Federal government on pace to meet Carney public service reduction target, experts say

OTTAWA — The recently unveiled southern route for a proposed new West Coast oil pipeline is facing criticism from a surprising corner: provincial Conservatives in B.C. They say that the southerly route, which cuts through B.C.’s highly fertile Fraser Valley , places an unnecessary strain on already dwindling prime farmland in the area. The planned route, announced earlier this month by the federal and Alberta governments, will run some 1,200 kilometres from Bruderheim, Alta. southwest to Roberts Bank in Delta, B.C. The proposal was selected over an option to the B.C. north coast that...