In the news: New poll says 2026 looking up, Canada must stay strong on US trade talks

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed …

One-third of Canadians optimistic about 2026: poll

This year has been marked by economic upheaval, global conflict and climate change-induced natural disasters, and only a third of Canadians are optimistic things will get better in 2026, a new Leger poll suggests.

Asked about their expectations for the new year, 35 per cent of respondents said they were optimistic that 2026 will be better than 2025.

Thirty-seven per cent of people said they think it will be about the same, while 22 per cent said they think it will be worse than 2025.

Andrew Enns, Leger’s executive vice-president for Central Canada, told The Canadian Press that the results aren’t overly surprising, given “the kind of year we’ve had.”

Canada needs to stand firm as trade talks approach

As Canada approaches a review of its key free trade deal with the United States next year, Unifor national president Lana Payne says it’s important to stand firm for a good deal.

Payne says she’s troubled by the views of some in the business community who have pushed to reach trade deals quickly.

She says rushing into a deal at any cost is “absolutely the most terrible approach to negotiations,” and Canada has to remember it has leverage in these talks.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said last week that Canada will enter into formal discussions with the United States in January to review their free trade agreement.

Western Canada braces for chilly, snowy Christmas

Frigid temperatures across much of Western Canada include advisories warning parts of Alberta to prepare for a snowy Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

As much as 10 to 20 cm is expected to fall by Christmas morning in Central Alberta, and Environment Canada is asking drivers to consider adjusting travel plans to take into account road conditions.

The snow advisories join cold warnings in effect for parts of Manitoba, as well as Alberta and Saskatchewan — where predictions are for wind chills in some spots between -45 and -50 C.

Parts of B.C.’s northern interior could also see wind chill values as low as — 45 until mid-way through Christmas Day.

Extreme cold that has blanketed much of the Yukon for several days is expected to continue through Christmas Eve, with wind chills in some spots hitting -45 to -55 C.

Why some faith leaders are speaking out on climate

Anglican Deacon Michael Van Dusen typically has plans for the Christmas season that do not involve a Toronto courthouse.

Perhaps he would be preparing his Christmas Day sermon or visiting with family. But on Tuesday, he stood beside a painted banner that read “no faith in fossil fuels” and spoke to a small crowd, including some of his parishioners, about what had brought him before a judge — and not of the divine variety.

For the first time in his life, the 80-year-old was arrested and charged with trespassing last year during a sit-in at a Royal Bank of Canada branch in protest of the bank’s fossil-fuel financing.

B.C. whale coroner approaches duty with humility

When veterinary pathologist Stephen Raverty is chest deep in work, the term takes on a gruesome meaning.

Picture Raverty deep in the innards of a humpback whale, trying to retain his balance as he wades through a quagmire of intestines, blubber and blood.

A photograph that is unsuitable for breakfast-table viewing captures a moment in 2011 as Raverty, drenched from the shoulders down in purple muck, works on a humpback whale that washed up dead on San Juan Island in U.S. waters, just off Vancouver Island.

It’s one of about 2,500 necropsies on whales and other large marine mammals performed over the past 25 years by Raverty, who works for B.C.’s Ministry of Agriculture and Lands.

Artist behind decades of N.L. mall Santa photos

A celebrated Korean-Canadian artist has been behind decades of Christmastime mall Santa photos in eastern Newfoundland.

Ginok Song and her husband Bruce Lee have been taking family photos with Santa at the Avalon Mall in St. John’s, N.L., since 2000. Song is a visual artist and painter whose work often draws on her memories from Korea in an exploration of identity and representation.

The themes that drive her art, especially around longing, extend to her holiday work at the mall. “I had a dark childhood, right? I lost something there,” she said. “So I’m longing for these children to smile … and when I see their smiles, I’m charged from that.”

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 24, 2025

The Canadian Press