Four stories in the news today, Dec. 29, from The Canadian Press:

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PRIORITIZE PALLIATIVE CARE, GOVERNMENT URGED

The escalating debate over doctor-assisted death could be the perfect chance for Canada to fix its broken system of palliative care — a "dark secret" that health advocates say has been quietly deteriorating in the shadows for decades.Terminally ill patients and their family members are forced to take up the slack as a result, said Gabriel Miller, the public issues director of the Canadian Cancer Society, which is scheduled to issue a report next month on the state of palliative care across the country.

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WINTER STORM WARNINGS ISSUED IN QUEBEC

It promises to be a slow commute across southern, central and northeastern Ontario this morning.A Texas low tracking across the Great Lakes area brought ice, snow and freezing rain to southern Ontario and up to 35 centimetres of snow to the northeast. Environment Canada says accumulations near the shore of Lake Ontario could be less than five centimetres, and in some areas the snow on the ground turned to slush. Environment Canada has issued winter storm warnings for parts of southern Quebec, forecasting 25 to 40 centimetres of snow could fall today and overnight into Wednesday.

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CHILD FARM DEATHS IN 2015 RAISE SAFETY AWARENESS

Photos of three smiling, blond sisters circulated around the world this year after they were killed on their family farm in west-central Alberta.Catie Bott, 13, and 11-year-old twins Dara and Jana, suffocated in a truck loaded with canola as their family was busy bringing in the harvest in October. Glen Blahey with the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association says the tragedy has acted as a catalyst for discussing child safety on farms.

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CANADA PLAYS SWITZERLAND AT WORLD JUNIORS

Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood will make his world junior hockey championship debut on Tuesday as Canada plays Switzerland in the preliminary round.Blackwood sat out Canada's first two games of the tournament as he completed an eight-game suspension from the Ontario Hockey League.

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News from © The Canadian Press, 2015