National News

VANCOUVER — An arctic stranglehold on much of Western Canada is loosening on all but northern Alberta, while a Pacific low-pressure system brings snow to much of British Columbia.

OTTAWA — Health Minister Mark Holland has been calling around to United States officials to let them know that the Canadian government will be guarding its medical drug supply after the U.S. moved to allow states to mass import medicine from Canada.

EDMONTON — Former premier Rachel Notley, after almost a decade at the helm of Alberta’s NDP, is stepping down from the top job.

MONTREAL — A Quebec man charged with the sexual assault and murder of a 19-year-old junior college student nearly 24 years ago was tracked down with the help of a project that matches DNA with male surnames, the Crown said Tuesday in court.

OTTAWA — The federal government will not bankroll sensitive scientific research tied to dozens of schools, institutes and labs in China, Iran and Russia under new restrictions announced Tuesday.

MONTREAL — A 59-year-old martial arts coach appeared in court northeast of Montreal on Monday on more than 60 new alleged sexual offences involving minors. Réal Chayer was charged at the courthouse in Joliette, Que.

EDMONTON — Former premier Rachel Notley, after almost a decade leading Alberta’s NDP, announced Tuesday that she is stepping down.

PIEDMONT, Que. — A man is dead after he fell at a ski hill in Quebec's Laurentians region, the second person to die on the slopes in less than a week in the province. Provincial police say they were called at around 10 a.m.

BURNABY, B.C. — Bitterly cold temperatures in southern British Columbia have prompted a "dramatic increase" in the number of hummingbird admissions to the Wildlife Rescue Association of BC.

OTTAWA — Federal officials were wary of creating a chill within ethnic communities and rattling Canada's bilateral relations as they fleshed out next steps to secure vital scientific research, internal documents show.