ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Environmental activists who want a drilling moratorium in the Gulf of St. Lawrence weren't impressed Friday as regulators extended an oil exploration licence for the Old Harry site by another year.Corridor Resources Inc. (TSX-CDH) of Halifax had until Friday to offer a $1 million deposit to extend the licence until next January.The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board announced the province and Ottawa agreed to waive the fee. Federal and provincial Natural [Read more]

CALGARY - Finance Minister Bill Morneau met with business leaders Friday in the financial heart of Canada's ailing oilpatch, where he says he got a clearer picture of how challenging the crude collapse has been for Alberta."They heightened my sense of concern, which was already pretty high about making sure that we deal with challenging economic situation in Alberta," he told reporters following meetings with oil and gas industry executives and the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. Morneau had [Read more]

DUGALD, Man. - Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau said Thursday the low Canadian dollar and low price of oil make his plans for stimulus spending and tax cuts even more important.Morneau appeared to hint that Liberal plans for infrastructure spending could be strengthened."With the slowing of the economy, we believe it's doubly important that we take the correct actions to help Canadians to do better," Morneau told reporters at a stop on his pre-budget tour of the country."We're playing close [Read more]

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - It's enough to make one of Canada's most successful folk musicians sing the blues.Bob Hallett, founding member of Great Big Sea, is now a businessman who invested big-time in a St. John's restaurant and bar three years ago when Newfoundland and Labrador was leading national economic growth.Today, it's among other resource-reliant provinces such as Alberta and Saskatchewan that have borne the fiscal brunt since oil prices tanked."Business is probably off across the board [Read more]