Play along with The House's 2014 year-end political quiz

Were you paying attention to the world of politics in 2014?

Test your recall of the political events and newsmakers in The House's year-end quiz and go head-to-head with host Evan Solomon and panellists Andrew Coyne, columnist for PostMedia, CBC National Affairs Editor Chris Hall and Radio­-Canada Ottawa Bureau Chief Emmanuelle Latraverse.

Answers appear at the bottom.

1. 2014 was a Winter Olympics year… and politics is often a contact sport, so let's combine the two for our first question. On Jan. 7, which cabinet minister helped unveil the roster of Canada's men's hockey team?

2. Mid­-February: Canadians found out the cost behind the government ads they'd already been seeing on TV. Which program did the government spend $2.5 million promoting, despite the fact that that program didn't actually exist yet?

This Conservative MP was forced to backtrack in 2014. (Flickr)

3. Lots happened on the international scene this year. On Jan. 19, Stephen Harper began his first official visit to what country?

4. Speaking of the busy year on the international stage, on Jan. 27, MPs held an emergency debate to address the crisis in what country?

5. On Jan. 29, Justin Trudeau surprised almost everyone by kicking Liberal Senators out of his caucus. How many Senators got the boot?
A. 27
B. 30
C. 32

6. On Feb. 4, the first charges were laid in the Senate expenses scandal. Who was charged with FRAUD and BREACH OF TRUST?

7. Name this key player in Canadian politics in 2014 (listen to the show for an audio hint)

8. Feb. 11, the Conservatives tabled their budget. They're still projecting a deficit, but only because Jim Flaherty included a contingency fund in his calculations. How big was that contingency fund?

9. Feb. 22, the Liberals held a convention in Montreal… Leader Justin Trudeau had to defend one of his potential star candidates in the next election. What was retired Lt­. Gen. Andrew Leslie having to defend himself over that week?

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Poll

Justin Trudeau was in the spotlight a lot this year. He's been ahead in the polls, he's had high profile gaffes, there are ongoing questions about his policies ­­ also about his handling of the suspension of two MPs. How would you grade Justin Trudeau's performance this year?

How would you grade Justin Trudeau's performance this year?

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10. Feb. 24, which Conservative MP backtracked from this story?

"On the mail delivery day when voter cards are put in mailboxes, residents come home, pick them out of their boxes, and throw them in the garbage can. I have seen campaign workers follow, pick up a dozen of them afterward, and walk out. Why are they doing that? They are doing it so they can hand those cards to other people, who will then be vouched for at a voting booth and vote illegally."

11. On March 12, the Canadian flag was taken down at the NATO headquarters in Kabul to mark the end of Canada's mission in Afghanistan. At the height of that mission, how many Canadian troops were in Afghanistan?

Cpl. Harry Smiley, left, and Cpl . Gavin Early, right, take down the Canadian flag for the last time in Afghanistan on Wednesday March 12, 2014, bringing an end to 12 years of military involvement in a campaign that cost the lives of 158 Canadian soldiers. (Murray Brewster/Canadian Press)

12. On March 18, Jim Flaherty resigned as Finance Minister. The next day, another prominent politician announced their resignation. Who?

13. On March 21, the Supreme Court, in a 6-to-1 ruling, rejected the government's choice of Marc Nadon as the next high court Justice. Who did the government end up appointing instead?

14. On March 30, a former director of communications for the Prime Minister was forced out of his new job as head of the Conservative Party. What was the reason behind Dimitri Soudas's departure?

15. On April 7, Philippe Couillard's Liberals win the Quebec election. How many seats did his party win to defeat the Parti Québécois?
A. 65
B. 68
C. 70

16. April 8, a major security breach forced the Canada Revenue Agency to temporarily shut down its website. What is the name of the bug responsible for all that?

17. In early April, leaks from the House of Commons' Board of Internal Economy revealed that the NDP was ordered not to use parliamentary resources to pay for staff in satellite party offices. Where were those satellites offices located?

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Poll

It hasn't been an easy year for the NDP. No success on the byelection front, struggling in the polls, a few controversies… And that's despite Tom Mulcair getting good reviews for his work in the House of Commons. The party is entering 2015 in third place. Can they turn things around?

Can Tom Mulcair and the NDP turn things around in 2015?

