Daily News Curation - 2025-12-23

Curated 34 items from disability, accessibility, and social policy sources.

1. This year’s flu is packing a punch. How hospitals are trying to deal with surging cases

<img src=’https://i.cbc.ca/ais/22f7b29d-8b20-440d-b1b2-a6a0fd116b0d,1766450285985/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C57%2C1000%2C562%29%3BResize%3D%28620%29’ alt=’A young girl with a grey scarf around her neck laying on a bed with a green blanket over her. A woman has one hand on the girl’s forehead and a thermometer in her other hand.’ width=’620’ height=’349’ title=’Canada is seeing a surging number of flu cases, particularly among young children and senior citizens. Hospitals in many provinces are taking extra steps to deal with the overflow of patients turning up in emergency rooms.’/><p>Flu cases across Canada are on the rise and may push hospitals to their limits over the holidays and into the new year, leading health officials in regions across the country to warn people not to visit emergency rooms unless it’s absolutely necessary.</p> 📍 Source Score: 24.00

2. Canada, led by 6 returning players, looking to rebound off world junior flops

<img src=’https://i.cbc.ca/ais/585878a0-cdbb-47ea-b8e9-221c010115c0,1766512830475/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%2820%2C0%2C1139%2C640%29%3BResize%3D%28620%29’ alt=’Canada forward Porter Martone bows his forehead in expressing his disappointment while standing on the ice with teammates following their 4-3 quarterfinal loss to the Czech Republic at the world junior hockey championship on January 2, 2025 in Otta’ width=’620’ height=’349’ title=’Six returning players and their teammates looking to make amends following Canada’s quarterfinal loss to the Czech Republic last January at the world junior hockey championship in Ottawa. ‘You lose on home ice, it’s not the way that anyone draws it up,’ says returning forward Porter Martone, second from left. ‘/><p>Gavin McKenna’s first experience at the world junior hockey championship ended in bitter heartbreak nearly a year ago. The 18-year-old Canadian forward and five fellow returnees from the Ottawa horror show are looking to make amends.</p> 📍 Source Score: 21.50

3. Canadian return trips from U.S. tank nearly 30% in October: StatCan

Canadian residents continued to take fewer trips to the United States in October, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada. 📍 Source Score: 19.50

4. Trucking companies face interprovincial issues amid national conversation on alleviating barriers

<img src=’https://i.cbc.ca/ais/fe58964a-e54c-4c4d-b00f-5e9796aea6f8,1766435538058/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C378%2C4032%2C2268%29%3BResize%3D%28620%29’ alt=’A man in a high-visibility jacket poses for a picture in front of a truck’ width=’620’ height=’349’ title=’McKeen’s Trucking in Flin Flon, Sask., which hauls gravel in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, says it often has to duplicate administrative tasks as it navigates safety, regulatory and tax differences in the two provinces.’/><p>The Manitoba Trucking Association says businesses in the industry continue to grapple with interprovincial issues every day, despite a national conversation on alleviating barriers in light of American tariffs. One company on the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border says navigating two sets of provincial rules adds administrative burdens.</p> 📍 Source Score: 18.60

5. Nova Scotia missing kids case ‘extremely rare’: RCMP officer

Nova Scotia RCMP criminal operations officer Dan Morrow said in an interview with Global News that he hasn’t seen a case quite like this in his 33 years of policing. 📍 Source Score: 16.50

6. Losing ground: Northern communities seek solutions for threatened cemeteries

<img src=’https://i.cbc.ca/ais/a95459b0-b236-490a-94a3-0d68a0dafaae,1766514953846/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%2848%2C408%2C3505%2C1971%29%3BResize%3D%28620%29’ alt=’A head shot of a man against a grey wall.’ width=’620’ height=’349’ title=’Dennis Wright, a project manager with Rat River Development Corporation, said it’s estimated his community of Fort McPherson, N.W.T., will lose more than half its cemetery within 30 years.’/><p>More than half the cemetery in Fort McPherson, N.W.T., could be lost to erosion in 30 years. Communities in the Yukon and Nunavut share what they’ve learned from dealing with similar challenges. </p> 📍 Source Score: 12.10

7. Manitoba Government Supports Winnipeg Police Service Initiatives

📍 Source Score: 14.60

8. Pulled ‘60 Minutes’ segment surfaces on web with Canadian broadcaster’s branding

Multiple media reports say the program was uploaded to StackTV, Global’s streaming platform, though it is no longer available to watch. 📍 Source Score: 13.90

9. Is Trans Mountain’s Profitability an Accounting Illusion?

How the finances of Canada’s government-owned pipeline may look better than they are. 📍 Source Score: 12.50

