PRESS DIGEST - Canada - June 26

June 26 (Reuters) - The following are top stories from selected Canadian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

THE GLOBE AND MAIL:

- Prime Minister Stephen Harper says his party's controversial ad campaign against Michael Ignatieff did Canadians a service by pushing the Liberals away from triggering a summer election. Harper said in an interview with CTV News in Halifax that he would leave it to others to decide whether Ignatieff's 34 years outside Canada disqualified him to be prime minister, but that the extensive ad campaign played a role in making Ignatieff think again about forcing a vote.

- Alberta Energy Minister Mel Knight says "game-changing situations" in the natural gas sector have forced the province to boost temporary drilling incentive programs by C$1.5-billion to C$3-billion. "Producers need to begin setting budgets for the upcoming drilling season, and we need to provide timely assurance that these programs will be extended," he told reporters in Edmonton on Thursday. Report on Business Section:

- Potash Corp of Saskatchewan (POT.TO) dismantled its second-quarter profit guidance, warning investors that its earnings will be at least 45 per cent lower than expected as customers continue to shun the fertilizer giant's products.

- The U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Canada are preparing to scale back the emergency lending programs they put in place to help the financial system as markets stabilize and banks find their feet.

NATIONAL POST

- Canada's stimulus package is structured in such a way that the country should easily be able to erase its budget deficit two years after the recession ends, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Thursday. Ottawa says it will run a C$50-billion this year alone, in large part because of the two-year stimulus package. Harper said most of the spending was a one-off and would not reoccur after the 2010-11 fiscal year.

- Tangible evidence that billions of dollars of government aid to the financial sector is finally starting to lift the real economy emerged Thursday as Bank of Nova Scotia reported a jump in lending activity in the auto market, which is helping to turn things around for the ailing industry.

Financial Post section:

- The rebound in metal prices is bringing with it a renewed interest in investable index products tied to commodities. Thursday, Standard & Poor's launched the S&P/TSX Global Base Metals Index, a resource play that S&P hopes will follow on the success of its predecessors, the global mining and global gold indices.

- Moments after amending its own oil and gas royalty rules for the fifth time in less than two years, the Alberta government said Thursday there could be yet more changes if it decides the industry needs further help keeping natural gas flowing out of the ground and labourers on the job.