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18. On April 24, Employment Minister Jason Kenney reacted to the controversy surrounding the Temporary Foreign Worker program by imposing a moratorium on what industry?

19. April 25, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government could not reform the Senate on its own. On the same day, as he was reacting to the news, the Minister of State for Democratic Reform, Pierre Poilievre also announced what?

20. In early May, an unprecedented spat between Stephen Harper and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court puzzled many political watchers. The Prime Minister had suggested that the chief justice of the Supreme Court tried inappropriately to intervene in the process to appoint Justice Marc Nadon, even though her advice came before Nadon's appointment was announced. Name the lawyer who challenged the appointment of Marc Nadon.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, left, and Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin had an unusual exchange of public views in 2014. (Canadian Press)

21. On May 28, which well­-known senator announced his resignation?

22. On June 4, the government tabled bill C-36: The Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act ­­ the new prostitution bill. That's after the Supreme Court had struck down parts of the old law following a court challenge by three women. Name one of those three women.

23. July 17, suspended Senator Mike Duffy was charged in connection to the Senate expenses scandal. How many charges is he facing?
A. 22
B. 31
C. 37

24. On July 29, the federal government took the unusual step of pointing the finger directly at China following a cyber attack. What did the government accuse Beijing of targeting?

25. On Aug. 21, the following clip from the prime minister attracted a lot of criticism: "We should not view this as sociological phenomenon. We should view it as crime. It is crime against innocent people, and it needs to be addressed as such." What was the prime minister responding to?

26. Name the Conservative MP who apologized for responding to NDP Leader Tom Mulcair's questions on Canada's mission in Iraq in September with an attack on the NDP position on Israel.

27. On Sept. 6, Jim Prentice won the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta leadership election ­­ on his way to becoming the province's Premier. Later that month, on Sept. 22, people of New Brunswick went to the polls. Who became that province's new premier following the  election?

28. Oct. 7, a divided House of Commons voted in favour of sending Canadian aircraft and personnel to join coalition airstrikes in Iraq against ISIS targets. Where are Canada's CF­-18s based for that mission?

29. On Nov. 5, Dean Del Mastro rose in the House of Commons and resigned his seat after being convicted for violating the Elections Canada Act. Which riding did he represent?

30. Nov. 30, former governor general Michaëlle Jean is chosen as the new Secretary General of the International Organization of La Francophonie. Where did the meeting where she was selected take place?

31. In November, following a scathing Auditor General report into his department, Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino didn't respond to the criticism himself. What was the reason given for him not responding to the AG's report?

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Poll

That controversy was one of many this government had to address this year. It's a government that's been in power for a long time. But they're entering next year having brought the country's budget back in the black — can they make people forget about all the controversies and get a second majority mandate?

Can the Conservatives win a second majority mandate?

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Lightning round

We're incorporating a little twist this year — a lightning round!

You'll each get 30 seconds to answer as many questions as possible.

1. Which province hosted the Premier's Council of the Federation meeting this year?

2. How many speakers addressed a joint session of parliament this year ?

3. Can you name 2 of them?

4. How many female premiers are there currently?

5. How many were there at the start of 2014?

6. Heritage Minister Shelley Glover unveiled a new monument on Nov. 7 on Parliament Hill. What does it commemorate?

7. What museum had its opening ceremonies in Winnipeg in September?

8. How many CF­-18s are currently in Ukraine and Iraq on active missions?

9. Who is the Liberal MP who won the byelection in Trinity-Spadina, ­ Olivia Chow's old riding?

10. Who is the new AFN National Chief?

11. What is the fixed date of the next Federal Election?

12. What is the name of the General in charge of the mission in Iraq?

13. How many Veterans Affairs regional offices did the government close this year?

14. What is the name of the LNG company that has put its B.C. project on hold?

15. Who is the new leader of the Bloc Québécois?

16. Who is the new clerk of the Privy Council?

17. In early December, Ottawa gave the green light to a deal between which two restaurant chains?

18. Who is the only person to have been convicted in connection with the robocalls scandal?

19. Which Canadian premier spent part of the year pushing for interprovincial free trade?

20. How many Senate vacancies are there right now?

21. Which opposition MPs accompanied John Baird to a fact finding missing to Iraq in September?

22. What is the name of Canada's new Privacy Commissioner?

23. The UN Climate Change conference was in Lima, Peru this year. Where will it be next in 2015?

24. What is the name of the new U.S. ambassador to Canada?

25. In March, Joe Oliver becomes Finance Minister. Ed Holder becomes Minister of State for Science and Technology. Who's the third minister involved in that shuffle?