10. The Bank of Canada is ‘cautious’ heading into 2026, with all eyes on CUSMA

The Bank of Canada says it’s staying ‘cautious’ heading into 2026 as uncertainty remains high with the global trade war, tariffs and a trade deal with the U.S. set for review. 📍 Source Score: 9.50

11. Academic whose report led to fracking ban questions N.S. government’s gas claims

The government announced it was putting Dalhousie University in charge of a $30-million program that will see a call for onshore natural gas exploration issued in the new year. 📍 Source Score: 11.40

12. Override or overreach? Canada’s notwithstanding clause

📍 Source Score: 9.50

13. Basic Income in Canada is closer than you think

📍 Source Score: 9.50

14. Quebec approves roadwork in rare forest under review for protected status

<p>Tensions are mounting in Quebec’s Mauricie region as citizens, environmental groups and scientists push back against provincially approved forestry roadwork in a rare old-growth forest near Sainte-Thècle.</p> 📍 Source Score: 11.60

15. For decades, Canada’s military had no combat uniforms designed for women. That’s about to change

<img src=’https://i.cbc.ca/ais/ad300fd7-64a1-477e-a8ef-7512ed4da3c9,1766097629296/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C5333%2C2999%29%3BResize%3D%28620%29’ alt=’Lt.-Col. Melanie Lake tries out a prototype of the army’s combat uniform in the works and a body armour carriage system designed for women with shorter protective plates.’ width=’620’ height=’349’ title=’Lt.-Col. Melanie Lake tries out a prototype of the army’s combat uniform in the works and a body armour carriage system designed for women with shorter protective plates.’/><p>More than 30 years after Canada’s military allowed women to serve in combat roles, it’s now specifically designing uniforms and body armour systems to fit their bodies. </p> 📍 Source Score: 9.50

16. Manitoba Justice Reports In-Custody Death

📍 Source Score: 9.00

17. Quebec paramedics, ambulance technicians to strike Dec. 24 but keep essential service

The 39 unions are associated with the Fédération du préhospitalier du Québec and represent more than 2,000 paramedics and ambulance technicians across the province. 📍 Source Score: 9.00

18. Danielle Smith’s Alberta Next Panel Report Lands with a Whimper

Albertans paid $2 million for gruel this thin? 📍 Source Score: 9.00

19. War museum acquires rare WW II-era knife after it winds up at community tool library

<p>A parachute release knife of the type used by soldiers in the Second World War has found a new home at the Canadian War Museum, after being found among other donations to the Ottawa Tool Library. </p> 📍 Source Score: 8.30

20. Affordability tops the list for many Canadian holiday shoppers

<p>A recent Angus Reid report shows that affordability is a top concern for Canadians this holiday season, causing some shoppers to pull back on gift giving. </p> 📍 Source Score: 9.00

21. Saskatoon police shoot man during standoff triggered by mental health call

<p>The province’s Serious Incident Response Team has provided some information about how Saskatoon police shot a 25-year-old man while responding to a mental health call.</p> 📍 Source Score: 7.50

22. Manitoba Government Lowers Breast Cancer Screening Age to 45

📍 Source Score: 7.50

23. Alberta government raises the cost of referendum petitions by nearly 5K%

📍 Source Score: 7.50

24. Measles Update #58

📍 Source Score: 4.50

25. Province Reminds Manitobans It’s Not Too Late to Act as Flu Season Underway

📍 Source Score: 4.50

26. Measles Update #57

📍 Source Score: 4.50

27. Manitoba Maintains Fiscal Path Even as Climate Change and Trump’s Tariffs Pose Challenges

📍 Source Score: 4.50

28. Toronto transit ridership sputters, failing to hit projections or 2024 totals

The TTC has frozen fares for three years, slowly ramped up service and opened a new rapid transit line, but ridership is still lower than in 2019 and falling below expectations 📍 Source Score: 4.50

29. Ryan Wedding’s alleged ‘cocaine lawyer’ granted bail

Deepak Paradkar, a lawyer who has ties to Canadian Olympian Ryan Wedding, was granted bail as he awaits an extradition hearing. 📍 Source Score: 4.50

30. Some alcohol prices in Ontario could rise in the new year

Some alcohol prices in Ontario could rise in the new year, with several changes to the alcohol marketplace set to take effect. 📍 Source Score: 4.50

31. Covering news in food and agriculture in 2025

📍 Source Score: 4.50

32. A Year of Health Science Under Siege

When leaders mirror Stalin by promoting false dogma, we must defend evidence-based reason. Lives depend on it. 📍 Source Score: 4.50

33. GoFundMe launched to support family after Regina carbon monoxide death

First responders found two unconscious occupants inside an apartment building in Regina on Friday due to carbon monoxide poisoning. 📍 Source Score: 2.60

34. Giving a voice to youth is a priority for Nunavut’s new suicide prevention minister

📍 Source Score: 1.00