OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney has appointed a global investment banker and pension fund manager to be Canada's next ambassador in Washington.

Carney's office said Mark Wiseman, who begins the role Feb. 15, will lead negotiations with the United States on a review of the continental free trade deal.

Wiseman is a longtime friend of Carney who was among the first to contribute to his Liberal leadership bid, donating the maximum $1,750, as well as $1,750 to the Liberal party during the spring election campaign.

He will replace Kirsten Hillman, who announced this month she would end her posting, saying a new team would be able to focus on a review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement next year.

TORONTO - 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. 

Canadian banks, he said, were choosing to ignore climate science to profit from the destruction of the planet, and he felt a moral obligation, affirmed by his baptismal covenant, to take a stand. 

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. 

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has been voted The Canadian Press 2025 Newsmaker of the Year, has been described by survey respondents as both a "diplomat" and a "political outsider."

Carney was selected in an annual survey of editors and news directors in media organizations from across Canada.

Here's what voters had to say:

"Arguably a political outsider who reversed a 20-point Liberal deficit to secure a large minority from the clutches of seemingly assured defeat."

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney has been named The Canadian Press Newsmaker of the Year, edging out a baseball player, two premiers and striking workers across Canada.

Carney was selected in an annual survey of editors and news directors in media organizations from across Canada.

Here is a tally of the votes:

Carney: 72 votes

OTTAWA - 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. 

The poll, which was conducted online and can't be assigned a margin of error, surveyed 1,523 people between Dec. 19 and Dec. 21.

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney is The Canadian Press 2025 Newsmaker of the Year.

Here is a list of those who have held the title in the past, awarded through an annual survey of senior editors in newsrooms across Canada:

2025: Mark Carney, politician

2024: Pierre Poilievre, politician

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney has been chosen as The Canadian Press Newsmaker of the Year in an annual survey of newsroom leaders and editors from across the country.

Survey respondents say the former central banker was chosen because he led the Liberals to a general election victory after multiple polls indicated the party was set to be wiped out by the Conservatives.

Since then, Carney has been a regular fixture in national headlines due in part to the ongoing trade war with the United States that helped reverse the Liberals' political decline.

Carney was chosen as Newsmaker of the Year by 72 of the 95 survey respondents.

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

A tariff exemption was Canada’s salvation in 2025. It’s 'absolutely' at risk in 2026

Economists and trade lawyers are warning a key tariff exemption for Canada is in jeopardy heading into 2026.

The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA, is up for review in the new year, and U.S. President Donald Trump is already threatening to walk away unless Canada and Mexico make certain concessions.

VICTORIA - It should have been a very bad day for David Eby's government.

But on Dec. 3, the morning after the pending closure of the pulp mill in Crofton, B.C., was announced with the loss of 350 jobs, the political focus was on the leadership saga in the Opposition B.C. Conservatives, as 20 of the party's MLAs called on then-leader John Rustad to quit.

It was emblematic of the chaos in the Conservative ranks over the past year, which Eby acknowledged has been politically beneficial to his NDP government.

But he rejected the suggestion that he got a hall pass in 2025, after eking out a one-seat majority in the October 2024 election.