National

Huge job losses in B.C. indicate a 'hard road ahead': finance minister

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 08 May, 2020 05:46 PM

< >

British Columbia Finance Minister Carole James says she doesn't want to sugar coat what will be a hard road ahead as labour force figures show the province lost a quarter of a million jobs in April. Combined with jobless figures in March, almost 400,000 people were unemployed.

James says nearly half of the job losses were in food services and the wholesale and retail sectors.

B.C.’s unemployment rate jumped to 11.5 per cent in April, but remains below the national rate of 13 per cent.

James says it's too early to say what impact the COVID-19 pandemic will have on B.C.'s budget, but her quarterly report at the end of the summer will give more details.

She says the province has strong economic fundamentals and the government is working to build a robust rebound for B.C.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Crisis lines face volunteer, cash crunch even as COVID-19 drives surge in calls

Despite a surge in demand due to COVID-19, many distress centres across Canada are dangerously close to folding thanks to major declines in both volunteers and revenue. Stephanie MacKendrick, CEO of Crisis Services Canada, which runs the only national suicide-specific helpline in Canada, says her organization relies on a network of approximately 100 community distress centres across the country to field calls from people.

Crisis lines face volunteer, cash crunch even as COVID-19 drives surge in calls

Conservatives gear up to grill government in modified return of House of Commons propose and oppose: Tories

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer laid out Monday the numerous lines of inquiry his party intends to follow this week as a modified version of a House of Commons sitting gets underway. They include the state of the nation's emergency supply stockpile, the mishmash of federal economic benefit programs that allow some to fall through the cracks and to what extent the minority Liberals are backstopping provincial efforts to reopen their economies, Scheer said.

Conservatives gear up to grill government in modified return of House of Commons propose and oppose: Tories

Learning to live with COVID-19 requires permanent fixes to vulnerable settings

Canada's chief public health officer warned Monday there is still a lot we don't know about the virus that causes COVID-19, but said stopping this pandemic or preventing a future one will require more than just physical distancing and handwashing. Dr. Theresa Tam said we simply do not know yet whether someone who has had COVID-19 will be immune from getting it again, or how long that immunity will last.

Learning to live with COVID-19 requires permanent fixes to vulnerable settings

B.C. university creates institute to take microscope-telescope view of pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed the world at a tipping point that's challenging social, political, economic and environmental structures, says the director of a new academic research institute at British Columbia's Royal Roads University. Dr. Thomas Homer-Dixon said Monday the pandemic is an event with the power to cause those structures to fall like dominos or shift radically to new paths.

B.C. university creates institute to take microscope-telescope view of pandemic

Drugs and cash seized from a Whalley area residence in Surrey

Illicit drugs and cash have been seized from a residence in the Whalley area following an investigation by the Surrey RCMP. The investigation began on March 5th, 2020 by the Surrey RCMP Community Response Unit (CRU). CRU observed suspicious activity consistent with drug trafficking at a residence in the 11400 block of 124 street.

Drugs and cash seized from a Whalley area residence in Surrey

Police say B.C. woman whose disappearance sparked wide search found dead in Burnaby

The body of a missing British Columbia woman has been found two months after she disappeared. A statement from New Westminster police says the body believed to be that of Nirla Sharma was discovered Sunday along the Fraser River between New Westminster and Burnaby. The woman's disappearance from her New Westminster home sparked a major search in late February.