26. What is the English title of Justin Trudeau's biography?

27. What's the title of Stephen Harper's hockey history book?

28. Which long­time B.C. NDP MP announced in December that she wouldn't be running again?

29. Which Conservative MP is running to become the leader of the Ontario Progressive­ Conservative Party?

30. Which province elected its first Green MLA this year?

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Answers

1. Transport Minister Lisa Raitt.

2. The Canada Job Grant.

3. Israel.

4. Ukraine.

5. C, 32 Senators.

6. Mac Harb and Patrick Brazeau.

7. Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand. He was criticizing the government's Fair Elections Act that was tabled on Feb. 4.

8. $3 billion (projected deficit is $2.9 billion).

9. It was revealed that Leslie's move from one Ottawa home to another cost taxpayers $72,000.

10. Mississauga MP Brad Butt.

11. 2,300.

12. Alison Redford, Premier of Alberta.

13. Clement Gascon.

14. He tried to interfere with his fiancée's Conservative nomination battle.

15. C, 70.

16. Heartbleed.

17. Montreal, Quebec City and Toronto ­­ preparing to open another in Saskatchewan.

18. Immediate moratorium on the fast­food industry's access to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

19. Amendments to the Fair Elections Act.

20. Rocco Galati.

21. Romeo Dallaire.

22. Terri­Jean Bedford, Amy Lebovitch or Valerie Scott.

23. 31 charges.

24. The National Research Council of Canada.

25. Renewed calls for a national inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women after the killing of 15­-year­-old Tina Fontaine in Winnipeg.

26. Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, Paul Calandra.

27. Liberal Brian Gallant.

28. Kuwait.

29. Peterborough.

30. Senegal.

31. Fantino was in Italy for Second World War commemoration events.

Lightning round

1. Prince Edward Island.

2. 3.

3. (Aga Khan IV, Petro Poroshenko, France François)

4. 2 (two) ­ Christie Clark of BC and Kathleen Wynne of Ontario.

5. 5 (five) ­ Kathy Dunderdale of Newfoundland and Labrador resigned on Jan. 24  / Alison Redford of Alberta resigned on March 23 / and Pauline Marois lost in an election on April 23.

6. The War of 1812 Monument made its public debut. It is located in front of

Parliament Hill's East Block.

7. The Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

8. 10 (ten) ­ 6 active CF­-18s based in Iraq , 4 based in Lithuania.

9. Adam Vaughan.

10. Perry Bellegarde.

11. Oct. 19.

12. Lt.-Gen. Jonathan Vance.

13. 9.

14. Petronas.

15. Mario Beaulieu.

16. Janice Charette.

17. Burger King and Tim Hortons.

18. Michael Sona, former Conservative campaign worker.

19. Saskatchewan's Brad Wall.

20. 17.

21. Paul Dewar and Marc Garneau.

22. Daniel Therrien.

23. Paris, France.

24. Bruce Heyman.

25. Greg Rickford becomes Natural Resources Minister.

26. Common Ground.

27. A Great Game.

28. Libby Davies.

29. Patrick Brown.

30. New Brunswick, David Coon.

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Roof issues at closed Ottawa science museum date back to 2010, documents reveal

The closed Canada Science and Technology Museum had been asking the federal government for years to help fix a leaky roof whose "lifecycle had come to an end," according to documents obtained by CBC News through an access to information request.

The museum, which closed in September after leaks in the roof led to unsafe levels of mould in the air, had communicated its desire for a new roof at its 50-year-old Ottawa location as early as 2010.

In a timeline obtained through the information request, the museum said it told the Department of Canadian Heritage for four consecutive years, beginning with the 2010-2011 corporate plan, about the roof and the funding needed to fix it.

An engineering assessment in 2010 also "revealed that the Museum's roof lifecycle had come to an end and required replacement given the potential for roof failure."

Museum officials met with the department on Dec. 17, 2013, to present four options: patch the roof and maintain the status quo, partially repair the roof, completely replace the roof or build a new, angled roof over the existing one.

