PRESS DIGEST - Canada - July 1

July 1 (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: - Fifteen years of surplus budgets had put Alberta in the enviable position of being debt-free. But now, rocked by a double whammy of a recession and falling energy prices, the debts are piling up again.

Alberta is closing the books on its first deficit budget in 15 years with a shortfall of C$852 million, but that number pales against predictions that the province's deficit could soar to almost C$7 billion this year.

- Canada rated third in honouring pledges but more likely to follow through on economy than aid, study finds. The conclusions are included in a scorecard provided by a University of Toronto study group as G8 leaders prepare to meet in Italy next week.

Report on Business Section:

- Canada's economy contracted for the ninth month in a row in April, and the declines likely persisted throughout the second quarter of the year, economists say.

- Magna International Inc (MGa.TO) bid to transform itself into an auto maker could founder if General Motors Corp GMGMQ.PK insists on being able to buy back Adam Opel GmbH once the Canadian auto parts giant has restructured the European arm of GM.

NATIONAL POST

- Jurors in a murder trial in Toronto earlier this year were subjected to background checks without their knowledge, it was revealed in Ontario Superior Court on Tuesday.

- The average price of gasoline in Canada has fallen for the second straight week, according to a survey released Tuesday.

Financial Post section:

- The Canadian economy shrank for the ninth consecutive month in April, the federal agency reported, contracting 0.1 percent in April, after falling by an annualized 5.4 percent in the first quarter and 3.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008.

- Canwest Global Communications CGS.TO has won an extension from its senior lenders on a deadline to come up with a definitive re-capitalization plan.