OTTAWA, Feb 3 (Reuters) – Canada’s government does not see
much sign of a recession or a crisis in the Canadian economy
this year, and is expecting slow but steady growth, Prime
Minister Stephen Harper said on Friday.

Harper, speaking in an interview with Reuters, also said his
government would stick to plans to reduce government spending
despite signs the economy was slowing and the budget deficit
might be smaller than expected.

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Prime Minister Stephen Harper may still be smarting from Canada’s failed bid to ramp up oil exports to the United States, but his plan B could prove to be even tougher.

Harper heads across the Pacific next week in a bid to convince China to satisfy its growing energy appetite with Canada’s vast oil reserves.

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Enbridge Inc’s controversial plan to build a pipeline to the Pacific Coast from oil-rich Alberta requires the consent of aboriginal bands, some of whom staunchly oppose the project, Canada’s top native leader said on Wednesday.

The contention underlines the difficulties facing Enbridge as it tries to push through the C$5.5 billion ($5.4 billion) Northern Gateway project, which would cross land belonging to many Indian bands, or first nations, so the oil sands-derived crude could be shipped to Asia and California.

WASHINGTON/OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada and the United States extended a bilateral softwood lumber deal by two years to 2015 on Monday, underlining the two nations’ close trade ties despite recent disagreements over an oil pipeline.

“This extension agreement will bring much-needed stability and predictability to the lumber industry,” Canadian Trade Minister Ed Fast told reporters after a meeting in Washington with U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk.

OTTAWA (Reuters) – The Canadian government has abruptly started to argue that the same-sex marriages of many foreigners who wed in Canada are not valid, a move that stunned the gay community and could affect thousands of couples.

In 2005, Canada became one of the first nations in the world to formally legalize gay marriage. As a result, same-sex couples have been marrying in their thousands in Canada – with many coming from the United States or overseas.

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper plans to visit China next month as his government looks to open new markets for oil sands crude in the wake of Washington’s decision to delay approval of a major pipeline from Alberta to Texas.

Harper is scheduled to fly to Beijing in the second week of February and aims to deepen economic ties with the Asian powerhouse, the prime minister’s office said in a statement on Wednesday after he met with China’s ambassador.

OTTAWA (Reuters) – On the eve of public hearings into a proposed oil pipeline from Alberta’s tar sands to the Pacific Coast, the Canadian government lashed out on Monday at what it said were foreign-funded radical groups opposing the project.

The comments by Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver were another sign of the pressures mounting against Enbridge Inc’s proposed C$5.5 billion ($5.4 billion) Northern Gateway pipeline.

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada’s widely criticised withdrawal from the Kyoto protocol ends a decade-long saga that began in earnest when former U.S. President George W. Bush walked away from the global climate change treaty in 2001.

The close links between the two economies, and the fact the United States has a population almost 10 times larger than that of Canada, meant that Ottawa ultimately felt it had to follow Washington’s lead and ignore the diplomatic fallout.

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada’s widely criticised withdrawal from the Kyoto protocol ends a decade-long saga that began in earnest when former U.S. President George W. Bush walked away from the global climate change treaty in 2001.

The close links between the two economies, and the fact the United States has a population almost 10 times larger than that of Canada, meant that Ottawa ultimately felt it had to follow Washington’s lead and ignore the diplomatic fallout.