The museum's presentation from that day shows a recommendation for a partial replacement (at a cost that's been blacked out) that would take a minimum of 16 to 17 months. A formal request was made to the Risk Management Reserve, and approval was given by Heritage Minister Shelly Glover to get another cost estimate.

A submission to the Treasury Board was in the works for the last week of September when unsafe levels of mould caused the museum to be evacuated and closed Sept. 11.

49 distinct leaks in less than a year

That timeline was part of a package of documents dated Sept. 22, 2014. The documents also included a list of all the leaks in the museum's roof and the areas affected.

One example:

"Water leaks all weekend — closet between Connections and Innovations, 4 small leaks in Connections, Innovations, Biocomposite Plastics exhibition, Electrical Panels on south wall, in between walls of Energy and Technozone, Technozone carpets soaked," said the entry for Jan. 10-12, 2014, describing nine of the 49 distinct leaks reported from Thanksgiving weekend 2013 until the closure.

Some of those leaks meant parts of exhibits had to be closed or covered with plastic to protect them, including when the museum was open.

"The cars wrapped in plastic!! Is this a morgue?" one museum visitor said, according to a quote included in a section of the Dec. 17, 2013, presentation.

False start on roof repairs

CBC News previously reported that a roof repair project for the museum was launched in October 2013, with a budget of $3.2 million over five years to remove asphalt, add insulation and re-seal, among other fixes.

The museum's funding request said work was halted immediately after workers found "advanced deterioration of the existing roofing materials and the presence of asbestos in the crumbling cement layer" when they started the project.

Museum CEO Alex Benay and regional minister John Baird were unavailable for comment earlier this week.

Last month Glover announced $80.5 million of funding for upgrades to the museum including a complete roof replacement, upgrading the facade and exhibit space and retrofitting it to better handle earthquakes and fires.

Documents received in the request said a new building has been "contemplated" since the mid-1960s, and funding had been received in 2008 to start planning work on a new museum.

The museum is expected to re-open in 2017.

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2014: Notable people who died

Dalhousie dentistry scandal: Should free speech protect students from punishment?

The perfect brew

Black Ivory Coffee: Canadian's elephant poop coffee makes a pricey cup of Joe

Canada Science and Technology Museum asked for roof funding in 2010

Photos

2014: Notable people who died

The House: 2014 year-end political quiz

Tsunami science

World's deadliest tsunami is now saving lives

Tim Hortons deal, plunging oil were 2014's most read business stories

New

U.K., Germany hit with snow and ice

Ottawa's Tanger Outlet mall shooting victim 'uncooperative' with police

Christmas tree needle shedding prompts scientific action

WHERE TO WATCH

North Korea describes Obama with racial slur in Sony hacking row

ORDER OF CANADA

Order of Canada: Chantal Kreviazuk, Sheldon Kennedy among 95 honorees

Recap

World Juniors: Canada earns decisive win over Slovakia

TECHNOLOGY

CBC News launches new Android app

Photos

2014: Top sports photos of the year

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The stinky truth about the world’s most expensive coffee

The sun rises over a branch of the Mekong River in northern Thailand that serves as bathing waters for local elephants.

Blake Dinkin, a Toronto entrepreneur, carefully watches a few of the large mammals.

"Oh, there!" Dinkin says, cringing as he points to the river. An elephant has just taken a dump and an island of feces is now floating downstream. Dinkin stares at it.

"We can't save it," he says.

Once the elephant poop is wet, Dinkin can't sift through it and recover the hidden nuggets of coffee beans hidden within. He's already lost several thousand dollars this way.

The Torontonian is the first person in the world to feed raw coffee cherries to elephants and harvest them from the elephant's deposits to make some of the most exclusive and expensive coffee in the world.

The Black Ivory Coffee is found in exclusive hotels for about $50-60 Cdn a cup or can be purchased online for around $130 for just over 100 grams.

Each elephant eats 150 kilograms of food a day. Dinkin slips a few coffee cherries into their diet, but they can be fussy about what they eat. Dinkin mixes tamarind, salt and other fruits into their food, depending on the elephant's preferences.

"It's like being a waiter in a restaurant," said Dinkin. "Some elephants like it ... a little more plain. Other elephants like it with some rice. Some elephants like it with banana."

