National News

MONTREAL — Occupancy rates in Quebec's emergency rooms are shooting up again after a small period of reprieve that began Dec. 19. Website Index Santé shows the average ER occupancy rate at six a.m.

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today...

A critical milestone is on the horizon for Canada's 175-year-long plan to bury its nuclear waste underground, with two pairs of Ontario communities set to decide if they would be willing hosts.

DOLBEAU-MISTASSINI, Que. — Quebec provincial police say the search for a four-year-old girl who fell into a river last week is no longer a rescue operation, but a recovery mission.

QUEBEC — Negotiations between the Quebec government and unions representing hundreds of thousands of public-sector employees were expected to resume Tuesday after a series of breakthroughs over the weekend and a short pause for Christmas.

EDMONTON — Ashley Perepelkin says she was born and raised a city girl, never thinking she'd sell fresh beef from cattle she raised on her own Alberta farm with the help of artificial intelligence.

OTTAWA — Speaker Greg Fergus is looking to implement new guidelines for recognizing certain guests in the House of Commons, after MPs stood twice to applaud a man without knowing he had fought for a Nazi unit.

The directive aims to reduce distractions in class and applies to public elementary and secondary schools.

OTTAWA — Christmas across much of Canada was warmer than normal, with above zero-temperatures from Ontario to the Maritimes while the West Coast braced for heavy rains.

VICTORIA — The chief of police in Victoria, B.C., says his officers had a busy Christmas Eve, but the holiday season didn't exactly bring good tidings of great joy for one officer on a city bus.