OTTAWA, March 29 (Reuters) – Canada, intent on boosting development of the
oil-rich tar sands, will speed up the process for approving big energy and
industrial projects such as pipelines.

The federal budget, released on Thursday, also said the right-of-center
Conservative government would crack down on political activity by charities,
some of which have strongly criticized Ottawa’s focus on energy exports.

OTTAWA, March 27 (Reuters) – Canada’s industry minister, who
was found guilty of ethics violations last week, is being
formally investigated for possible wrongdoing in a second case,
the federal ethics watchdog said on Tuesday.

Christian Paradis, who handles some of the government’s most
sensitive files, may be turning into a political problem for
Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who came to power in
early 2006 promising more accountability in government.

OTTAWA, March 27 (Reuters) – In a move set to help the oil
industry, Canada’s Conservative government will unveil new rules
this week designed to cut the time it takes for environmental
assessments of major energy and industrial projects.

The government says the current complex system of
regulations means it can take far too long to approve pipelines
and mines, thereby putting at risk up to C$500 billion ($505
billion) in new investment over the next 10 years.

OTTAWA, March 22 (Reuters) – Canadian Industry Minister
Christian Paradis, who must approve all major foreign takeover
bids and also runs the sensitive telecommunications file, broke
conflict-of-interest rules by doing a favor for an ex-colleague,
Canada’s ethics watchdog said on Thursday.

The decision is an embarrassment for the Conservative
government, which came to power in early 2006 promising to boost
accountability in Ottawa. Paradis is the first Conservative
minister to have been formally investigated for breaking ethics
rules.

OTTAWA, March 22 (Reuters) – Canadian retail sales rose by
much less than expected in January, adding to recent gloomy
economic data that signals the economy may have contracted at
the start of the year.

Retail sales increased by 0.5 percent in January and would
have fallen had it not been for a healthy auto sector, according
to Statistics Canada data on Thursday. This was much less than
the 1.7 month-on-month rise that market operators had expected.

OTTAWA, March 1 (Reuters) – Canada’s current account
deficit in 2011 dropped slightly from the record set in 2010 and
is shrinking in proportion to gross domestic product, indicating
the worst of the economic crisis may be over.

The deficit for the year fell to C$48.30 billion ($48.79
billion), the second highest on record after 2010′s C$50.86
billion, Statistics Canada said on Thursday.

OTTAWA, Feb 29 (Reuters) – Canada’s budget will be
delivered on March 29 and will contain only modest spending cuts
rather than the massive reductions that some unions are
anticipating, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Wednesday.

The governing Conservatives say they plan to cut between C$4
billion ($4 billion) and $8 billion a year to eliminate the
budget deficit by the 2015-16 fiscal year.

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said on Wednesday it was too early to declare democratic reforms brought in after five decades of military rule were irreversible and played down talk of accepting a cabinet seat.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) will contest 48 by-elections in April that could give political credibility to the isolated southeast Asian state and help speed the end of Western sanctions.

OTTAWA, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Talks on a free trade
agreement between Canada and the European Union may take months
longer to complete than initially planned as Canada seeks the
best possible deal, Ottawa said on Tuesday.

The agreement is particularly important for Canada, which is
seeking to diversify exports away from the giant U.S. market.

OTTAWA, Feb 27 (Reuters) – The Canadian government’s
next budget will not contain exact details of how Ottawa intends
to cut federal spending, despite an earlier promise to do so, an
official told Reuters on Monday.

The Conservatives had initially said the budget, expected in
late March or early April, would unveil a program of cuts of
between 5 and 10 percent of spending in 67 federal departments.
They say the measures are needed to eliminate the budget deficit
by 2015-16.