Good morning. Ottawa wants the best and the brightest to help build major projects, but its recruitment campaign has unsettled Bay Street and angered unions. More on that below, along with new security guarantees for Ukraine and Rob Reiner’s wide-ranging career. But first:

Today’s headlines

• The Bondi Beach shooting suspects visited an Islamist militant hot spot weeks before the attack, police say
• A Canadian military intelligence officer allegedly shared classified information with Ukraine
• Jimmy Lai’s Canadian family and MPs call for his release on humanitarian and health grounds

© Mark Blinch

Toronto Rabbi Levi Gansburg first bonded with his friend on the other side of the world more than two decades ago when they were both studying at a New York seminary.

Mr. Gansburg was struck by Rabbi Eli Schlanger’s relaxed and calming disposition. He was the kind of go-getter that made everyone around him strive for their best.

In the wake of a destructive year of party infighting, the interim leader of the BC Conservatives says his caucus could do with more structure and less free speech.

Trevor Halford leads the province’s Official Opposition while the Conservative Party organizes a leadership contest to replace John Rustad, who was forced to resign in early December after a revolt by both his caucus and party executive.

Isolated by flooding and running critically low on feed, a hog farm in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley may soon receive emergency supplies by air.

B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham said the strategy was used during the catastrophic flooding of 2021 and is an example of important partnerships between the province and local industries in times of need.

The sexual assault trial of Alberta spiritual leader John de Ruiter and his wife, Leigh Ann, is facing a lengthy adjournment, just weeks before the trial was set to begin.

The couple’s jury trial on six counts of sexual assault had been set to start in Edmonton in January, but is now slated to begin in the fall. It’s expected to last more than four months.

Ottawa's top doctor says the death of three children in the region over the past two weeks from influenza-related complications is unusual and could signify a difficult flu season ahead.

Vaccination against COVID-19 among pregnant individuals sharply lowers the risk of hospitalization, admission to intensive care and premature births, the largest Canadian study of its kind shows.

The report analyzed outcomes from nearly 20,000 COVID-impacted pregnancies between April, 2021, and December, 2022, capturing both the Delta and Omicron waves of the virus. Data was included from eight provinces and one territory. The study was led by University of British Columbia researchers and released on Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

A Quebec teachers’ union released the findings of a survey of its members on Monday that found 90 per cent of respondents said they were victims of some form of violence at work.

“We are here to teach, not to be beaten up,” Catherine Renaud, a vice-president of the Fédération autonome de l’enseignement, told a news conference on Monday.

Three children have died from influenza-related complications in the Ottawa and Eastern Ontario regions in the first two weeks of December, regional medical officers of health said Monday.

The medical officers for the two health units said in a statement the deaths of the children, between the ages of 5 and 9, are a “stark reminder” that flu can lead to severe illness and complications that require hospital care.

“With much of the respiratory illness season still ahead, we anticipate this will continue to be a challenging flu season,” their statement said.

© Adrian Wyld

A 16-year-old girl has pleaded guilty to attempted murder for splashing a former friend with lighter fluid and setting her on fire in the hallway of a Saskatoon high school.

The attacker also pleaded guilty to unlawfully causing bodily harm to a teacher who came to the victim’s aid at Evan Hardy Collegiate in September, 2024.

If you’re reading this on the web or someone forwarded this e-mail newsletter to you, you can sign up for Globe Climate and all Globe newsletters here.

Good afternoon, and welcome to Globe Climate, a newsletter about climate change, environment and resources in Canada.

Devastating floods in British Columbia are bringing back bad memories of 2021, when flooding killed tens of thousands of animals and required federal disaster assistance exceeding $1-billion. Residents are questioning how much has improved since then.

© ETHAN CAIRNS

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced plans Monday to double the number of visitors to the Niagara Region, with visions of multiple new casinos, a theme park, an expanded airport and more.

Niagara’s existing casinos attract more than five million visitors per year and generate more than $500 million a year for the province in gaming revenue, and Ford said he wants to see more in order to provide more jobs and spur more growth in hotels, restaurants and the rest of the tourism sector.

Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson says he’ll launch a task force early in the new year to look at ways to ensure the long-term health of the softwood lumber industry.

