In the news: Contrasting Carney with Trudeau, Vaccine hesitancy, Youth in despair

By Canadian Press on December 17, 2025.

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

Carney’s first year as prime minister underscores the contrast with Trudeau

Chrystia Freeland’s resignation as finance minister last year kicked off a chain of events that led to the end of one Liberal prime minister’s tenure, and the start of another’s — and the two men couldn’t be more different.

Canadians started their year with Justin Trudeau, the celebrity prime minister who wore his emotions on his sleeve, took selfies with adoring fans and appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone.

But political branding expert Alex Marland says Prime Minister Mark Carney has cultivated an image practically the opposite — a stern, business-focused banker who’d never be caught wearing colourful socks in public.

Trudeau-era officials say there’s a marked change in tone, as Carney also shifts policies to the centre-right, away from some of Trudeau’s signature focuses, such as feminism and stringent climate policies.

A clash of generations is gathering in Canadian banking

The winds of change are blowing through Canada’s banking world as smaller banks are bought up and fintech firms increasingly become threats to the establishment.

Adriana Vega, with Fintechs Canada, says proposed policy changes by the federal government aimed at increasing competition are dramatically different from what the industry has seen before.

The push for more competition comes even as institutions like HSBC Canada, Laurentian Bank and Canadian Western Bank have been swallowed up by the big banks.

Andrew Spence, an author who has argued that banks are fleecing clients, says the federal budget should help counter those trends.

Most Canadians still confident in vaccines, but hesitancy has increased, poll says

A new poll says about three-quarters of Canadian adults still have confidence in vaccines, but hesitancy has increased over the last five years — mostly around the COVID-19 and flu vaccines.

The survey conducted by Leger Healthcare found about a quarter of respondents said they are less confident in the safety and effectiveness of vaccines than they were before.

People aged 65 and older were the most enthusiastic about immunization and trusting of information available to them, while 30 per cent of those between 18 and 34 reported a drop in confidence.

According to health-care providers polled, the main drivers of vaccine hesitancy are concerns about safety, misinformation from social media influencers, and mistrust in institutions.

Nasty winter storm to blast Prairie provinces with heavy snow, fierce winds

A nasty blast of winter is set to sweep across the Prairies today with snowstorms and blizzards expected to dump up to 30 centimetres in some areas.

Environment Canada says heavy snow will have a stranglehold in northwestern Alberta, starting in Grande Prairie and heading east towards Edmonton, before tapering off later Wednesday.

Blizzard conditions are likely to develop near the Alberta-Saskatchewan boundary, with wind gusts in cities such as Regina and Saskatoon reaching up to 110 kilometres an hour.

Southern Manitoba can also expect 10 to 20 cm of snow from the Alberta Clipper, along with possible freezing rain and wind gusts near 90 kph while northern parts of all three provinces will feel strong wind chills near -45 C.

World of woes: How the global polycrisis is shaping Canada’s youth

There’s a pervasive sense of doom among some young people, and experts say it’s not their fault.

The World Happiness Report suggests young people have become Canada’s unhappiest age group, in a complete reversal of long-standing trends, with reasons ranging from the housing crisis to a dearth of high-paying jobs.

Megan Shipman is a fellow with the Victoria-based Cascade Institute, which studies the polycrisis, a group of interconnected ongoing crises that all affect one another.

Shipman says the world is so connected these days that these crises affect each other more than they have in the past.

—

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 17, 2025.

The Canadian Press