British Columbia's Coroners Service says there's been a sharp increase in deaths among people experiencing homelessness. A statement from the coroners service says the deaths of 342 people experiencing homelessness were reported last year, an increase of almost 140 over the past two years. The coroners service says there were 1,464 deaths of people who were homeless in B.C. in the period between 2015 and 2022, averaging about 183 deaths per year. Most of those deaths were in Vancouver, Victoria and Surrey, BC, and 82 per cent of them were male. However, the coroners service says the number of

The World Health Organization has advocated a ban on all flavored vapes. The World Health Organization has urged governments to ban e-cigarettes on the same lines as tobacco.The United Nations agency said that the time has come to take necessary steps to control them. The World Health Organization cited the study as saying that there is little evidence that vapes have released cigarette butts. The agency said flavored vapes pose a risk to non-smokers, particularly as they may increase nicotine addiction among children and youth. According to the agency, children aged 13 to 15 are using it more

The Canadian Real Estate Association says home sales fell in November as the average price of a home sold inched highercompared with a year ago. The association says November home sales fell 0.9 per cent compared with the same month last year. On a seasonally adjusted basis, November home sales were also down 0.9 per cent compared with October this year. The number of newly listed homes fell 1.8 per cent on a month-over-month basis in November. CREA says with new listings down more than sales in November, the national sales-to-new listings ratio rose for the first time since April to come in

Truck driver who caused deadly Broncos crash loses latest bid to stay in Canada A judge has dismissed applications from the truck driver who caused the deadly Humboldt Broncos bus crash in Saskatchewan and was fighting deportation back to India. Jaskirat Singh Sidhu was sentenced to eight years for causing the 2018 crash that killed 16 people and injured 13 others. He was granted parole earlier this year, but the Canada Border Services Agency had recommended he be deported Sidhu's lawyer argued before the Federal Court in September that border services officials didn't consider Sidhu's previou

The Israeli military has claimed to have arrested dozens of Hamas fighters at a hospital in northern Gaza. Army has declared more than 70 people arrested from Kamal Advan Hospital as terrorists and seized dozens of weapons from the hospital. Israel says Hamas fighters at the hospital surrendered with their weapons. Meanwhile, the Hamas-run Health Ministry alleged that the Israeli army tried to stop the care of 10 patients, resulting in two deaths.Meanwhile, internet and phone services have been disrupted in Gaza. Hamas' health ministry says more than 18,700 of its people have been killed in Ga

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and his wife, Gurkiran Kaur Sidhu, are the proud parents of their second baby girl. Party officials say the baby is healthy and doing well, as is her mother. The baby was born Monday, the same day the Liberal government announced plans for a national dental-care program championed by the NDP. Singh's party has agreed to support the minority Liberals on key votes in Parliament in exchange for government actions on NDP priorities. To date, those priorities have also included one-time rental supplements for low-income tenants and a temporary doubling of the GST rebate. Th

The Quebec government is hiking tuition to $12,000 a year and imposing a French-language requirement for out-of-province students at McGill and Concordia universities. Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry announced the new measures today, saying the government wants Canadian and foreign graduates to better integrate in Quebec society. Quebec had initially proposed to raise tuition for out-of-province students to around $17,000 from $8,992, but today's announcement reduces that amount. However, the government has introduced a new requirement that 80 per cent of out-of-province students in

A House of Commons committee says Greg Fergus should stay in his job as Speaker, but he should apologize again and reimburse Parliament for using its resources to make a video that was shown at a partisan event. In a report released this morning, the procedure and House affairs committee also says there should be clear guidelines for future Speakers about the impartiality of their role. The Conservatives and Bloc Québécois have called for Fergus to resign over a video in tribute to the outgoing interim leader of the Ontario Liberals, and renewed those calls today. Fergus shot the video in h

Police are seeking an Interpol Red Notice on a Surrey truck driver sentenced to serve 15 years in jail for cocaine smuggling who escaped to India last year. BC RCMP say a Canada-wide warrant has also been issued for Raj Kumar Mehmi, who was sentenced in absentia in November for smuggling 80 kilograms of cocaine across the Pacific Highway crossing from the US. Police say Mehmi was originally arrested by police in 2017 after border agents found 80 bricks of cocaine on a truck owned by the Surrey man. Mehmi was found guilty of trafficking charges in September 2022 but fled to India that Octob