National News

OTTAWA — Longtime Conservative member of Parliament Ed Fast says he will retire from politics as of the next federal election. Fast, who represents a riding in Abbotsford, B.C., has been an MP for more than 18 years.

CALGARY — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pushed back Wednesday on growing demands from premiers to dump the planned April 1 hike to the consumer carbon levy, saying leaders must tackle both affordability and climate change.

OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear an appeal of a Calgary man who fatally stabbed five young people at a house party nearly a decade ago.

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today...

Two Alberta First Nations have asked the federal government to examine whether a component of oilsands tailings pond water known to harm fish and other animals should be classed as toxic.

TORONTO — A unique Canadian program meant to ensure sexual-assault cases aren’t closed inappropriately by police is set to run out of federal funding at the end of the month, its national co-ordinator said.

COBOURG, Ont. — Kim Rudd, a former Liberal MP who represented a southern Ontario riding, has died. An online obituary says Rudd died of ovarian cancer on Tuesday at a hospice in Cobourg, Ont.

EDMONTON — Alberta's utilities regulator has released a report saying the province's booming renewables industry poses little threat to its agriculture or the environment.

Jason Brolund, the fire chief in West Kelowna, B.C., says he's seen thick smoke turn day to night in his years as a firefighter, but the opposite happened when a fast-moving blaze tore through his community one night last August.

VICTORIA — British Columbia millionaire Eric Peterson is preparing to do something he's never been comfortable with — ask other very rich people for money.