Speaking in Toronto, Hodgson says the group will bring recommendations forward within 90 days of its launch on how to increase productivity, reach new markets and expand the use of modern construction methods.

Last week, a winter storm dumped snow onto the roof of the former Ontario Science Centre. That could be cause for concern. Last year, provincial officials claimed the beloved building was in bad shape and the roof might collapse. They had to close the place down right away.

That wasn’t exactly true, and the beloved old Science Centre survived last week’s storm in fine shape. But it stood empty, as Doug Ford’s government advanced its destructive plan to move the centre, eventually, to a new building at the waterfront Ontario Place.

Good morning. Police are pledging a thorough investigation into yesterday’s massacre at one of Australia’s most popular beaches. More on that below, along with updates on winter in Ukraine and flooding in B.C. Let’s get to it.

TOP STORY

After days of heavy flooding, drier conditions allowed the City of Abbotsford to reopen a major highway and lift evacuation alerts for more than 1,000 properties over the weekend, even as warnings were issued ahead of another round of rain.

Flood waters in Abbotsford were receding gradually Sunday, with some areas seeing notable improvements, according to an update from the city. Water from the Nooksack River, which topped its banks just south of the U.S. border on Thursday, continues to flow north but at a decreasing rate.

Canada’s Jewish community is calling on the government to ensure law enforcement ramps up patrols and takes proactive steps to protect their safety after an attack at Australia’s Bondi Beach that targeted a large group celebrating the start of Hanukkah.

Two men opened fire at an event taking place at the beach located seven kilometres from central Sydney. The attack left at least 15 victims dead, and at least 40 people injured, including two police officers, according to local authorities.

Prime Minister Mark Carney says 'the government will always stand with you' during menorah lighting ceremony in Ottawa, following a mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia.

An Ontario coroner has granted a discretionary inquest to examine the circumstances of a teen’s death after he went to a hospital in the province in agonizing pain, waited hours to receive care and later died of sepsis and pneumonia.

The decision was recently shared by a local coroner with the family of 16-year-old Finlay van der Werken.

Residents and farmers in the Fraser Valley are hoping for water levels to continue falling as they begin to take stock of the damage inflicted by floods that burst over the Nooksack River’s banks earlier this week, drowning farmland in B.C.’s southern interior near the U.S. border.

It’s a grim weekend for Matt Dykshoorn’s brother and father, whose chicken barns were submerged in floodwaters this week, killing their flock of chickens despite frantic sandbagging efforts to save the birds.

The Toronto Zoo says it has euthanized one of its lions after the animal spent several months undergoing veterinary care for a gastrointestinal symptoms.

In a Friday social media post the zoo says Fintan, a 13-year-old “majestic male white lion” was put down on Friday after receiving months of advanced care for nausea, vomiting and decreased appetite.

© HO

The mayor of flood-struck Abbotsford, B.C., says he is disappointed and frustrated with the federal government over what he calls “inaction” on cross-border flooding that has repeatedly inundated his city.

Ross Siemens said he had not been contacted by the federal government about this week’s flooding, which has forced hundreds of households to evacuate, inundated poultry barns and forced livestock relocations.

For 30 years, the development industry in Vancouver was so flush with profit and momentum that government planners seemed to assume that it would be willing to pay for whatever the city asked for.

New parks. Daycares and school sites. Restoration of heritage buildings. More stringent building-code requirements. More energy efficiency. Public art. More room in underground garages for bike parking and car shares.

Andy Kim was 16 years old when he took a bus from his Montreal home to New York and launched himself into one of the most successful pop music songwriting careers of the 60s and 70s.

The world has Mr. Kim to thank for the expertly crafted Sugar, Sugar and Rock Me Gently, among other perennial pop hits so joyously innocent they feel like they belong to not just another time, but another world.

The federal government’s proposal to revive mandatory minimum punishments that courts had ruled unconstitutional will likely insulate the changes from future challenges, legal experts say.

But widespread criticism remains over the use of such required minimum punishments for people convicted of specific offences, with those against the changes citing negative impacts on Indigenous people and other marginalized communities, as well as research that shows harsher sentences often do not deter crime.

