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This story is part of The Big Spend, a CBC News investigation examining the unprecedented $240 billion the federal government handed out during the first eight months of the pandemic.

An exclusive Ottawa-area golf course has booked a $1-million surplus due mostly to the help of federal COVID-19 relief. CBC News has obtained the club's audited financial statements, and a recording of its annual general meeting, in which its board told members about the club's "very strong financial position" due to the Canada emergency wage subsidy (CEWS) windfall.Royal Ottawa, which is located in Gatineau, Que., a 12-minute drive from Parliament Hill, was founded in 1891 and has long been a playground for the capital's elite. The club offers what it calls "privileged" status to cabinet ministers, the leader of the Official Opposition, accredited high commissioners and ambassadors to Canada and their respective spouses.But faced with lockdown restrictions that kept its facilities shut from mid-March through mid-May, the club sought and received $1.019 million in federal wage support over the spring and summer, and as a result, ended its fiscal year with an $825,000 surplus in its operating fund 19 times more than the $43,883 operating gain the club reported for 2019. Some healthy investment returns and cost-savings pushed the non-profit organization's surplus to over $1 million.

Members were told that the Royal Ottawa board decided to keep the entire amount in order to "provide a cushion against unanticipated future expenses." Club representatives declined the CBC's requests for an interview about their record surplus and how they plan to use it. But a letter issued in response to a list of detailed questions maintains that the club is under no obligation to refund the money to the federal government.

WATCH | Club treasurer Doug McLarty explains to members the impact of CEWS funding on Royal Ottawa's bottom line:

The government says that CEWS may only be used for employees' wages, and employers who misuse CEWS money may face a penalty equal to 25 per cent of the amount of help they applied for, and can also be required to pay back any money they received.Richard Leblanc, a professor of governance, law and ethics at York University, said all organizations who are receiving government pandemic funds need to be sure they are using them for their intended purpose. "It's not intended to be a windfall, or for ulterior, or any other purpose other than employee wages," Leblanc said. Otherwise the risks of owing the money, plus the penalty and interest, are significant. "Not to mention the reputational hit," he said.

The federal Liberals have more support today than they did one year ago, while the opposition parties are no further ahead, polls suggest. CBC polls analyst ric Grenier reports that if an election were held today, the Liberals almost certainly would win it and perhaps capture a majority of the seats up for grabs, too. According to the CBC's Canada Poll Tracker, an aggregation of all publicly available polling data, the Liberals are up 4.2 percentage points since December 2019. The Conservatives, New Democrats and Bloc Qubcois have hardly budged, while the Greens are down nearly three points. A year ago, the Liberals held a narrow lead over the Conservatives and were solidly in minority territory. But today's numbers would deliver around 167 seats to the Liberals, three seats short of a majority, with about 111 seats going to the Conservatives, 32 to the Bloc, 27 to the NDP and one to the Greens. Read Grenier's full analysis here.

Those who are pregnant or breastfeeding will have to weigh their own risks when deciding whether to be vaccinated against COVID-19 because it hasn't been studied in clinical trials, Canadian doctors say. Without data on the safety of the vaccines during pregnancy and breastfeeding, there's a grey area for people looking for answers to how the risk of COVID-19 compares with that of the immunizations. Dr. Noni MacDonald, a professor of pediatrics at Dalhousie University in Halifax, said there were some women who received coronavirus vaccines during the clinical trials who got pregnant immediately afterward and haven't yet delivered. "We will have pretty soon babies being born to those women and we expect them to be perfectly normal but we don't know that yet," MacDonald said. Meanwhile, research has shown that pregnant women are at higher risk of severe outcomes if they do get COVID-19. Read more about the issue here.

WATCH | Pregnant front-line workers to weigh risks, benefits of COVID-19 vaccine:

Work on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project is shutting down temporarily. Trans Mountain said yesterday it is enacting "a voluntary project-wide safety stand down" from today until Jan. 4 due to safety concerns. "Over the past two months, we have seen safety incidents at our worksites that are unacceptable to Trans Mountain. This is inconsistent with Trans Mountain's proud safety culture," said Ian Anderson, president and CEO of Trans Mountain, in a release. The statement didn't specify what those safety incidents were, but the Canada Energy Regulator says a contractor was seriously injured Tuesday at a Trans Mountain construction site in British Columbia. Finance Canada said it supports Trans Mountain's decision to suspend construction and it expects the incident to be thoroughly investigated and addressed. Read more about the pause here.

Five holiday films that feature LGBTQ main characters are being released in 2020, representing a dramatic shift in the film industry. U.S.-based holiday flicks such as Dashing in December, The Christmas House and I Hate New Years all cast gay couples in the lead roles of light-hearted stories. Canadians have been getting in on the action as well: Schitt's Creek star Dan Levy plays a supporting role in Hulu's recent Happiest Season, while Lifetime's first ever LGBTQ holiday film, The Christmas Setup, stars Toronto-born Ben Lewis alongside his real-life husband, Blake Lee. Read more about the trend, and some criticism of its content, here.

WATCH | Why there's a new wave of LGBTQ holiday movies this year:

Now here's some good news to start your Friday: An elementary school in Charlottetown has gotten around the restrictions on singing during the pandemic by teaching the children O Canada and Happy Birthday in American Sign Language. "I think it's wonderful for children to be able to communicate in another language and to be aware that there are children who can't hear and that they now know a little bit of sign," said Sandy Zinck, a music teacher at West Royalty Elementary. Read more about the school's approach here.

WATCH | The students sign O Canada:

As the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine rolls out across the country, and other vaccines await imminent regulatory approval, many public health experts are focusing on the issue of vaccine hesitancy.

Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam has spoken out about the "moveable middle" and says it is critical that as many people get vaccinated as possible to protect themselves and others from risk.

But because conversations about vaccines can be hard, today we're bringing in an expert to explain how to have more meaningful and productive discussions with people who have questions or fears. Maria Sundaram is an infectious disease epidemiologist who studies vaccines.

Front Burner31:38Vaccine hesitancy, the next pandemic hurdle

1865: The 13th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, abolishing slavery, goes into effect.

1950: The 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, lands in Pusan, South Korea. It is the first Canadian combat unit to reach the peninsula during the Korean War.

1958: The world's first communications satellite is launched by the United States aboard an Atlas rocket.

1969: The British Parliament votes for the permanent abolition of the death penalty.

1979: Pierre Trudeau announces he is postponing his retirement from politics.

2003: Lee Boyd Malvo is found guilty of murder and terrorism charges in connection with sniper attacks in the Washington, D.C., area.

2010: The U.S. Senate agrees to do away with the military's 17-year ban on openly gay troops, overturning the Clinton-era policy of "don't ask, don't tell."

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