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Increased border traffic likely as Canada, U.S. economies reopen: Freeland

Discussions about when and how to begin easing those restrictions are ongoing

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Canada and the U.S. are working on plans to deal with what she calls an inevitable increase in cross-border traffic as economies in both countries emerge from their pandemic-induced comas. Freeland said traffic over the shared border is bound to increase as states and provinces reopen shuttered businesses and ease restrictions on personal mobility, even if the current Canada-U.S. ban on non-essential travel remains unchanged.…

Windsports season begins at the Squamish Spit — with COVID-19 protocols

Squamish Windsports Society asks kiters to respect the May 15 opening date

he Spit will be officially openedT for the season starting on May 15 with pandemic protocols in place, the Squamish Windsports Society has announced. “The SWS looks to begin operating on May 15 again this year, albeit with some significant changes to the way we operate due to COVID-19 and the precautions that need to be taken,” wrote Geoffrey Waterson, the society’s president, in an email.…

COVID-19 testing, contact tracing key to fending off second wave, experts say

B.C. has consistently been testing at a lower level than the other four hardest-hit provinces.

Provinces hit hardest by COVID-19 have ramped up testing capacity as they plan to reopen their economies, but infectious disease experts say there will be recurring outbreaks without more robust testing, contact tracing and quarantine services across the country. A Canadian Press analysis of provincial data over a seven-week period starting in late March shows the provinces with the highest number of infections – British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia – each faced their own unique epidemics, with different positivity and mortality rates based on the number of confirmed cases.…

Vancouver park rangers issued over 1,880 warnings this weekend for social distancing non-compliance

Plans to reopen beach parking lots in Vancouver this week are now on hold because of this weekend’s turnout

After a weekend of glorious sunshine and the upcoming shift into “Phase II” of B.C.’s COVID-19 “restart” plan in B.C., Vancouverites hoping to make use of parking at the city’s beaches and parks are finding themselves out of luck. The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation revealed Monday (May 11) they “will not be reopening parking lots at beaches and parks in the coming days as a result of a decrease in public compliance with physical distancing.”…

Planning underway for surgical restart at Lions Gate Hospital

Situation may be different at North Van hospital during COVID-19 outbreak, says Henry

The province is ramping up to reopen operating rooms to a backlog of 30,000 elective surgeries that were cancelled to clear hospital beds for a potential surge of COVID-19 patients, including those whose surgeries were cancelled at Lions Gate Hospital. Vancouver Coast Health said patients whose surgeries were cancelled at Lions Gate will be getting called soon by their surgeons to begin rescheduling.…

First LIT MINDS online session set for May 12

Tuesday session with counsellor Greg McDonnell to focus on hope and resilience

Join registered clinical counsellor Greg McDonnell on Tuesday, May 12 at 8:30 p.m. for a Zoom conversation on what gives us hope and builds resilience in a time of chaos. It is the first in a series of weekly talks hosted by LUNA, The Whistler Library and The Youth Centre with weekly sponsors such as Nesters and The Whistler Library.…

Tull Family Foundation commits $100,000 to support  the community of Whistler during COVID-19

Grants made to the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation  and the Whistler Health Care Foundation

The Whistler Health Care and Whistler Blackcomb foundations have received $100,000 from The Tull Family Foundation to support the community of Whistler during the COVID-19 health crisis. The Whistler Health Care Foundation will be using the funds to purchase a new ventilator for the Whistler Health Care Centre.…

Richmond school district eyes June 1 for partial return to classrooms

Details on what school will look like in the fall haven’t been worked out yet

Students from kindergarten to Grade 5 could be back in Richmond classrooms part-time on June 1. While details aren’t yet available, Ken Hamaguchi, chair of the Richmond Board of Education, said guidelines are expected over the coming days on how this will work.…

Nova Scotia mass killer’s semi-automatic guns believed to have come from U.S.

RCMP has specialists conducting a psychological autopsy of the gunman

The RCMP said three of the four semi-automatic weapons used by a gunman during last month’s mass shooting in Nova Scotia are believed to have come from the United States. The federal force said in a news release today that only one of the guns could be traced back to a source in Canada.…

‘Bridge loans, not bailouts’: Ottawa promises new support for large employers

Program will be open to companies generating at least $300m annually in revenue

The federal government is promising to bolster the finances of the country’s largest employers-those with annual revenue of at least $300 million. Ottawa announced Monday (May 11) the launch of the Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility (LEEFF), which aims to provide bridge financing to big businesses that aren’t able to tap into conventional financing to maintain operations.…

BC RCMP celebrates National Police Week with virtual investigation for public

Join game on RCMP’s Facebook page

BC RCMP is inviting the public to join in a virtual investigation to mark National Police Week from May 10 to 16. The week-long event celebrates and acknowledges the work of police officers and employees across all police agencies.…

B.C.’s road to recovery: Build trust when reopening offices: experts

Staff accustomed to social distancing won’t feel safe without cautious return

With office reopening now on the horizon for B.C. businesses, the question becomes: what will the post-COVID-19 workplace look like in a world without a vaccine to guarantee immunity? The key word, experts say, is trust.…

Brothers in ERs living extremes of pandemic — in Victoria, in New York

BC. doc has gained insight into COVID-19 from bother on the frontlines in New York

Omar Ahmad said he only has to talk to his brother to know what people living on Vancouver Island have been spared. Omar, 46, is the Victoria-based department head of emergency and critical-care medicine for Island Health, while his brother Danish Ahmad, 36, who specializes in emergency and critical-care medicine, is at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, which has been hit hard by the pandemic.…

Students start looking for summer work, with few options in usual places

Statistics Canada says unemployment rate soared to 13% as full force of pandemic hit

Adam Brown lined up a job in March with a consulting firm in Edmonton. He just started there this week.…

‘We’ve gone from crisis to survival’

Whistler Chamber pushing for extensions to layoff, wage-subsidy periods

the road to post-pandemic life will undoubtedly be a long and challenging one for Whistler’s business community, and the heads of the local and provincial chambers of commerce are pushing for extensions to two government support programs to help ease some of the strain. “We’ve gone from crisis to survival, and the government … is certainly helping those that can to keep their doors open,” said Melissa Pace, CEO of the Whistler Chamber of Commerce.…