OTTAWA -- Nineteen charges for a private gathering over the Christmas weekend, the U.K. COVID-19 variant detected in Ottawa and an eastern Ontario MPP facing backlash for his family Christmas photo.

CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at the top stories on our website this week.

These Canadian dollar bills are set to lose legal tender status on New Year's Day

Several old Canadian paper bills lost their legal tender status on New Year's Day.

The Bank of Canada said hundreds of millions of $1, $2, $25, $500, and $1,000 bills no longer have legal tender status, and merchants no longer have to accept them.

Allanah Rossi is with Universal Coins on Bank Street, and says there are certain notes you may not want to take to the bank - "The $25 commemorative bill is actually exceedingly rare."

Rossi suggests rare means it could be worth thousands of dollars.

"There are two components to bank notes- it’s their rarity, but also their condition plays an important part."

Christmas weekend gathering at Ottawa restaurant leads to 19 charges

Ottawa bylaw officers issued 19 charges for a private gathering at an Ottawa restaurant over the Christmas weekend.

Between Christmas Eve and Monday, Dec. 28, Ottawa Bylaw and Regulatory Services issued two verbal warnings and laid 21 charges related to provincial orders about social gatherings and other activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Nineteen charges for a private gathering at a restaurant on Carling Avenue in contravention of the Reopening Ontario Act," Bylaw Director Roger Chapman said in a statement to CTV News Ottawa.

Chapman did not provide the name of the restaurant or the date of the gathering.