Global Affairs Canada says it's chartering more flights from Lebanon this week to help Canadians leave the country as conflict escalates between Israel and Hezbollah. In a statement Monday evening, the department says it has almost 600 seats available on planes leaving Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday.
B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad has laid out his solutions for the toxic drug crisis in the province, which include cutting wait times for voluntary treatment, a virtual program to connect people with addiction specialists and building "regional recovery communities" that would allow for 12-month live-in treatment.
Political leaders are condemning what they describe as "hateful rhetoric" from a speaker at a pro-Palestinian rally in Vancouver who told the crowd that "we are Hezbollah and we are Hamas." Both groups are listed by Public Safety Canada as terrorist entities.
NDP Leader David Eby is promising a $75-million loan forgiveness program to entice doctors, nurses and heath professionals to expand health-care services in rural British Columbia. Eby's provincial election campaign pledge comes as hospitals in rural B.C. face periods of emergency closures due primarily to staff shortages.
Canadian officials and business groups have been meeting with Democratic and Republican counterparts across the U.S., making sure Canada is prepared for any outcome of the November election.
Leaders from the three main political parties in B-C are set to square off today in the only televised debate before election day. The three candidates also took part in a radio debate last week, which saw them joust over affordability, health care and the opioid crisis, while trying to undermine each other's credibility to form the next provincial government.