It takes one to two days for the coffee cherries to make their full trip through the elephants digestive tract. During that time, they pick the flavours of the elephant's diet, giving the coffee a distinctive taste, says Dinkin.

To make a single kilogram of coffee beans, it takes about 33 kilograms of raw coffee cherries. Many beans are crushed when the elephant chews or lost in the river during bathing.

From civets to elephants

Over a decade ago, Dinkin was aiming to market civet cat coffee from Africa. The pricey coffee was popular several years ago. Known in Indonesian as kopi luwak, it also involves the red, ripe cherries encasing the coffee bean being eaten by the animal. 

Black Ivory's $50-a-cup coffee tastes like the diet of the elephants that digested the beans, says founder Blake Dinkin. (Shutterstock)

But he decided to move on after finding its production fraught with fraud. Farmers often would merely wipe cat feces over coffee beans to pass the beans off as digested, he says.

His quest led him to various animals and took him to Indonesia before he finally settled on elephants in Thailand.  

The key reason he chose elephants was they only have one stomach and consume a lot of food in a day. Also, coffee cherries may naturally have been part of an elephant's diet, if grown in an area where they were grazing, he says.

Dinkin works in partnership with the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, a sanctuary for rescued elephants. It's located in the far northwest corner of Thailand where the country meets Burma and Laos, an area once synonymous with opium production.

John Roberts, who runs the sanctuary, remembers his first thought when Dinkin approached him with the idea.

"Am I going to have a lot of wired elephants on my hands? Am I going to have a lot of depressed elephants on my hands with headaches and withdrawal symptoms if we aren't feeding [them coffee]?"

Dinkin worked with a veterinarian at the Toronto Zoo to show that the caffeine won't absorb into the elephants' bloodstream. With his worries quelled, Roberts gave Dinkin the green light for production.

Roberts says if the idea takes off, he envisions herds of wild elephants devoted to the task of producing the coffee.  

"It could pay for the total upkeep of elephants and mahouts, [a person who takes care of elephants], and families and that is a goal."

Many of the elephants' handlers were destitute before arriving at the reserve he runs in association with the luxury hotel chain Anantara.

Thailand banned logging in 1989, leaving many mahouts without a source of income from their elephants. Many ended up living on the street, struggling to find a way to provide for their families and feed their elephants.

The broader impact

Dinkin knew he needed the co-operation of the mahouts for his business idea to work. The idea of feeding elephants coffee cherries and then sifting through their excrement to pick them out wasn't immediately appealing to the mahouts. 

Blake Dinkin says it took nine years to perfect the process of making Black Ivory Coffee beans. (Apichart Weerawong/Associated Press)

To motivate them, the entrepreneur decided he would need to pay them extremely well.

Nowadays, the mahouts and their wives can make the equivalent of a day's worth of pay in about an hour.

The impact of that extra cash is evident in the mahouts' small village nestled in the forest of the elephant sanctuary. Every family seems to have at least one scooter and is able to send their kids to school. One woman CBC spoke with said next year she will be able to afford a car, too.

At the sanctuary, Dinkin scoops a handful of the Thai Arabica beans that have been drying in the shade after being excreted.

He holds them to his nose. "You can definitely tell there is some elephant there," he says, describing it as a bouquet.

Perfecting the brew

Dinkin says it took nine years of trial and error to perfect the coffee. At first, it tasted horrible.

The scale of Dinkin's production is small, at about 300 kilograms a year, and the price of the coffee is steep at around $1,500 per kilogram of beans. Still, demand is outstripping supply.

"Hotels are re-ordering, and we are getting inquiries from all over the world."

As Dinkin watches the elephants dig into their coffee cherry-infused morning meal, he admits to feeling proud.

"When I first approached people with the idea, they thought I was crazy."

He acknowledges the coffee is not for everyone.

"There is always going to be people who are going to be put off by the process," says Dinkin. "This is a small niche market."

Ultimately, though, the bottom line lies in how the coffee tastes. Dinkin describes it as floral, earthy and full-bodied.

"And there are lingering notes of chocolate," he adds, with the playful glint in his eye.

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Should free speech protect Dalhousie dentistry students from punishment?

Here's one view: The students of Dalhousie University's dentistry school who are responsible for misogynistic Facebook postings about their fellow female students should not be expelled, punished, or sanctioned for their actions. 

