Ontario News

TORONTO — A four-alarm fire ripped through a row of tightly-packed homes west of downtown Toronto on Wednesday evening. The fire (in the Queen-Ossington area) erupted at about 5 p.m. and involved six buildings.

OTTAWA — Pierce Lepage of Whitby, Ont., won the men's decathlon on Wednesday at the Canadian track and field championships. He finished the 10-event sport with 7,948 points. Taylor Stewart (7,882) of London, Ont.

OTTAWA — Star sprinter Andre De Grasse wants to put on a show on home soil before he goes back to thrilling the track world on the international stage.

Toronto FC fullback Steven Beitashour, injured in a collision with Montreal's Kyle Fisher in the Canadian Championship finale on June 27, has been released from hospital.

TORONTO — Forward Zach Hyman signed a four-year contract extension with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday with an average annual value of US$2.25 million. Hyman will earn $2 million in 2017-18 and 2018-19, and then $2.

EDINBURGH, Scotland — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau marked Canada's 150th birthday with the Queen Wednesday by giving her the Canadian flag that flew on the Peace Tower on Canada Day.

HALIFAX — Memories of past flights led military pilots astray as they tried to avoid an accident during an aborted takeoff two years ago that badly damaged an Aurora aircraft, says a safety report released Wednesday.

TORONTO — Randy Ambrosie ticks a lot of boxes as the incoming commissioner of the Canadian Football League. He's a Canadian who understands the nuances of the CFL. He's a former player and a successful businessman.

HALIFAX — An organizer of the Aboriginal ceremony in Halifax disrupted by off-duty members of the Armed Forces on Canada Day says she is glad the military has apologized but she also wants a public acknowledgment that much of the East Coast is uncede

TORONTO — An eight-day winning streak for oil prices ended Wednesday amid news that Russia isn't interested in pursuing deeper production cuts. The August crude contract fell back $1.94 to US$45.