Close X
Sunday, November 24, 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

Police on lookout for Port Coquitlam man charged with armed robbery

Police on lookout for Port Coquitlam man charged with armed robbery
Surrey R-C-M-P say 22-year-old Kwabena Bosiako left the home where he was under house arrest and removed his electronic monitoring device. They say he was awaiting trial on charges related to a robbery that happened on November 22, 2022.  

Police on lookout for Port Coquitlam man charged with armed robbery

Coquitlam RCMP looking for assault suspect

Coquitlam RCMP looking for assault suspect
The incident took place on April 11th when The Mounties say two men got into a verbal dispute over their dogs playing together at the park. Police say the suspect believed the victim's dog had injured his dog and wanted financial compensation in return.

Coquitlam RCMP looking for assault suspect

Remains of missing man, Suleiman Khawar, recovered

Remains of missing man, Suleiman Khawar, recovered
Suleiman’s body was discovered by a boater near Granville Island just after 8:30 a.m. on Monday. The BC Coroners Service is now investigating. The Vancouver Police extends condolences to Suleiman’s loved ones, and thanks all of the community members who came together to search for Suleiman after he went missing on May 25.

Remains of missing man, Suleiman Khawar, recovered

Feds warn 2023 on track to be the worst fire season ever seen in Canada

Feds warn 2023 on track to be the worst fire season ever seen in Canada
Bill Blair and six other federal cabinet ministers provided an update Monday on Canada's wildfire situation, even as smoke from fires north and west of the city covered Parliament Hill's Peace Tower in a grey haze. As of late Monday afternoon, 424 fires were burning across Canada, more than 250 of which are considered out of control.  

Feds warn 2023 on track to be the worst fire season ever seen in Canada

Conservative filibuster threatens potential citizenship for children born abroad

Conservative filibuster threatens potential citizenship for children born abroad
As it stands, Canadian parents who were born abroad cannot pass their citizenship down to their child unless the child was born in Canada. The NDP and Liberals proposed a change that would allow those parents to pass down Canadian citizenship if they can prove they've spent at least three years in the country.

Conservative filibuster threatens potential citizenship for children born abroad

Global economic growth slow: World Bank

Global economic growth slow: World Bank
The latest outlook from the World Bank predicts the growth of the global economy will likely slow sharply this year. The anti-poverty agency estimates the international economy will expand just 2.1 per cent after growing 3.1 per cent last year.  

Global economic growth slow: World Bank