Tom Fletcher

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South Surrey farmland, March 2020. The province’s crackdown on secondary residences sparked protests that have the NDP government engaged in a lengthy rewrite of its legislation. (Tracy Holmes/Peace Arch News)

B.C. NDP now wants to keep even ‘non-farmers’ on the land

‘Grandfathering’ of second residences extended again

South Surrey farmland, March 2020. The province’s crackdown on secondary residences sparked protests that have the NDP government engaged in a lengthy rewrite of its legislation. (Tracy Holmes/Peace Arch News)
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix and Premier John Horgan describe vaccine rollout at the legislature, March 29, 2021. (B.C. government)

1,262 more COVID-19 infections in B.C. Friday, 9,574 active cases

Province’s mass vaccination reaches one million people

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix and Premier John Horgan describe vaccine rollout at the legislature, March 29, 2021. (B.C. government)
B.C. Premier John Horgan speaks by video link to the annual Council of Forest Industries convention, April 8, 2021. (COFI video)

Horgan says B.C. logging licences to be bought back, redistributed

Premier ‘disappointed’ in big forest companies’ efforts

B.C. Premier John Horgan speaks by video link to the annual Council of Forest Industries convention, April 8, 2021. (COFI video)
Restaurant patrons enjoy the weather on a patio in Vancouver, B.C., Monday, April 5, 2021. The province has suspended indoor dining at restaurants and pubs until at least April 19 in B.C. due to a spike in COVID-19 numbers. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

B.C. sets new COVID-19 daily record with 1,293 cases Thursday

New order allows workplace closures when infections found

Restaurant patrons enjoy the weather on a patio in Vancouver, B.C., Monday, April 5, 2021. The province has suspended indoor dining at restaurants and pubs until at least April 19 in B.C. due to a spike in COVID-19 numbers. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., speaks to B.C. Council of Forest Industries convention from Washington D.C., April 8, 2021. (COFI video)

Hot U.S. lumber market good for trade talks: Canadian ambassador

Biden’s COVID-19 recovery hurt by soaring house prices

Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., speaks to B.C. Council of Forest Industries convention from Washington D.C., April 8, 2021. (COFI video)
Seven-day rolling average of B.C. COVID-19 cases to April 7, 2021. (B.C. Centre for Disease Control)

B.C. has 997 more COVID-19 cases Wednesday, hospitalization rises

Vaccination now open to people aged 70 and older

Seven-day rolling average of B.C. COVID-19 cases to April 7, 2021. (B.C. Centre for Disease Control)
Artist’s rendering of The Exchange, a mass timber commercial-industrial-office project in Kelowna to be completed in late 2023. (Faction Projects Inc.)

B.C. funds 12 mass-timber research and development projects

Saanich fire station, Kelowna commercial building included

Artist’s rendering of The Exchange, a mass timber commercial-industrial-office project in Kelowna to be completed in late 2023. (Faction Projects Inc.)
A basket of needles containing Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine waits to be administered to patients at a COVID-19 clinic in Ottawa on Tuesday, March 30, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

B.C.’s COVID-19 case count up to 1,068 on Tuesday

207 new variant cases, up to 328 people in hospital

A basket of needles containing Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine waits to be administered to patients at a COVID-19 clinic in Ottawa on Tuesday, March 30, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
New electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are offered for test drives at the B.C. legislature, May 13, 2019. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)

B.C. electric vehicle sales charge ahead in pandemic 2020

Latest sales show North America’s highest adoption rate

New electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are offered for test drives at the B.C. legislature, May 13, 2019. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)
Young salmon are released after being grown in a hatchery. (Photo by Fernando Lessa/www.fernandolessa.ca)

Judge grants injunction to restock two B.C. salmon farms

1.2 million hatchery fish about to be euthanized

Young salmon are released after being grown in a hatchery. (Photo by Fernando Lessa/www.fernandolessa.ca)
Pharmacist Mario Linaksita, right, administers the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Donna Tangye, 59, at University Pharmacy, in Vancouver, on Thursday, April 1, 2021. Residents between the ages of 55 and 65 in the Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health regions were able to book appointments to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine after B.C. enlisted 150 pharmacies to distribute 13,500 doses. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C.’s COVID-19 cases dip below 1,000 for Sunday, Monday