In fact, says Mark Mercer, chair of the philosophy department at Saint Mary's University, the students should be allowed to express their views, as offensive as they may be, without fear of any kind of reprisal from the school.

"One of the things that a university should be concerned with is that everyone feels able to say what they want, that there's candour and openness," says Mercer. "Only in the context of candour and openness can views be explored fully and criticized fully.

"So I think in a university context, anything that prevents us from saying what we want to say cuts against the mission of the university."

Mercer, a free speech advocate, has staked out a position certainly at odds with many who have called for the expulsion of the students and are upset that a restorative justice process has been chosen, instead of harsher penalties for those alleged to have made the comments.

Dalhousie University president Richard Florizone has said there will be "significant consequences" and that, even with the restorative justice process, expulsion of the men involved has not been ruled out. 

The dentistry faculty at Dalhousie came under fire after CBC News received screenshots of sexually explicit posts on the so-called Class of DDS 2015 Gentlemen Facebook page.

In one of the posts, male students in the group voted on which woman they'd like to have "hate sex" with and joked about using chloroform on women.

"It doesn't matter how ugly, how vile it is," Mercer said. "Any rules against speech have the potential of blocking the road of inquiry, of preventing us from being candid and examining what we want to say."

Four members of the institution's faculty filed formal complaints under the Halifax university's Code of Student Conduct, which states that students must not engage in "vexatious conduct, harassment or discrimination that is directed at one or more specific persons" or conduct that would "cause another person to feel demeaned, intimidated or harassed."

Mercer argues that stifling speech only serves to drive it underground, or force students to speak in code, and not address the issues behind it.

In a later blog written for the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Public Affairs, Mercer expanded on his views, saying those who don't mind punishing people for the content of their public expression, "should be uneasy when it comes to going after posters in the relative privacy of Facebook, I would think.

"Or is it only behind the locked doors of our houses that we can say what we want without worry?"

University students are members of an intellectual community, Mercer said, "and such a community is destroyed when members are directed to have certain beliefs and values, rather than allowed, through investigation and critical discussion, to come to their own beliefs and values."

But John Carpay, a lawyer and president  of the Calgary-based Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, which advocates for free speech rights, said the comments made in the Facebook postings are not the ideas that university free speech are intended to defend.

He said he believes the university has a right to establish a code of conduct and have a legitimate right to discipline students for violating the code of conduct. 

"I'm a very very strong advocate for universities as being the place where you can express political, moral, cultural, social, religious — every kind of ideas. But it's the expression of ideas in the context of searching for truth. And in that context you have to allow for very unpopular ideas to be fully aired and expressed."

"What these students are talking about is so far removed from authentic academic discussion that it doesn't warrant much if any protection.

"And I say that with some reluctance, because I also say you can't censor speech on the basis of its content. But yet I think you can still qualify between what is the expression of an idea, culturally, politically, philosophically, versus just really getting down in the gutter."

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Strong winds give 35,000 Quebecers a dark Christmas morning

Weather conditions are making Christmas morning a little more difficult than most Quebecers would like.

High winds knocked out power for nearly 35,000 Hydro-Québec clients Thursday, particularly in the Lanaudière region, the Laurentians, Montreal, Laval, and to a lesser extent in the Montérégie and Outaouais regions.

By 8 a.m. ET, the number of clients without electricity had dropped from 35,000 to about 24,000. 

Hydro-Québec said it hopes to restore electricity to everyone by late morning.

Many people living in the eastern part of the province and in the Atlantic provinces are having an icy Christmas due to rain, freezing rain and winds gusting up to 90 kilometres an hour in some areas.

Motorists should take extra precautions on the road. There is a heightened risk of hydroplaning in some parts of Quebec. In other parts of the province, the roads could be icy.

Up to 60 millimetres of rain could fall on Atlantic Canada, northeast Quebec, Quebec City and the Mauricie region.

Environment Canada is also calling for freezing rain in the Gaspésie, on Quebec's North Shore and in some parts of New Brunswick.

Check Environment Canada's website for a region-by-region breakdown of current weather warnings.

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2014: Top images of the year

Stunning photos from Ukraine, Russia, Syria and elsewhere

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'He is a guest among brothers': Dad of Jordanian pilot captured by ISIS begs for release

The father of a Jordanian pilot captured by militants with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has pleaded for his son's release.

