Close X
Monday, November 11, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. to provide up to 8,000 free air conditioners to low-income, vulnerable people

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 27 Jun, 2023 03:39 PM
  • B.C. to provide up to 8,000 free air conditioners to low-income, vulnerable people

The British Columbia government is giving its Crown power utility $10 million to provide up to 8,000 free air-conditioning units to vulnerable people. 

A death review panel by the BC Coroners Service found that most of the 619 people who died in B.C.'s heat dome event in 2021 were low-income and vulnerable people who were aged 60 or older. 

One of the key recommendations from the panel was that the government provide air-conditioning units to those living in single-room apartments.

Health Minister Adrian Dix said Tuesday that the funding to BC Hydro will provide up to 8,000 air-conditioning units over the next three years, but if demand increases, that number could also go up. 

Dix said people can apply for the units on their own or health officials working with elderly people will be able to help them get a unit. 

Hydro president Chris O'Reilly said the utility will also offer all customers $50 off purchases of qualified, energy-saving air-conditioning units.

The death review panel released last June said most of those who died had compromised health and lived alone.

Dix said the program is a good and necessary step. 

"This is, by standards on the Pacific coast anyway, an ambitious program that will help keep people safe," said Dix, noting that cities such as Montreal and Chicago have previously experienced deadly heat events.

"What we have here is a comprehensive response," he said. 

MORE National ARTICLES

Assault at a school in Maple Ridge

Assault at a school in Maple Ridge
Mounties in Ridge Meadows say they are investigating an assault at a local school. They say officers responded to the incident at a school at 116-B Avenue around 9:40 P-M on Saturday – outside of regular school hours.

Assault at a school in Maple Ridge

What the interest rate hike means for mortgage holders, home hunters

What the interest rate hike means for mortgage holders, home hunters
The hike is aimed at quelling inflation, which has proved stubborn, not moving down quickly enough toward the central bank's target of two per cent. However, the hike is also bound to weigh on those hunting for homes or holding mortgages.

What the interest rate hike means for mortgage holders, home hunters

BOC boosts key interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.75 per cent, highest since 2001

BOC boosts key interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.75 per cent, highest since 2001
As the economy continues to outperform expectations, the Bank of Canada has chosen to act sooner rather than later to clamp down on inflation, raising interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday. Its key interest rate now sits at 4.75 per cent, the highest it’s been since 2001.

BOC boosts key interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.75 per cent, highest since 2001

Vancouver Island scuba divers spot sixgill shark in rare shallow-water sighting

Vancouver Island scuba divers spot sixgill shark in rare shallow-water sighting
Connor McTavish and three companions had just planned to explore the site of a shipwreck in Alberni Inlet on Vancouver Island last month when he spotted something in the corner of his eye — a two-metre-long sixgill shark. McTavish and fellow divers Garrett Clement, Danton West and Matteo Endrizzi had made the trip from Nanaimo, B.C., to explore the waters of the inlet in late May. 

Vancouver Island scuba divers spot sixgill shark in rare shallow-water sighting

Known travellers from 13 more countries can skip visa to come to Canada: minister

Known travellers from 13 more countries can skip visa to come to Canada: minister
Travellers from the 13 countries can qualify for the faster, cheaper option if they have either held a Canadian visa in the last 10 years or currently hold a non-immigrant visa to the United States and are travelling by air.

Known travellers from 13 more countries can skip visa to come to Canada: minister

Man arrested for Kelowna arson

Man arrested for Kelowna arson
R-C-M-P say officers responded to a suspicious fire on Sunday at the Bankhead Convenience Store on Bernard Avenue. No injuries were reported in the fire.

Man arrested for Kelowna arson