Drug overdose deaths are down by 24 per cent between April last year and this April, but still B-C’s Coroner says 182 people died.
Fentanyl remains the primary killer, with the drug detected in 82 per cent of test results for those who died so far this year.
The coroner’s service says nearly half of those who overdosed were between the ages of 30 and 49.
The latest figures lift the number of deaths since the public health emergency was declared eight years ago to 14-thousand 582 people.
The death toll of Monday's earthquake has surpassed 6,200 and is expected to rise as search and rescue operations continue. Turkish Canadians have also stepped in to raise funds and collect donations to send to their country of origin.
The 46-year-old Chasing Horse remains behind bars in the U.S. after being formally charged Monday in North Las Vegas with counts including sex trafficking, sexual assault against a child younger than 16, and child abuse.
Labour Minister Harry Bains introduced a bill in the legislature today, saying the holiday will be observed this September and every Sept. 30 afterwards. He says the B.C. holiday follows the federal government's decision in 2021 to declare Sept. 30 a national truth and reconciliation holiday for its workers.
In October, the regional district said the reservoir — which serves about 90 per cent of residents in the area — was at risk of "imminent exhaustion" as southern B.C. recorded an unseasonably dry summer and warm fall.
The government's throne speech, read by Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin in the legislature today, outlines a political agenda for the coming months that includes a plan to support people amid rising costs now and in the long term.
A Boeing 737 air tanker owned by a British Columbia company has crashed in Western Australia while on deployment to a fire. Coulson Aviation, based in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, says in a statement that both pilots walked away from the accident and have been medically assessed.