OTTAWA, May 21 (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen
Harper on Tuesday dismissed a mushrooming expenses scandal as a
distraction, but also said he was “very upset” that members of
his Conservative Party had apparently tapped the public purse
for personal gain.

Harper, facing the biggest crisis since he won power in
early 2006 with promises to clean up government, urged
legislators to focus on the economy, which the Conservatives see
as their strongest suit.

OTTAWA, May 19 (Reuters) – The top aide to Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper abruptly resigned on Sunday over his
role in an mounting expenses scandal which is threatening to
undermine the Conservative government.

Nigel Wright, Harper’s chief of staff, quit after secretly
giving a C$90,000 ($87,000) check in February to Mike Duffy, a
member of the upper Senate chamber, to help him cover living
expenses he had improperly claimed. News of the gift leaked late
on Tuesday.

OTTAWA, May 2 (Reuters) – In a sign the spluttering Canadian
economy might grow faster than expected in the first quarter,
surging exports helped produce the country’s first trade surplus
in a year in March.

Statistics Canada said on Thursday that a 5.1 percent jump
in exports was behind an unexpected trade surplus of C$24
million ($24 million). Traders had predicted a shortfall of
C$720 million after the revised C$1.25 billion deficit in
February.

OTTAWA, April 26 (Reuters) – Canada’s oil-producing province
of Alberta, trying to deal with a lack of pipeline capacity to
the Pacific Coast and the United States, is mulling the idea of
building a line north to an Arctic port, the province’s energy
minister said on Friday.

Ken Hughes said he has been talking to the government of
Canada’s Northwest Territories, which lie directly north of
Alberta, about a pipeline to a port such as Inuvik or
Tuktoyaktuk on the Beaufort Sea, a section of the Arctic Ocean.

TORONTO/OTTAWA, April 23 (Reuters) – Canada’s Muslim
community, which alerted police to an alleged plot to attack a
passenger train that led to two arrests this week, said on
Tuesday imams were ready to report radical members who seemed
ready to cross a line.

Police arrested Raed Jaser of Toronto and Chiheb Esseghaier
of Montreal on Monday and said they had been investigating them
since last fall after a tip from the Muslim community in
Toronto. The men appeared in separate courts on Tuesday.

OTTAWA, April 23 (Reuters) – Outgoing Bank of Canada
Governor Mark Carney signaled on Tuesday he feels little
pressure to raise interest rates any time soon, saying he was
“very encouraged” that Canadians were stabilizing their debt
loads and that the housing market was cooling.

“I would say that as we sit here today, we are encouraged by
the fact that the rate of debt accumulation has slowed,” Carney
told lawmakers.

BRUSSELS/OTTAWA (Reuters) – Talks to wrap up a multi-billion-dollar free trade deal between Canada and Europe have stalled, diplomats said, raising concerns the agreement could be put on hold as Brussels switches its attention to a much bigger pact with the United States.

The Ottawa-Brussels negotiations to open up access to each others’ economies were launched in 2009, and were originally presented as a straightforward bid to reinvigorate growth and generate around $28 billion in trade and new business a year.

OTTAWA, April 19 (Reuters) – Canada’s annual inflation rate
in March slowed to 1.0 percent from 1.2 percent in February,
further underlining how little pressure there is on the Bank of
Canada to raise rates any time soon.

The main reason for the drop in the annual rate was lower
gas prices, Statistics Canada said on Friday. The March rate was
slightly less than the 1.1 percent predicted by economists.

OTTAWA, April 19 (Reuters) – Canada’s annual inflation rate
in March slowed to 1.0 percent from 1.2 percent in February,
further underlining how little pressure there is on the Bank of
Canada to raise rates any time soon.

The main reason for the drop in the annual rate was lower
gas prices, Statistics Canada said on Friday. The March rate was
slightly less than the 1.1 percent predicted by economists.