National News

HALIFAX — Canadian cities should be nimble and prioritize service if they want to sustain and strengthen public transit systems in a time of declining ridership and labour challenges, a transit researcher says.

VICTORIA — The British Columbia government’s new budget will spend more as the economy shrinks.

OTTAWA — A former top public servant and a prominent national security researcher say Canada can look to Australia for ideas on better handling the threat of foreign interference.

EDMONTON — Alberta is predicting a $2.4-billion budget surplus for its petro-powered economy this year, with plans to take a big bite out of its debt and put up guardrails to prevent eye-popping deficits when oil booms go bust.

VICTORIA — Advocates are celebrating news British Columbia will become the first in Canada to make prescription contraception free to all residents starting April 1. The announcement first promised by the B.C.

WASHINGTON — House Republicans drafted the Canada-U.S.

VICTORIA — Deficits are in the forecast for British Columbia’s budget, but that’s not stopping the New Democrat government from spending billions on health, housing and families.

OTTAWA — The federal government should explore lowering the threshold for when to notify Canadians about potential interference in the middle of an election campaign, says a report released Tuesday evaluating how an independent panel monitored the 20

OTTAWA — The CEO and other top executives of Google are being summoned to appear before a parliamentary committee after the company decided to temporarily block some Canadians from accessing news through its search engine.

EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's last budget before an expected spring election gives strong support to a proposed tax break for energy companies to fulfil their legal cleanup duties but doesn't tell voters how much would be spent on it.