Another 916 variant virus infections identified since April 1

Pharmacist Mario Linaksita, right, administers the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Donna Tangye, 59, at University Pharmacy, in Vancouver, on Thursday, April 1, 2021. Residents between the ages of 55 and 65 in the Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health regions were able to book appointments to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine after B.C. enlisted 150 pharmacies to distribute 13,500 doses. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Quebec Premier Francois Legault receives his COVID-19 vaccination in Montreal, Friday, March 26, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Online COVID-19 vaccine booking opens B.C.-wide Tuesday morning

Open to people born in 1950 or earlier, B.C.-wide phone line too

Quebec Premier Francois Legault receives his COVID-19 vaccination in Montreal, Friday, March 26, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
Conservation officers use dogs trained to detect invasive zebra mussels on boats, and the skill comes in handy to check decorative aquarium moss balls that may be contaminated. (B.C. Conservation Officer Service)

B.C. collects thousands of contaminated aquarium moss balls

Boat checks next in battle to stop invasive zebra mussels

Conservation officers use dogs trained to detect invasive zebra mussels on boats, and the skill comes in handy to check decorative aquarium moss balls that may be contaminated. (B.C. Conservation Officer Service)
B.C.’s fishing, hunting and ecotourism operations are mainly on Crown land, and have been shut down or struggling due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)

B.C. reviews Crown land residential rent after hikes of up to 300%

Rent relief for fishing, hunting lodges hanging on in COVID-19

B.C.’s fishing, hunting and ecotourism operations are mainly on Crown land, and have been shut down or struggling due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)
B.C. Liberal leadership candidate Gavin Dew (gavindew.ca)

Second candidate joins B.C. Liberal leadership contest

Gavin Dew joins MLA Ellis Ross for next year’s vote

B.C. Liberal leadership candidate Gavin Dew (gavindew.ca)
A community member posts a COVID-19 notice at a checkpoint on the Tsilhqot’in Nation in B.C.’s Interior. Many Indigenous communities have controlled their borders in the pandemic. (Keith Koepke/Tsilhqot’in Nation)

B.C.’s COVID-19 surge continues with 840 cases Tuesday

320 of the new cases are variants as restrictions take effect

A community member posts a COVID-19 notice at a checkpoint on the Tsilhqot’in Nation in B.C.’s Interior. Many Indigenous communities have controlled their borders in the pandemic. (Keith Koepke/Tsilhqot’in Nation)
B.C. employers can apply for a tax credit for hiring, rehiring laid-off employees or increasing hours. (Vernon Morning Star)

B.C. opens applications for COVID-19 hiring, rehiring tax credit

Credit can be applied to outstanding employer health tax

B.C. employers can apply for a tax credit for hiring, rehiring laid-off employees or increasing hours. (Vernon Morning Star)
Indoor Tai Chi classes are among the “low-intensity” group exercises that are prohibited across B.C. until April 20. (Grand Forks Gazette)

Indoor yoga, Tai Chi, ‘low-intensity’ fitness machines off limits in B.C.

Youth sports carry on with strict limits under COVID-19 orders

Indoor Tai Chi classes are among the “low-intensity” group exercises that are prohibited across B.C. until April 20. (Grand Forks Gazette)
Pub patio in Victoria reopens with widely spaced tables, June 2020, after initial COVID-19 shutdown of indoor dining in B.C. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)

B.C. stops indoor dining, fitness, religious service due to COVID-19 spike

Three-week suspension starts at midnight as coronavirus ‘circuit breaker’

Pub patio in Victoria reopens with widely spaced tables, June 2020, after initial COVID-19 shutdown of indoor dining in B.C. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)
A pilot program for electric vehicle repair was launched at B.C. Institute of Technology in late 2019. (B.C. government)

Electric vehicle repair training expands to Kelowna, Victoria, Prince George

160 new B.C. training spaces expected to be available this fall

A pilot program for electric vehicle repair was launched at B.C. Institute of Technology in late 2019. (B.C. government)