Business

WASHINGTON — The White House forced the resignation of General Motors’ top executive Sunday, on the eve of announcing new aid and a 60-day deadline for the ailing auto giant to restructure. Chrysler LLC will get up to $6 billion and 30 days to complete an alliance with Italian automaker Fiat SpA.

EnCana Corp. (TSX:ECA) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) are seeking approval to more than double the capacity of their joint Christina Lake oilsands venture in Northern Alberta.

Sluggish activity in the Canadian oilpatch was countered by a busy drilling year in Papua New Guinea to leave High Arctic Energy Services Inc. (TSX: HWO) with a net loss of $39.6 million for 2008.

It won’t turn heads like the Executive Place construction project, but work on another downtown office building could begin shortly.

OTTAWA — The Canadian government and the export industry are watching nervously as a trade war brews between this country’s NAFTA partners.

OTTAWA — The world will pay a stiff price in future years for current massive government spending aimed to avert an even greater economic disaster, TD Bank’s chief economist Don Drummond says.

Pockets of opportunity exist for local manufacturers to sell into foreign markets, despite a world-wide recession.

IBM Canada Ltd. is cutting an unspecified number of jobs across the country, according to a spokesman for the computer and software company.

Canada’s economy has deteriorated so badly since the federal government introduced its budget that more jobs have already vanished than the $40-billion stimulus was intended to create, the parliamentary budget officer says. Kevin Page told the House of Commons finance committee Wednesday it was not his place to recommend more stimulus spending, but did urge that the stimulus already announced be implemented quickly.

MONTREAL — Rona Inc. (TSX:RON), Canada’s largest home renovations company, says government home tax credits and its own incentive program are showing early signs of stimulating business before an expected economic recovery in mid 2010.