Jan 19 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories from
selected Canadian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these
stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
** Federal Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains says
he hopes Iran's growing appetite to purchase hundreds of
civilian aircraft on the world market translates into an
opportunity for Canadian aerospace, but the Justin Trudeau
government hasn't said when or how Ottawa might roll back
economic sanctions on Tehran to make this possible.
Two Chinese government soldiers were part of a hacking
conspiracy allegedly carried out by a Chinese resident of Canada
to steal secrets relating to components of F-35s and other
American warplanes, according to court-filed documents.
Canada has been excluded from a high-level meeting of
"significant contributors' to the U.S.-led coalition called to
discuss stepping up the fight to defeat Islamic State militants.
The meeting of defense ministers from the United States,
Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and the Netherlands
is set for Wednesday in Paris.
A potential rate cut by the Bank of Canada this week
risks undermining confidence in the Canadian dollar, some
prominent Canadian economists have warned. Trading in overnight
index swaps currently implies the probability of a rate cut at
about 60 percent when the Bank of Canada releases its monetary
policy report on Wednesday.
POST
** As oil prices continued to free fall last week, oilsands
giants Suncor Energy Inc SU.TO and Canadian Oil Sands Ltd
COS.TO were quietly ending an acrimonious hostile battle and
working out the details of a C$6.6-billion ($4.56
billion)merger, announced on Monday. Both companies said their
respective boards were recommending a merger and that Suncor
would raise its ownership in Syncrude to 49 percent from 12
percent if the deal is finalized.
Justin Trudeau will try to reposition Canada as more than
a petro-state this week when he meets some of the planet's top
business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
This comes on the backdrop of the Canadian dollar plummeting in
lockstep with the price of oil that has fallen by nearly
three-quarters.
The mother of Maude Carrier, one of the Canadians killed
in a terror attack in Burkina Faso, has made a desperate plea
for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to keep up Canadian airstrikes
against Islamic State. Carrier was one of six aid workers from
Quebec killed on Friday when a group of Islamist terrorists
stormed a luxury hotel and cafe in the capital city of
Ouagadougou. In all, 28 people died.
($1 = C$1.45)