National News

EDMONTON — The City of Edmonton approved a bylaw earlier this month to change the names of its 12 wards to Indigenous ones. Here are the new names and their meanings: Nakota Isga (Ward 1): (NAH'-koh-tah EE'-ska). Of Sioux origin meaning "the people.

The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 7:45 a.m. ET on Friday Dec. 25, 2020. There are 528,354 confirmed cases in Canada. _ Canada: 528,354 confirmed cases (75,305 active, 438,452 resolved, 14,597 deaths).

VICTORIA — Minks on a second farm in British Columbia's Fraser Valley have tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans.

The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (All times Eastern): 7 p.m. British Columbia has surpassed another grim COVID-19 milestone, reaching 808 deaths in the province. Twelve more people died to lift the death toll over the 800 mark.

Canada's two most populous provinces reported record daily COVID-19 caseloads Thursday as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged this won't be the Christmas anyone had hoped for.

FREDERICTON — Quebec's police watchdog said Thursday it had completed its investigation into the RCMP-involved killing of Rodney Levi, a 48-year-old man from the Metepenagiag First Nation in New Brunswick.

Advocates say inmates should have speedy access to the COVID-19 vaccine, given how susceptible prisons and jails have been to outbreaks and how prevalent chronic disease is in that population.

OTTAWA — An internal review by the Department of National Defence has revealed Canadian military bases across the country are struggling with several problems, starting with severe shortages of personnel.

JASPER, Alta. — RCMP say it will be at least spring before an investigation wraps up into last summer's deadly tour bus rollover in the Alberta Rocky Mountains.

OTTAWA — Canada's employment minister says plans to revamp the employment insurance system have been put on a faster path thanks to COVID-19.