in hospital and 102 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.The new/active cases include:982 new cases in Fraser HealthTotal active cases: 16,524697 new cases in Vanc

The City of Merritt says 266 properties remain under an evacuation order out of the 808 that were impacted by widespread flooding in November. Emergency Operations Centre information officer Jean Strong says there are also people who can't return home even though they're no longer under an evacuation order because their properties need repairs. Strong says a housing-needs assessment has identified two categories of affected residents, those who can rebuild and those who have been permanently displaced. She says she expects most people will be back home within six months but in the interim, th

Two brothers, who were separated during the India-Pakistan Partition in 1947 were reunited after 74 years in Kartarpur, local media reported on Wednesday. A video capturing the visibly emotional reunion of the siblings on Tuesday has been widely circulated on social media.The News International reported that Siddique, a resident of Pakistan's Faisalabad, met with elder brother Habib who arrived at Kartarpur from the Phullanwal area of Punjab in India via the Kartarpur Corridor that connects Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan to the border with India.Siqqique was an infant during the time of the

Jobs and Economic Recovery Minister Ravi Kahlon says the latest BC program aimed at helping businesses affected by BC's pandemic restrictions is up and running. Kahlon says the COVID-19 Closure Relief Grant has been fast-tracked and is ready to accept applications from businesses ordered to temporarily close due to newly announced public-health measures. Businesses that were ordered to fully close as of December 22nd, including certain bars, nightclubs and lounges, gyms, fitness and adult dance centres as well as some event venues, can apply for relief grants of one-thousand to ten-thousand d