Sasha Suda, the Canadian museum director recently fired from the Philadelphia Art Museum amid allegations that she gave herself unsanctioned raises, has filed a raft of new documents that she says prove her salary increases were authorized and that she was the target of a “coup.”

Ms. Suda launched her initial legal complaint on Nov. 10, arguing that she was terminated after a “sham investigation” and resistance from board members as she tried to transform one of America’s premiere art institutions. The latest court documents – which were filed on Thursday and include text messages, e-mails and internal correspondence – were submitted in response to the museum’s attempt to force the matter to arbitration.

The Fredericton Police Force is vowing to correct how they investigate major crimes after an independent review recommended broad changes in response to a police evidentiary mistake that derailed prosecutions into two killings in the New Brunswick capital last spring.

Fredericton Police Chief Gary Forward apologized Friday for the police error that halted the criminal cases against five people accused in the deaths of Corey Markey and Brandon Donelan in 2021 and 2022.

“I accept full responsibility for the error that led to the stays of proceedings, and I recognize the profound impact this has had, not only on the families, but on the public confidence in our police force and the justice system,” Chief Forward told reporters at a press conference.

© Stephen MacGillivray

An Ontario Superior Court justice repeatedly questioned the strength of evidence Friday against a Toronto-area lawyer facing extradition to the United States on charges tied to fugitive and alleged cocaine kingpin Ryan Wedding.

During a bail hearing for Deepak Paradkar, Justice Peter Bawden pushed back on Crown submissions that if the suspended lawyer were released pending the outcome of his extradition hearing, he would be a flight risk.

British Columbia Premier David Eby says his government plans to offer private owners of land in the Cowichan Aboriginal title area more than $150-million in loan guarantees, amid fears about the impact of the landmark ruling on their financing.

He says the fund could include $100-million in guaranteed financing for Montrose Properties, the biggest private owner in the Aboriginal title area, and a further $54-million for smaller owners.

Quebec will not publicly fund the first Health Canada-approved treatment for the underlying cause of Alzheimer’s disease after an expert committee concluded its benefits are too modest to improve patients’ lives.

The negative recommendation from Quebec’s National Institute for Excellence in Health and Social Services, known by the French acronym INESSS, marks the first time a government advisory body in Canada has evaluated whether the medication, lecanemab, should be paid for out of the public purse.

Alberta election officials are getting an extra $6.7 million to handle the sudden outburst of recall petitions against legislature members.

A legislative committee unanimously signed off on the funding during a meeting Friday.

More than $1.3-million in fines have been levied against two companies involved in a series of B.C. crane accidents, including an incident last year at Vancouver’s Oakridge Park development where a worker was killed by material that fell 26 storeys.

WorkSafeBC fined EllisDon Corp. about $515,000 while Newway Concrete Forming was hit with a $113,000 penalty over the February 2024 tragedy when Yuridia Flores was killed by a 9.6-metre-long and six-metre-wide mould that was being lifted from one floor to another.

Colleen Jones was in almost perpetual motion during waking hours as she became one of the world’s all-time top curlers, and a groundbreaking CBC television broadcaster.

Ms. Jones, who died in Maders Cove, N.S., on Nov. 25 after a 32-month battle with colon cancer, set just a few priorities in life – but she stuck with each one with fierce loyalty.

A member of the Indigenous advisory council of the Major Projects Office said he and his colleagues were not told in advance of the agreement the federal government signed with Alberta opening a path to a pipeline to B.C.’s coast.

Trevor Mercredi, grand chief of Treaty 8 First Nations in Alberta, told a news conference on Thursday that the memorandum of understanding signed last month was “news” to him and his colleagues, and that Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government didn’t tap the council for advice on how to move forward.

Mounties in northern Alberta say there are multiple injuries after a bus carrying a junior hockey team went off a highway.

Police say the bus went into a ditch south of Athabasca early Friday, and two teens were taken to hospital in Edmonton with non-life-threatening injuries.

© HO

Flood waters began to recede from the Fraser Valley on Friday, leaving residents and farmers to assess damage and demand answers as to why more hasn’t been done to heed lessons from the devastating B.C. floods of four years ago.

Poultry farmer Corry Spitters said this year’s flooding rose to within an inch of one of his chicken barns.

