Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 12 Oct, 2023 06:47 PM
Farmers in B-C are preparing for an influx of avian flu cases as wild birds begin migrating south.
But a spokesperson for the B-C Poultry Association Emergency Operations Centre says he doesn't expect as much devastation as last year.
Ray Nickel says farmers are using the lessons they learned since the highly infectious H-5-N-1 strain began spreading in late 2021 to better prepare for potential outbreaks.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it believes migratory birds are responsible for the outbreaks.
Business leaders in Surrey are pleading with the province to provide a clear plan as the city grapples with the next stage of implementing a new police force. The Surrey Board of Trade has sent a letter to Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth saying the city needs a solid policing strategy with adequate wraparound support services and infrastructure as it juggles the costs of the outgoing R-C-M-P and incoming Surrey Police Service.
British Columbia is setting out new rules as it attempts to navigate a way to curb the overdose crisis with drug decriminalization. Possession of small amounts of many illicit drugs was decriminalized in B.C. in January after the federal government issued an exemption, but legislation introduced by the province today would make their use illegal in many public spaces.
The federal New Democrats have rejected the first draft of the Liberals' pharmacare legislation, in what the health minister describes as "extremely fluid" negotiations over the highly anticipated bill. The Liberals promised to table pharmacare legislation this fall as part of the supply-and-confidence deal the government struck with the NDP.
Police in Victoria say they're looking for two women who may have seen the suspect or suspects in a possible arson over the weekend. They say officers responded Saturday evening to reports of two fires inside a retail store, where staff used fire extinguishers to douse the initial flames.
B-C's police watchdog has found a man who rammed his S-U-V into a police cruiser outside a Vancouver Island R-C-M-P detachment last spring was not seriously injured when he was hit by a single police bullet. One officer was also injured in the incident last May.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne says he is ready to announce the initial commitments he has secured from grocers to stabilize food prices. The Liberal government called on Canada's major grocers last month to present a plan to stabilize prices by Thanksgiving, or face consequences.
