A new report ahead of next week's B.C. budget is forecasting slower economic growth for the province this year. The Business Council of British Columbia says "lacklustre" growth globally, high interest rates and weak private-sector job and investment numbers all add up to "a drag on prosperity" in 2024.
The federal government is spending more than $273 million to acquire new military equipment for NATO's Canada-led battle group in Latvia. That includes $227.5 million for a short-range air defence system from Saab Canada Inc., intended to defend against fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and drones, and another $46 million for counter-drone equipment.
Vancouver Coastal Health says it is no longer considering a stand-alone supervised consumption site in Richmond, British Columbia. The decision was announced late Wednesday in a statement from VCH, which said that, based on the latest Public Health data, such a facility would not be the most appropriate service for those at risk of overdose in the community.
The Transportation Safety Board is calling for improvements after an investigation into a deadly helicopter crash in Nunavut. The helicopter went down in 2021 on a trip to survey polar bear populations on Griffith Island, about 20 kilometres southwest of Resolute Bay, Nvt. Two crew members and a wildlife biologist were killed.
A new report says British Columbia's wine industry is anticipating "catastrophic crop losses" of up to 99 per cent of typical grape production due to January's intense cold snap. A February report from Wine Growers British Columbia and consulting firm Cascadia Partners says preliminary industry estimates are calling for crops to produce only one-to-three per cent of typical yields for wine grapes, mostly coming from relatively mild Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island.
A Vancouver man convicted of fraud has been permanently banned from B-C's investment market. The B-C Securities Commission says a panel has concluded that Jeffrey Shaughnessy's misconduct was "extremely serious," and the man posed "a significant ongoing risk" to the public and the capital markets had the ban not been put in place.