Jordan is one of several Arab countries participating in the U.S.-led military mission to bomb fighters from the Islamist group, which holds territory in both Syria and Iraq.

First Lt. Mu'ath al-Kaseasbeh, 27, was captured after his jet crashed in northeast Syria on Wednesday during a bombing mission against the militants. The U.S. military, which commands the operation, said enemy fire was not the cause of the crash.

Kaseasbeh, who comes from a prominent Jordanian Sunni Muslim family, is the first pilot from the international coalition known to have been captured by ISIS.

The Sunni Muslim jihadist group has a history of killing enemy soldiers that it captures on the battlefield and beheading Western civilians that it takes hostage. Many of the captives it has killed are Shias or non-Muslims, but the group has also executed Sunnis for fighting alongside its enemies.

His family has pleaded for mercy.

"I do not want to describe him as a hostage. I call him a guest," his father, Saif al-Kaseasbeh, told Reuters Television.

"He is a guest among brothers of ours in Syria Islamic State. I ask them — by the name of God and with the dignity of the Prophet Mohammad, peace be upon him — to receive him as a guest of his hosts and treat him well," he said. 

Images of the pilot being pulled out of a lake and hustled away by masked jihadis underscored the risks for the U.S. and its Arab and European allies in the air campaign.

The capture — and the potential hostage situation — presented a nightmare scenario for Jordan, which vowed to continue its fight against the group that has overrun large parts of Syria and Iraq and beheaded foreign captives.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known, but the U.S. military insisted the plane was not shot down.

"Evidence clearly indicates that ISIL [ISIS] did not down the aircraft as the terrorist organization is claiming," Central Command said in a statement.

U.S. Army Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, who is overseeing all coalition military operations in Iraq and Syria, condemned the pilot's capture, saying in a statement: "We will support efforts to ensure his safe recovery and will not tolerate ISIL's attempts to misrepresent or exploit this unfortunate aircraft crash for their own purposes."

Relatives of the Jordanian pilot who was captured by ISIS after his plane was shot down congregate in front of his family's home in the city of Karak, Jordan. (Muhammad Hamed/Reuters)

A coalition official, who was not authorized to discuss the episode publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the pilot was in an F-16 fighter and was able to eject.

Jordanian Information Minister Mohammad Momani earlier told the AP that the plane was believed to have been shot down.

"It is our expectation that the plane went down because of fire from the ground, but it is difficult to confirm that, with the little information we have," he said.

ISIS is known to have Russian-made Igla anti-aircraft missiles. The shoulder-fired weapon has long been in the Syrian and Iraqi government arsenals; it was used during the 1991 Gulf War by Iraqi forces to bring down a British Tornado jet, for example. More recently, militants in Chechnya have used them to down Russian helicopters.

The United States and several Arab allies have been striking ISIS in Syria since Sept. 23, and U.S. and other international warplanes have been waging an air campaign against the extremists in Iraq for even longer. The campaign aims to push back the jihadi organization after it took over much of Iraq and Syria and declared a "caliphate."

Canada has provided six CF-18s, two CP-140 Aurora surveillance aircraft and a C-150 Polaris to the mission.

This picture taken from Twitter purportedly shows a man holding the wreckage of a downed Jordanian air force plane in Syria. (Raqqa Media Center)

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said earlier this month that Canadian planes would only participate in airstrikes on targets in Iraq and had no plans to fly missions into Syria. 

Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are participating in the Syria strikes, with Qatari logistical support.

ISIS has beheaded dozens of Syrian soldiers it captured around the country. The group has also beheaded three Americans and two Britons. In Iraq, it has shot down at least one Iraqi military helicopter, and the pilots died in the crash.

On Thursday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that government airstrikes in another Syrian stronghold of ISIS killed over 21 people -- including children.

The Observatory said Syrian military aircraft struck two locations in the northern town of Qabassen, including a market, causing the casualties. The death toll was likely to rise because people were still digging through the rubble to find bodies. The strike was also reported by another Syrian monitoring group.
 

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Hollywood for the holidays: Your guide to Christmas Day movie releases

Like Santa stuffing a stocking, Hollywood likes to pack theatres with fresh releases on Dec. 25 in a bid to lure holiday crowds to the cinemas.

