BC legislature

B.C. Lands and Water Minister Josie Osborne and Municipal Affairs Minister Nathan Cullen are sworn in to their new cabinet roles by Lt. Gov. Janet Austin, Government House, Feb. 25, 2022. (B.C. government photo)

B.C. municipalities still waiting for climate action fund details

$76 million over 3 years to reduce greenhouse gases

B.C. Lands and Water Minister Josie Osborne and Municipal Affairs Minister Nathan Cullen are sworn in to their new cabinet roles by Lt. Gov. Janet Austin, Government House, Feb. 25, 2022. (B.C. government photo)
Ukrainian residents of Victoria sing the Ukrainian national anthem on the steps of the B.C. Legislature, Feb. 27, 2022. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)
Ukrainian residents of Victoria sing the Ukrainian national anthem on the steps of the B.C. Legislature, Feb. 27, 2022. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)
B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)

B.C. pulls Russian vodka from provincial liquor store shelves

$1 million to Red Cross to support assistance in Ukraine

B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)
A heat pump installed at a Victoria supportive housing facility, converted from a seniors home. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press Media)

Do heat pumps, electric vehicles make sense in northern B.C.?

B.C. Liberals question latest tax breaks for going electric

A heat pump installed at a Victoria supportive housing facility, converted from a seniors home. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press Media)
Nataliia Kuksa, left, was born in Kyiv and was up through the night contacting everybody she knows back home. Members of Greater Victoria’s Ukrainian community at a solidarity gathering outside the B.C. legislature on Feb. 24, less than a day after Russia’s military attacked Ukraine on multiple fronts. (Jake Romphf/News Staff)

Ukrainian community gathers for anti-war demonstration outside B.C. Legislature

Hurt, concern, anxiety felt among those with Ukraine ties as they showed solidarity at legislature

Nataliia Kuksa, left, was born in Kyiv and was up through the night contacting everybody she knows back home. Members of Greater Victoria’s Ukrainian community at a solidarity gathering outside the B.C. legislature on Feb. 24, less than a day after Russia’s military attacked Ukraine on multiple fronts. (Jake Romphf/News Staff)
Repair work continues on Highway 8 Feb. 10, 2022 after mid-November flooding shifted the course of the Nicola River and destroyed sections of the highway south of Merritt. (B.C. transportation ministry photo)

B.C. extreme weather forecasting will take years to build

B.C. Wildfire Service to extend work to fire prevention

Repair work continues on Highway 8 Feb. 10, 2022 after mid-November flooding shifted the course of the Nicola River and destroyed sections of the highway south of Merritt. (B.C. transportation ministry photo)
B.C. Finance Minister Selina Robinson delivers 2022-23 budget at the legislature, Feb. 22, 2022. (B.C. government photo)

B.C. budget’s tax increases affect used vehicle sales, tobacco

Minister says she’s ‘closing a loophole’ on private car sales

B.C. Finance Minister Selina Robinson delivers 2022-23 budget at the legislature, Feb. 22, 2022. (B.C. government photo)
William R. Bennett Bridge across Okanagan Lake, one of the tourism destinations hit hard by two years of pandemic restrictions. (Kelowna Capital News)

B.C. tourism industry hoping spring COVID-19 thaw continues

Rebuilding workforce, international visitors a big job

William R. Bennett Bridge across Okanagan Lake, one of the tourism destinations hit hard by two years of pandemic restrictions. (Kelowna Capital News)
B.C. is creating a new ministry for Indigenous-led management of land and water. (B.C. government photo)

B.C. BUDGET: Province braces for shrinking forest industry, new lands ministry

Timber revenues fall as old-growth preservation continues

B.C. is creating a new ministry for Indigenous-led management of land and water. (B.C. government photo)
B.C. Wildfire Service firefighter works on perimeter of a fire, July 2019. (B.C. government)

B.C. BUDGET: Wildfire service going year-round to reduce risk

Prescribed burns aim to reduce decades of fuel buildup

B.C. Wildfire Service firefighter works on perimeter of a fire, July 2019. (B.C. government)
Finance Minister Selina Robinson speaks in the B.C. legislature. (Hansard TV)

