The Seniors Advocate, Isobel Mackenzie, has issued a report on some of the different patient outcomes between private-contractor care facilities for seniors, and facilities operated by a Health Authority.  The findings are compelling. The report explains that there are 293 publicly subsidized care facilities in BC, and that...

In 2007, Canada was one of four countries to vote against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (with New Zealand, the United States and Australia). With its single-minded focus on making Canada an “energy superpower,” albeit only with fossil fuels, the Harper government feared the declaration’s concept of ...

A BC voter has begun the next stage of an initiative petition process seeking to have the BC government cancel the Site C dam project; see this May 3 article first announcing the petition. The petition sheets were issued on July 3, so the proponent has 90 days to collect signatures. To move to the next stage of the process,...

Two children lost consciousness due to carbon monoxide poisoning while boating with their family this past long weekend. The potentially fatal incident unfolded in the waters of Indian Arm on Monday, May 21, when a North Vancouver family was out boating in a 27-foot vessel equipped with an inboard engine. While returning to...

Following a complaint to the BC Ombudsperson, Jay Chalke, an investigation determined that the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction had failed to follow the law in calculating entitlement to income assistance benefits. The Ministry had improperly imposed a policy of a one-month suspension the earnings exemption,...

Last Friday, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna declared an “imminent threat” to mountain caribou recovery, ordering the BC government to take immediate action to protect core mountain caribou habitat—or the federal government will step in and do it for them. Mountain caribou populations have been steadily declining since...

British Columbia’s Chief Electoral Officer, Keith Archer, has granted approval in principle on an initiative petition application. The petition will be issued to proponent Ion Delsol Moruso on July 3, 2018. The title of the initiative is: “An initiative to cancel the Site C Dam project”. “This initiative petition application...

It is tax time again and the B.C. Seniors Advocate is reinforcing the need for seniors in the province to file tax returns, even if they think they do not make enough income to file. “Seniors may not know that there are several subsidies and tax credits they may be eligible for that are dependent on completed tax returns,” ...

Chilliwack:  An alert Chilliwack RCMP officer and a determined police dog caught a suspect as he fled from a vehicle after allegedly failing to stop for police. On April 6, police were nearby when a driver crashed his vehicle into the front yard of a residence in the 46000-block of Portage Avenue. The driver abandoned the...

A 37-year-old Maple Ridge man has been charged for allegedly engineering romantic relationships in order to steal substantial amounts of money. Coquitlam RCMP is releasing Reza Moeinian’s photo because there are likely more victims who have not yet spoken to police and we need to further the investigation. Moeinian is accused...