Avian flu has been identified at two more commercial poultry farms in Abbotsford.
Figures from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency show there have been 44 B-C outbreaks of avian flu since October 20th.
More than five million birds have died or have been culled in the province since the first case of the H-5-N-1 variant was reported in April 2022.
The virus is quickly spread from wild birds migrating south and earlier this month the chief veterinarian ordered farmers to put their birds indoors.
The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen has issued an evacuation order for the area southwest of Keremeos affected by two wildfires that have been burning for several weeks. Thirteen properties have been ordered evacuated along the Ashnola River and in the Snowy Protected area of Cathedral Provincial Park, including Cathedral Lakes Lodge.
Academics, commerical banks and policy thinkers have all been warning the federal government that the pace of population growth, facilitated by immigration, is making the housing crisis worse. Canada is also experiencing a boom in the number of temporary residents who are coming to the country, which includes international students and temporary foreign workers.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reports the annual pace of urban starts was down 11 per cent, the rate of multi-unit urban starts fell 12 per cent and the pace of single-detached urban starts dropped four per cent.
A new survey says an alarming number of kids age 12 and older have been treated for drug overdoses in Canada. The Canadian Paediatric Surveillance Program says stimulants are the most commonly reported cause of severe or life-threatening overdoses, followed by sedatives and opioids.
Mounties in Chilliwack say they have found the body of a Surrey man who was thought to have drowned in Cultus Lake last month. R-C-M-P say the discovery was made by its Underwater Recovery Team after about a month of searching.
Treasury Board President Anita Anand is tasking federal cabinet ministers with finding $15.4 billion in government spending cuts by a deadline of Oct. 2. A spokesperson for Anand says the government wants to refocus underutilized funds on critical services such as health care — and it doesn't expect to cut any public-service jobs.