B.C. BUDGET: Deficits to rise as COVID-19, rebuilding costs continue

Federal pandemic support ending, health care costs mount

Finance Minister Selina Robinson speaks in the B.C. legislature. (Hansard TV)
Lehigh cement plant in Delta is one of the industries affected by B.C.’s carbon tax, giving a price advantage to U.S. and Asian producers. B.C. has among the highest carbon taxes in the world, with no protection for export industries. (Black Press files)

B.C.’s post-COVID economy faces export, labour, taxation issues

Business council says income, carbon taxes dampen investment

Lehigh cement plant in Delta is one of the industries affected by B.C.’s carbon tax, giving a price advantage to U.S. and Asian producers. B.C. has among the highest carbon taxes in the world, with no protection for export industries. (Black Press files)
B.C. Liberal leader Kevin Falcon speaks to reporters at the B.C. legislature, Feb. 17, 2022. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press Media)

Falcon calls B.C. NDP economic plan ‘propaganda document’

B.C. Green leader says it’s a ‘branding exercise’

B.C. Liberal leader Kevin Falcon speaks to reporters at the B.C. legislature, Feb. 17, 2022. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press Media)
B.C. Premier John Horgan visits trades training facilities at the B.C. Institute of Technology in 2018. A new trades and technology centre at BCIT was announced Feb. 17, 2022. (B.C. government photo)

New trades, technology school adds to B.C. NDP’s economic plan

Skills training full, 85,000 trade jobs in coming decade

B.C. Premier John Horgan visits trades training facilities at the B.C. Institute of Technology in 2018. A new trades and technology centre at BCIT was announced Feb. 17, 2022. (B.C. government photo)
Asbestos was phased out of Canadian construction by the 1980s, but workers continue to be exposed in the renovation and demolition of older homes and other buildings. (B.C. government photo)

B.C. moves to licence, regulate asbestos removal industry

Mandatory training coming by end of year, minister says

Asbestos was phased out of Canadian construction by the 1980s, but workers continue to be exposed in the renovation and demolition of older homes and other buildings. (B.C. government photo)
An Abbott Laboratories Panbio COVID- 19 rapid test device. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

COVID-19 rapid tests to be distributed to B.C. students, at-risk public

Test supply growing, priority remains people with symptoms

An Abbott Laboratories Panbio COVID- 19 rapid test device. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
B.C. Premier John Horgan takes questions in the B.C. legislature, Feb. 14, 2022. (Hansard TV)

Health, not honking reduces B.C. COVID-19 rules, Horgan says

Weddings, night clubs, theatres return to full capacity Thursday

B.C. Premier John Horgan takes questions in the B.C. legislature, Feb. 14, 2022. (Hansard TV)
B.C. NDP house leader Mike Farnworth takes a question in the B.C. legislature as Citizens’ Services Minister Lisa Beare listens, June 16, 2021. (Hansard TV)

B.C. cabinet minister didn’t mislead legislature over FOI fee, speaker rules

Dispute over NDP setting $10 fee for information requests

B.C. NDP house leader Mike Farnworth takes a question in the B.C. legislature as Citizens’ Services Minister Lisa Beare listens, June 16, 2021. (Hansard TV)
Craig James, former clerk of the British Columbia legislature, leaves B.C. Supreme Court on Jan. 26, 2022. Former Speaker of the legislature, Bill Barisoff is testifying at the trial of James, who has pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud over $5,000 and three counts of breach of trust by a public officer in relation to allegations that he used his position for personal gain. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Former Speaker of B.C. legislature doesn’t recall retirement payout documents: trial

Bill Barisoff told Craig James trial that he only saw some documents after investigation began

Craig James, former clerk of the British Columbia legislature, leaves B.C. Supreme Court on Jan. 26, 2022. Former Speaker of the legislature, Bill Barisoff is testifying at the trial of James, who has pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud over $5,000 and three counts of breach of trust by a public officer in relation to allegations that he used his position for personal gain. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Office building construction site in Victoria, 2019. The B.C. government is expanding mandatory certification for skilled trades. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)

B.C. mandatory trades certification ‘phased in’ starting this year

Industry Training Authority renamed SkilledTradesBC

Office building construction site in Victoria, 2019. The B.C. government is expanding mandatory certification for skilled trades. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)
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