National News

FIELD, B.C. — The RCMP say a criminal investigation has been launched into a fatal Canadian Pacific train derailment near the boundary between B.C. and Alberta in February 2019. Staff Sgt.

QUEBEC — A member of the governing Coalition Avenir Quebec party is temporarily out of caucus after a video surfaced of him breaking COVID-19 rules at a holiday gathering.

OTTAWA — Marie Christian recalls the confusion that reigned as the young people she works with tried to navigate government aid at the onset of the pandemic.

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he realized only recently that his government would not be able to make good on its long-held promise to lift all drinking-water advisories in First Nations communities by March 2021.

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Ottawa is giving Newfoundland and Labrador temporary relief from debt and financing payments for the troubled Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project and appointing a top bureaucrat to oversee the project's financial restructuring.

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. 17 ... What we are watching in Canada ...

VANCOUVER — With overdose deaths rising across Canada, advocates for drug users are calling for the implementation of a national safe supply program as part of an effort to save lives.

The largest mass immunization effort in Canadian history began Dec. 14 in Ontario and Quebec after the country received its first COVID-19 vaccine shipment over the weekend.

The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 4 a.m. ET on Wednesday Dec. 17, 2020. There are 481,630 confirmed cases in Canada. _ Canada: 481,630 confirmed cases (75,885 active, 391,946 resolved, 13,799 deaths).

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says while he is committed to transparency in the federal government, being too forthcoming can hinder the government's ability to wrestle with tough decisions.