One of British Columbia's first measures to combat the housing crisis is being expanded to include 13 more communities. Finance Minister Katrine Conroy says the New Democrat government's speculation and vacancy tax will now apply to 59 B.C. cities and towns. Vernon, Penticton, Courtenay and Kamloops are among the 13 communities that have been added, and starting in 2025 residential property owners will have to declare how they used the home in 2024. The levy aims to get more people into empty homes and has collected $313 million since it was first introduced in 2018. Conroy says independent d

The FBI says a deadly car crash and explosion at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing between New York state and Ontario shows no sign of terrorist involvement and there were no explosive materials at the scene, and the case has been turned over to the Niagara Falls Police Department as a traffic investigation.Details of what led to the crash remain scarce, with security camera video released by the U.S. government showing the car speeding through an intersection, hitting a low median and flying through the air into a line of vehicle checkpoint booths on the American side of the crossing.Federal

Authorities say a vehicle has exploded at a checkpoint on the American side of a US-Canada bridge in Niagara Falls. Four border crossings in the area are closed. The FBI's field office in Buffalo is investigating the explosion on the Rainbow Bridge. Photos and video taken by news organizations and posted on social media shows a security booth that had been singed by flames.

A new poll suggests most Canadians support the federal government's decision to pause the carbon price on home heating oil for three years. The Liberals announced the move in October, saying it was a way to give people who use heating oil time to switch over to electric heat pumps. Polling firm Leger surveyed more than 1500 Canadians online, asking a range of questions about the carbon price. 63 percent of respondents say they support the move and it's most popular in Atlantic Canada, where it will have the biggest impact. About one-third of homes in the Atlantic region use heating oil. 7

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem warns fighting inflation half-heartedly and living with its consequences would be a huge mistake. The governor is delivering a speech to the Saint John Region Chamber of Commerce today, one day after the release of new inflation numbers that show Canada’s inflation rate fell to 3.1 per cent in October. According to his prepared remarks, Macklem contrasts today’s inflation fight with inflation in the 1970s, highlighting similarities and differences between those two periods of time. Macklem says inflation in the 1970s was also set off by global events, b

There is hope more Canadians will soon be able to leave the Gaza Strip, after Qatar announced a truce-for-hostages deal between Israel and Hamas that would bring a four-day halt in fighting in the devastating six-week war. Qatar's Foreign Ministry which had led weeks of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas said it would announce within a day when the clock will start ticking on the truce, during which 50 hostages will be released in stages in exchange for what Hamas said would be 150 Palestinians prisoners held by Israel. The Israeli government said it would extend the lull by an ad

Poultry farmers in British Columbia's Fraser Valley are reporting ``extremely high'' levels of stress as the latest avian flu outbreak puts millions of commercial birds at risk. Amanda Brittain with the BC Poultry Association says farmers are taking extra precautions, including disinfecting any vehicles travelling to and from their properties and wearing personal protective gear. She says farmers are isolating themselves from each other to avoid spreading the virus and resorting to online platforms to discuss how to handle the outbreak. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says there have bee

Immigration Minister Marc Miller says he's happy to hear that Canadians can once again get electronic tourist visas to India after two months of diplomatic tensions. Word of the change came from an Indian foreign ministry official, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition they not be named because they were not authorized to talk to reporters. In September, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced there were "credible allegations" that India was involved in the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.The 45-year-old was shot by masked gunmen outside a Surrey, B.C., gurdwara in

India restored electronic visa services for Canadian nationals, an Indian foreign ministry official said Wednesday, two months after Canada alleged the South Asian nation was involved in the assassination of a Sikh separatist in Canada. The move could ease tensions between the two countries that swapped accusations and expelled each other's diplomats with India introducing a visa ban on Canadian nationals. A diplomatic spat erupted between the two countries after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in September that there were "credible allegations" of Indian involvement in the killing