Canada's top military commander says his force is ``stretched thin'' following Defence Minister Anita Anand's announcement of the deployment of up to 150 Armed Forces members to help Ukrainian refugees in Poland. Defence chief General Wayne Eyre says many Canadian Armed Forces members are exhausted from supporting Canadians throughout the COVID-19 pandemic as well as different natural disasters and numerous deployments overseas. Eyre says Russian President Vladimir Putin is unpredictable, and Canada must be ready for anything.

After declining to consider a co-host role for the Soccer World Cup when it comes to Canada in 2026, BC is now back on the pitch. FIFA, international soccer's governing body, says Vancouver has joined Edmonton and Toronto as a ``candidate host city.'' BC backed out in 2018 citing unknown costs but, after a visit to BC Place, FIFA officials confirm Vancouver is onside again. BC's sport minister Melanie Mark says in a statement that hosting the event would be a ``once-in-a-generation opportunity'' for soccer fans and the province's tourism sector.

Vancouver police say they have found and arrested a man they described as a high-risk sex offender. Police said Kenneth Kirton had been missing since he failed to return to his Vancouver halfway house on Monday. A statement issued this morning says the 55 year old is in custody but it doesn't say where or when he was found. A Canada-wide warrant had been issued for Kirton, who was convicted of sexual assault in 1987 and is now serving a 10-year supervision order.

A case of avian flu has been confirmed on a poultry farm in the north Okanagan. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham says testing, surveillance and mapping of the outbreak area is being handled by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and it is also managing the disposal of any infected birds. An order from BC's deputy chief veterinarian requires all commercial poultry producers with more than 100 birds to move them indoors at least until May 13th to separate them from wild birds. The H-5-N-1 strain of avian flu was detected in wild birds around Metro Vancouver earlier this year, and several provi

A 29-year-old man has been charged with drug trafficking offences after Toronto police say they seized large amounts of drugs earlier this month. Police say a total of 189 kilograms of cocaine and 97kg of crystal methamphetamine were seized during the investigation. Investigators say the bust is the largest single-day seizure of drugs in the force's history. They say officers arrested the suspect on April 2 in the underground parking lot of a building near Yonge Street and The Esplanade in downtown Toronto. Police allege the accused had 50kg of cocaine in his possession when he was arrested.

Travellers aboard a B.C. ferry heading to Nanaimo endured an epic late-night sailing when the vessel had engine trouble mid-voyage. BC Ferries says the Queen of Oak Bay departed Horseshoe Bay at about 8 p.m. Wednesday and was expected to reach Departure Bay on Vancouver Island before 10 p.m.But the 90-minute trip became a five-hour marathon when the company says the ship had mechanical difficulty with its steering gear.It says a tug was needed to bring the vessel into the dock in Nanaimo at about 1 a.m.Repairs forced cancellation of numerous sailings between Nanaimo and the mainland on Thursda

Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart says the building destroyed by fire that included low-income housing will likely be demolished. The number of people displaced by yesterday's fire in the city's Gastown neighbourhood has risen to 144. That includes 71 residents of the Winters Hotel and 73 others in the neighbouring Gastown Hotel that was damaged in the blaze. Vancouver officials say efforts are underway to find housing for the displaced residents, which will add pressure to the city's scare supply of housing stock for low-income residents.

Canada’s chief public health officer says a number of factors are combining to cause rising levels of COVID-19 activity across the country. Dr. Theresa Tam says the loosening of public health restrictions, an increase in our in-person contacts, some waning of immunity and the spread of the more transmissible B-A-2 variant have all likely contributed to the rising levels of infection. Dr. Tam says multiple indicators, from average daily case counts, to lab test positivity and waste water monitoring indicate increasing transmission in recent weeks. Dr. Tam is again stressing that a booster dos

British Columbia's coroner says over 9,400 people in the province have died of an overdose from toxic illicit drugs since the government declared a public health emergency six years ago. Lisa Lapointe says urgent action is needed to decriminalize small amounts of drugs for personal use and to provide more people with a safer supply of substances that would replace the profit-driven illicit market.Lapointe says she understands that the concept of a safer drug supply is difficult for some people to understand, given decades of a punitive, enforcement-based approach to substance use, but more peo