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The National Post is reporting that Rex Murphy has died. Murphy worked as a columnist for the newspaper, which said in an obituary on its website that he died at 77 after a battle with cancer. Here's what Canadians are saying about the news.

The National Post is reporting that Rex Murphy, the pro-oil pundit who was at once the steady stickhandler of a national call-in radio show and a driver of divisive online discourse, has died.

REGINA — Saskatchewan teachers have rejected an offer from the province for a three-year contract that included wage increases and promises for more classroom funding.

LONDON, Ont. — Easton Cowan scored once and added four assists as the London Knights opened the Ontario Hockey League's Championship Final on Thursday night with an 8-1 win over the visiting Oshawa Generals.

BAIE-COMEAU, Que.

VANCOUVER — Canfor has announced it is permanently closing its Polar sawmill in Bear Lake, B.C., shutting a production line at its Northwood Pulp Mill in Prince George, and suspending its "planned reinvestment" in Houston, B.C.

WINNIPEG — The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.

VICTORIA — British Columbia is forming a new police unit tasked with investigating gang-related homicides, saying almost 50 per cent of the murders in the province last year were connected to gangland crimes.

WINNIPEG — A Winnipeg man has admitted to killing four women but claims he's not criminally responsible because of mental illness. Jeremy Skibicki, 37, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder. His trial began Wednesday.

WINNIPEG — The trial of serial killer Jeremy Skibicki heard Thursday that police found physical evidence of the victims in his Winnipeg apartment, including jewelry, clothing, DNA and a bloodstained bathtub. Const.