National Business

Some of the most active companies traded Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange: Toronto Stock Exchange (16,327.35, down 99.12 points ). Prometic Life Sciences Inc. Health care. Unchanged at 4.5 cents on 14.2 million shares.

TORONTO — Program spending under Ontario's Progressive Conservatives, which will drop to its lowest level in 30 years, could contribute to weaker economic growth at a time when fiscal clouds are gathering, the province's budget watchdog said Wednesda

CALGARY — Western Canada's Montney oil and gas region would be two to four times more productive if it was in the United States with its more efficient regulatory systems, says the CEO of Encana Corp.

TORONTO — Postmedia Network Inc. plans to buy a minority stake in The Logic Inc. — a digital-only Canadian media outlet with a mandate to break tech-focused news through investigative journalism.

DONKIN, N.S. — A Cape Breton colliery has been issued another stop work order after a methane fire occurred as coal miners worked on the rock face Tuesday afternoon.

VANCOUVER — The British Columbia Securities Commission says it has won a court decision in Nevada that enforces a $21.7-million order against a man accused of defrauding his Canadian clients.

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday he has no idea who wrote a confidential Internal Revenue Service legal memo that says that tax returns must be given to Congress unless the president asserts executive privilege.

TORONTO — Canadian household debt reached a record high at the end of last year even as mortgage activity slowed, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said in a report out Wednesday. The debt to income ratio of Canadians hit a record high of 178.

TORONTO — Canadian Imperial Bank Of Commerce saw slow growth in personal and small business banking, offsetting its gains in capital markets and U.S. commercial banking as total earnings fell short of analysts' expectations.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The leader of an ill-fated effort to revive the People Express airline has been indicted on fraud and tax evasion charges. The Daily Press reports Michael D.