B-C Auditor General Michael A. Pickup is retiring in November after four years in the role.
He made the announcement today and thanked everyone who has supported and worked with him during his time in the province.
Pickup says he'll be returning to the Maritimes to be closer to his family and will contribute to the public and private sectors in different ways going forward, without giving any specifics.
He's Canada's first and only openly gay auditor general and Indigenous auditor general.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is pledging to fix the federal access-to-information system to speed up response times and release more information. He made the commitment during a news conference in Vancouver on Thursday, where the Opposition leader announced a new revenue plan for First Nations alongside leaders in the region.
B.C. went on to experience deep and prolonged drought after a record-breaking heat wave in May spurred rapid melting and drying. Then came the province's devastating fire season. Thursday's bulletin says the low snowpack combined with warm seasonal forecasts and "lingering impacts" from the previous drought are creating "significantly elevated drought hazards" for 2024.
Premier David Eby says the first purchase using the government's Rental Protection Fund will save 290 affordable rental units in two housing co-ops that have expired leases and were facing the prospect of being sold out from under the residents. Eby says the government's fund will contribute $71 million towards the $125 million acquisition in the Metro Vancouver city of Coquitlam by the non-profit Community Land Trust of B.C.
Some dentists and hygienists fear they won't be fairly paid for services under a new federal dental plan, and they worry it will jeopardize the success of the massive program. Each province and territory has its own guide to how much dental services cost.
The group that represents residential builders in Canada wants Ottawa to offer a 30-year amortization period for insured mortgages on new homes. The Canadian Home Builders' Association says extending the period an additional five years would help with affordability and spur more construction.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is asking MPs to support more funding for Global Affairs Canada, despite the Liberals undertaking cutbacks across the government. Joly says that the United States, France and rapidly developing countries are staffing up to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex world.