Provincial News
With multiple highways still damaged by flooding and mudslides, the Province is extending the provincial state of emergency.
Given the continued need for public safety measures under the Emergency Program Act and ongoing work to repair damaged highways, the provincial state of emergency is being extended until the end of the day on Jan. 11, 2022.
Since launching earlier this fall, B.C.’s COVID-19 booster dose campaign has seen nearly 800,000 shots delivered into the arms of people across the province.
We have moved more quickly and accelerated our efforts in Interior Health to make booster shots available: in particular, for those over 65 and whose health conditions or other factors put them at greater risk of illness.
British Columbia is currently experiencing a fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic fueled by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
The Coquihalla Highway (Highway 5) has reopened between Hope and Merritt to essential commercial vehicles only following a month of extensive repairs.
The highway was closed by multiple washouts on Nov. 14, 2021.
Following a complex investigation, the Alberta RCMP Integrated Market Enforcement Team (IMET) have obtained Canada-wide warrants for a husband and wife who are believed to have operated a fraudulent investment company identified as Family First Dynasty Inc. in Millarville, Alta.
In the wake of an investigation into a municipal tax sale which resulted in a vulnerable 60- year-old woman losing her home, the City of Penticton has today agreed to compensate the former property owner as recommended by the Ombudsperson.
No news is good news regarding Canadian/American negotiations regarding the Columbia River Treaty.
The provincial government in a media release Monday said on Dec. 9, 2021, Canada and the U.S. conducted the 11th round of negotiations on modernizing the Columbia River Treaty.
Last week, Interior Health began offering the pediatric COVID-19 vaccines to children age five to 11 in communities across the region.
The response from families and communities has been positive and thousands of children in this age group have already booked appointments across B.C.
A study led by Simon Fraser University researchers has found that the retreat of glaciers in the Pacific mountains of western North America could produce more than 6,000 kilometres of potential new Pacific salmon habitat by the year 2100.
As of Monday, Dec. 6, 2021, 85.5% (4,261,317) of eligible people five and older in B.C. have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 82.0% (4,085,935) have received their second dose.