WestJet has paused a move to install non-reclining seats on a big slice of its fleet after pushback from employees and passengers.

The airline announced in September it would reconfigure the seating on 43 Boeing 737 jets to install an extra row and divide the cabin into several tiers, some with more space – and pricier tickets – than others.

Ontario’s legislature is set to take a 14-week winter break, less than two months after resuming from a 19-week summer break, a move opposition politicians call undemocratic and “crazy.”

Members of provincial parliament typically resume sitting at Queen’s Park after the holidays in mid-February, following Family Day. But on Thursday, the last day of sitting this year, government House leader Steve Clark said the legislature won’t be back until March 23.

Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says the federal government’s $1.7-billion plan to attract research talent can reverse the brain drain of past decades and spur economic growth, in part by luring back Canadian scholars who have moved abroad.

The plan, announced in last month’s budget, will create 100 research chairs at Canadian universities spread across eight areas of focus, which range from defence technologies to food and water security, climate resilience and the Arctic.

Liberals, Carney celebrate holiday party by welcoming MP from Conservatives into their caucus.

Lawyers representing the family of a Longueuil, Que., teen who was shot dead by police in September say they are shocked by allegations of police interference in the investigation by the province’s police watchdog.

Nooran Rezayi, 15, was killed on Sept. 21 after being shot in a suburban neighbourhood south of Montreal.

On Thursday, Longueuil Mayor Catherine Fournier released new correspondence between the police force and a provincial watchdog that contained what she described as serious information.

© Ryan Remiorz

A provincially appointed supervisor has fired the director of education at Ontario’s largest school board, amid a shakeup of board governance by the education minister.

The supervisor of the Toronto District School Board said in a memo to staff Friday that the board needs a fresh start and Clayton La Touche is leaving, effective immediately.

Outflows from the Nooksack River have been coursing into British Columbia's Fraser Valley. It's a familiar scene for many residents, four years after catastrophic floods that also stemmed from cross-border water flows that poured into the Sumas Prairie.

The CEO of the Canadian Museum of Immigration in Halifax has stepped down after a federal investigation led to allegations Marie Chapman had bullied staff and created an environment of fear that left many employees emotionally damaged.

The museum’s board of trustees issued a statement confirming Chapman had decided to retire earlier this month and then chose to leave her post on Thursday.

Good morning. The Globe spoke with thalidomide survivors about how their lives have changed 10 years after a settlement with the Canadian government. More on that below, along with news on Costco patriotism and Time’s person(s) of the year. But first:

Today’s headlines

• A member of the Canadian Armed Forces has been arrested and charged in a foreign interference probe
• Another Conservative MP is crossing the floor to the Liberals, putting the party one seat short of a majority
• In B.C., flooding displaces hundreds in the Fraser Valley as some highways reopen

© Fred Lum

© Alana Paterson

Johanne Hébert survives an ordinary day at home through a series of acrobatic acts. She opens drawers with her toes. She brushes her blond hair by leaning over and running it through a hairbrush screwed into the wall. To take off her dress, she grabs the front of it in her teeth, and jerks her head backward in a swift motion.

© Michelle Siu

New Brunswick’s Court of Appeal has ruled that an Indigenous group cannot seek a declaration of Aboriginal title over private property, saying the harm to private property rights would undermine Canada’s efforts at reconciliation with First Nations.

The decision Thursday overturns a lower-court ruling that would have allowed the Wolastoqey Nation to lay claim to privately owned industrial lands as part of their broader Aboriginal title case. It is in strong contrast with a recent B.C. Supreme Court ruling that has cast private property rights into question.

Rob Lantz has announced that he is resigning as premier of Prince Edward Island as he seeks to become the leader of the Progressive Conservatives.

Lantz had been interim leader of the party and was sworn in as premier in February after Dennis King stepped down.

Alberta’s Auditor-General says the province’s reporting on how the health care system is performing is not credible and has worsened over time – an issue that needs to be corrected if Premier Danielle Smith’s plan to dramatically reform the system is to be fairly evaluated.

Auditor-General Doug Wylie made his assessment in a report, published Thursday, that found data used to validate the early success of Ms. Smith’s plan to improve the province’s health care system were inconsistent and were selected to make “performance look better than it actually was.”