Jan 5 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories from select Canadian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** Toronto Real Estate Board reported home prices in the Greater Toronto Area averaged C$735,021 ($587,921) ($587,721) in December, up just 0.7 per cent from C$730,124 ($583,807) in December, 2016. https://tgam.ca/2CI0WFw
** Soulpepper's growth from a small Toronto theatre company into one of Canada's most successful artistic ventures was fuelled by the dynamism and passion of artistic director Albert Schultz, who resigned Thursday after allegations of sexual misconduct spanning several years. https://tgam.ca/2CKR3qM
** Canadian marijuana companies that operate south of the border are facing new worries about legal exposure in the United States after the Department of Justice took steps toward enforcing federal law banning cannabis. https://tgam.ca/2CK8rMf
NATIONAL POST
** Brookfield Asset Management Inc's BAMa.TO private equity unit struck its biggest-ever deal Thursday, buying up bankrupt nuclear technology powerhouse Westinghouse Electric Co LLC for $4.6 billion, in a bold move that appears to be welcomed by investors.
In a four-page document released Thursday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission argued there was little it could do to prevent CME Group Inc CME.O and Cboe Global Markets Inc CBOE.O from launching futures contracts. The exchanges took advantage of a process known as self-certification that allows them to list products after pledging to regulators that trading doesn't run afoul of the law.
Jim Shaw, the former chief executive of Western Canadian communications giant Shaw Communications Inc SJRb.TO, died Wednesday after a brief illness. He was 60. ($1 = 1.2502 Canadian dollars)