This year is no different, with a number of new movies opening in Canadian theatres on Christmas Day.

From Angelina Jolie's Second World War drama Unbroken to a remake of the 1982 classic Annie, there are releases for almost every pallet. 

For your planning pleasure, CBC's film critic, Eli Glasner, took a peak under the wrapping to reveal which ones may be worth your time.

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The Gambler 

• On mobile? Watch trailer here

Every couple of years, Mark Wahlberg turns in a performance to remind us that he's more than a Transformers plaything. The Gambler is one of those films. Wahlberg stars as Jim, a novelist-turned-teacher with hollow eyes and shiny suits, and tasked with playing a game against himself. Rise of the Planet of the Apes director Rupert Wyatt updates this remake of the 1974 film by setting the action in a multicultural slice of L.A. and rounding out the cast with snappy supporting work from Brie Lawson, Michael Kenneth Williams and especially John Goodman, who gives us words to live by for 2015. 4 stars out of 5.

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Into the Woods

• On mobile? Watch the trailer here

With a cast of characters plucked from Mother Goose and other fairy tales, this adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim Broadway smash suffers in the leap to the big screen. The songs are wonderful, and boy, can Meryl Streep belt them out, but the tone — which starts playful and takes a dark detour —​ may give some little ones whiplash. Still, this tale of coming face to face with your heart's desire features a few memorable performances, from Chris Pine as a puffed-up Prince Charming to Emily Blunt as the Baker's pining wife. 3½ stars out of 5.

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Inherent Vice

• On mobile? Watch the trailer here

Working from the novel by Thomas Pynchon, director Paul Thomas Anderson serves up another slice of American pie with this film noir mystery set in California's fading hippie counter culture, where the Mason family murders are in the air and corporate America is on the march. Imagine Scooby-Doo's Shaggy as a private eye and you've got the gist of Joaquin Phoenix's perpetually stoned detective "Doc." With a cast of characters that rivals a Russian novel, Inherent Vice may confuse you, but just settle into the haze and enjoy the trip, man. 4 stars out of 5.

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Mr. Turner

• On mobile? Watch the trailer here

Timothy Spall grunts and huffs his way through the life of the singular British landscape painter, Mr. Turner. With director Mike Leigh setting the frame, what we get is a sometime bewildering portrait with little insight into the artist's revolutionary technique or obsession with marine scenes. Rather, it's a picture of a stubborn visionary who lived life on his own terms, complemented by Leigh's almost documentary-like approach. 3 stars out of 5

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Unbroken

• On mobile? Watch the trailer here

With bristling energy and a magnetic presence, British actor Jack O'Connell has the potential to become the next Michael Fassbender. (Just watch the father-son prison drama Starred Up for an excellent example.) In Unbroken, O'Connell takes on the true life story of Louis Zamperini, a U.S. airman whose B-24 bomber crashed in the Pacific during the Second World War. As a director, Angelina Jolie seems drawn to stories of suffering, and what she presents here is a tale of endurance. As former Olympic distance runner, Zamperini engages in a battle of wills with a sadistic Japanese prison guard nicknamed The Bird. With a script by some of Hollywood's best screenwriters (including a Coen brother) and cinematography by Roger Deakins, Unbroken is a portrait of agony (the ragged, filth-covered PoWs even look like they were painted by Rembrandt). But for all of Zamperini's suffering, there's a lack of complexity to this good-versus-evil grudge match.  2½ stars out of 5. 

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Also opening on Dec. 25:

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PM's holiday message asks Canadians to pray for military personnel fighting ISIS

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is asking Canadians to pray for the country's military personnel as they battle ISIS extremists in Northern Iraq.

Harper also called Thursday for support of the Canadian Forces as part of his annual holiday address.

Canada has six CF-18 fighter jets in the Middle East as part of an international effort to help Iraq fight an insurgency by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militants.

Until this week, it also had fighter jets in the Baltics in response to Russia's incursions in Ukraine.

Harper also spoke of the economy, saying more Canadians have more opportunities and better jobs than at any time in the country's history.

But a big focus of his message was on Canada's role overseas.

Harper says Canadians are doing what they are known for — standing up for what is right, defending freedom and protecting the vulnerable.

The prime minister also urged Canadians to give to the less fortunate.
 

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