The Liberal Party of Canada says it fundraised around $3.5 million during the first three months of the second year dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. A party spokesperson says the Liberal government is focused on fighting the virus, ``while other parties have pushed for an election.'' Because the Liberals hold a minority of seats in the House of Commons an election could happen anytime, and federal parties have started to prepare. The Liberals report more than 33,600 people donated around $3.5 million in the first quarter of 2021. It also says it set a new record for the number of grassroot

An alert nephew and the co-ordinated efforts of police departments in Vancouver and England have saved an elderly woman from falling victim to an expensive scam. Vancouver police Const. Tania Visintin says the nephew of a 96-year-old woman called police April 7 to report someone had convinced his aunt to send $20,000 in small bills to an address in England. The fraudsters had contacted the woman by phone and convinced her to hide the money in the pages of two books. Visintin says the books were already in the mail when the nephew called, but Vancouver's financial crime unit worked with law en

The prime minister says Ontario Premier Doug Ford has asked Ottawa to suspend the arrival of international students in a bid to slow the spread of COVID-19. Justin Trudeau says Ontario is the only province to make this request. Trudeau says he's not considering barring international students from entering Canada at this point, but he's willing to work ``more narrowly'' with Ontario. Ford has repeatedly blamed the COVID-19 pandemic's third wave on``porous borders.'' The premier has also called on the federal government to institute hotel quarantines at land borders. Trudeau says there are alre

To help keep communities safe and protect British Columbia's health-care system from COVID-19, the Province has authorized site-specific road checks on travel corridors between regions to help enforce the non-essential travel restrictions that were announced on April 23, 2021.On the advice of B.C.'s provincial health officer (PHO), Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, issued an Emergency Program Act order to prohibit non-essential travel between three regional zones in the province. The regional zones are:1. Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley (Fraser Health and Coasta

Two Montrealers are among the dead after a stampede during a religious festival in Israel early Friday. The Israeli consulate in Montreal identified one of the dead as Shraga Gestetner, a well-known singer, in a post on social media. Lionel Perez, the city's municipal opposition leader, wrote on Twitter that the other Montreal victim was Dovi Steinmetz. Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante also expressed her sympathy with the city's Jewish community and the friends and family of the victims in a post on Twitter. At least 45 people were killed and about 150 seriously injured during the celebration La

A former cabinet minister denies telling a gaming investigator that members of the B.C. Liberal government knew about illegal activities at casinos and were doing little to prevent the crimes. Kash Heed told a public inquiry into money laundering that he recalls a lunch in Victoria in 2009 with former gaming investigator Fred Pinnock, but his recollection of the meeting differs from Pinnock's. Pinnock testified last fall that he met with Heed in November 2009 shortly after he was appointed solicitor general to raise concerns about large amounts of suspicious cash that were likely linked to org

The farmers, under the aegis of 'Zameen Bachao Sangharsh Committee' staged protest march in Patiala on April 30 with their tractors to CM Captain Amarinder Singh's residence over the issue of the purchase of their land at lower prices. Police officials were also seen at the spot to handle the protesters.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says hospitals in hard-hit regions are feeling the strain from COVID-19 infections with a record number of people in intensive care. There are 853 more cases of COVID-19 today and one new death, bringing the total in the province to 1,577. Dr. Henry also announced that 508 people are in hospital, including 178 people in an ICU. She says the province is expecting increased vaccine shipments in the coming weeks, but BC is in a tug-of-war with COVID-19, and people need to hold the line by following public health orders. Fraser Health says it is no long

Police in Nanaimo say a woman has given up hope over recovering 27,000 dollars lost in a lottery scam where she was tricked into believing she'd won 750 million dollars. Police say the unnamed senior received several calls last month from the same man who told her she had won the grand prize and all she needed to do to claim the winnings was pay some taxes up front. Over the next three weeks she was told to send cash to various addresses along with prepaid gift cards totaling more than 27,000 dollars. Police say when the money didn't show up, she spoke with a relative who convinced her she'd