Two progressive and LGBTQ+ groups have been rejected from Vancouver's Lunar New Year parade in Chinatown this weekend, with march organizers telling one that it was due to a ban on "political activism." Sunday's Spring Festival Parade in Vancouver is celebrating its 50th anniversary and marks the year of the dragon, which starts on Saturday.
The Bank of Canada will be in no rush to cut interest rates after Statistics Canada reported a larger-than-expected employment gain last month, economists say. The federal agency's labour force survey released Friday said the economy added 37,000 jobs in January after several months of relatively no change in employment. Canada’s unemployment rate fell to 5.7 per cent last month, marking the first decline since December 2022.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is trash-talking BCE Inc.'s widespread layoffs, calling the cuts a "garbage decision." Trudeau says he's furious over Bell Media's decision to end multiple television newscasts and that the corporation should know better.
An undercover operation led by Vancouver police has resulted in 20-thousand-dollars in fines against 10 different businesses that illegally sold bear spray. Vancouver bylaw restricts where bear spray can be displayed in stores, limiting sale of the product to people over age 19 and requiring stores to keep sales records.
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.