National News

EDMONTON — Frigid temperatures and arctic air have left most of the western provinces shivering with wind chills dipping down to -55 C, forcing ski hills to close and even keeping owners of backyard rinks indoors.

More provinces have tightened public health restrictions as the Omicron variant sent Canada's COVID-19 cases soaring past the two million mark and raised fears of a post-holiday hospital spike.

Despite growing calls for changes in policing, the number of officer shootings in Canada remains too high, say criminology experts. On-duty police officers fired at 64 people in Canada between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30. Exactly half were killed.

IQALUIT, Nunavut — As Nunavut works to change the way police oversight works in the territory, concerns remain over how injuries or deaths involving RCMP officers are communicated to the public.

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what's on the radar of our editors for the morning of Dec. 27 ... What we are watching in Canada ...

TORONTO — Bargain hunters found pared back sales and government-mandated smaller crowds as they headed out for a second pandemic-era Boxing Day on Sunday.

OTTAWA — A rise in COVID-19 cases driven by the highly infectious Omicron variant of the virus has renewed concerns among experts about the capacity of Canada's hospitals and health-care workers to handle another wave of the pandemic.

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the world has lost one of the strongest moral voices with the death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

OTTAWA — In early September, Conservative candidate Jennifer McAndrew stood outside a suburban Ottawa transit hub in the battleground riding of Kanata-Carleton to make a major campaign promise.

VICTORIA — Economic growth in British Columbia will face erosion from recent floods and slides that crippled transportation links, but the resilience of government and industry to keep supply chains open limits the damage, says an economist.