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Missing 3-year-old boy found dead in creek in Mississauga, Ont.: police
A three-year-old boy has been found dead a day after he went missing in a park in Mississauga, Ont., Peel police say.
Choose your fighter: groundhog edition.
Feb. 2 is officially Groundhog Day in Canada and the U.S., and that means multiple “official” groundhogs in different regions have stepped up to the plate to predict whether residents will endure a miserable six more weeks of winter, or be given an early spring.
Groundhog Day stems from a superstition held by German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania between the 17th and 19th centuries. In medieval Europe, farmers believed that if hedgehogs emerged from their burrows to catch insects, that was a sign of an early spring. When the immigrants arrived in what became the United States, the hedgehog folklore was replaced with groundhogs.
According to the legend, if a groundhog sees its shadow on Groundhog Day, winter will be extended by six weeks. No shadow means an early spring.
So what did the groundhogs predict on Groundhog Day 2023? Here’s what some of the groundhogs (and one human) have predicted so far, from coast to coast.
Shubenacadie Sam emerged from her burrow Thursday and unfortunately saw her shadow. She made her annual prediction just after 8 a.m. at Shubenacadie Wildlife Park in Shubenacadie, N.S.
The Twitter account for Sam alerted the public to her prediction and warned not to put away hats or mitts just yet.
Sam was the first groundhog to make a prediction for 2023 due to being in the Atlantic time zone.
In a twist, Wiarton Willie challenged Sam’s forecast by predicting an early spring. Willie, who lives in the South Bruce Peninsula in Ontario, emerged at 8:07 a.m. and did not see his shadow.
This year’s Willie is also white-furred,according to local legend. In 2021, then-Willie died and an understudy that didn’t have the righthue was picked to replace the animal. Now this Willie is the official replacement, and has the white-hued fur.
In a shocking turn of events, Quebec’s Fred la Marmotte died and was unable to fulfill his duties. The nine-year-old groundhog did not wake up when organizers went to check on him Wednesday night. R.I.P. to Fred.
But without an heir, a last-minute replacement had to make their own predictions. A child was picked to standin for Fred in Val d'Espoir, Que., where the ceremony takes place annually.
La Jour de Fred organizer Roberto Blondin picked a stuffed groundhog from Fred’s log cabin and handed it to the child, who then decreed that spring would be delayed.
Next year, a new Fred will return, Blondin said.
Another six weeks of winter is on its way, according to Punxatawney Phil from Pennsylvania.
The groundhog’s predictions in the town of Punxsutawney, which is about 105 kilometres northeast of Pittsburgh, is an annual event that draws thousands of people.
Phil is arguably the more authoritative groundhog, if not more famous, as Phils throughout history have made predictions in Punxsutawney since 1887. He has predicted winter more than 100 times.
With files from the Canadian Press and the Associated Press.
A three-year-old boy has been found dead a day after he went missing in a park in Mississauga, Ont., Peel police say.
Against the rainy Paris night sky, Celine Dion staged the comeback of her career with a powerful performance from the Eiffel Tower to open the Olympic Games.
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An Irish museum will withdraw a waxwork of singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor just one day after installing it, following a backlash from her family and the public, it told CNN in a statement on Friday.
A Winnipeg senior is getting soaked with a six-figure water bill.
Nearly two weeks after Donald Trump's near assassination, the FBI confirmed Friday that it was indeed a bullet that struck the former president's ear, moving to clear up conflicting accounts about what caused the former president's injuries after a gunman opened fire at a Pennsylvania rally.
Orillia OPP arrested and charged a driver with impaired driving after flashing their high beams.
A powerful Mexican drug cartel leader who eluded authorities for decades was duped into flying into the U.S., where he was arrested alongside a son of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, according to a U.S. law enforcement official familiar with the matter.
The lawyer for a former judge whose claims to be Cree were questioned in a CBC investigation says his client is not considering legal action against the broadcaster after the Law Society of British Columbia this week backed her claims of Indigenous heritage.
As fire threatened people in Jasper National Park, Colleen Knull sprung into action.
Video posted to social media on Thursday morning appears to show the charred remains of a Jasper, Alta., neighbourhood.
A Saskatchewan-born veteran of the Second World War was recently presented with France's highest national order.
A local First Nations elder and veteran is helping to bring the Ojibwe language to a well-known film for the first time.
A cat who fled her Montreal home nearly a decade ago has been reunited with her family after being found in Ottawa.
A woman in Waterloo, Ont. is out thousands of dollars for a car crash she wasn’t involved in.
A swarm of bees living in a lamppost in Winnipeg’s Sage Creek neighbourhood has found a new home for its hive.
Around 100 acres of Manitoba Crown Land near the Saskatchewan border is being returned to the Métis community.
Nova Scotia is suspending the licensed Cape Breton moose hunt for three years due to what the province is calling a “significant drop” in the population.