Bouchard calls elections to fill 2 empty seats

Parizeau's L'Assomption riding northeast of Montreal has been vacant since Parizeau officially resigned his seat last Jan. 29.

The other by-election will be in the Montreal riding of Outremont. That seat was left vacant when Liberal Gerald Tremblay quit politics last month.

Ontario to make Quebec's budget look bad

His budget on Tuesday cut income taxes for individuals and businesses while reducing the Ontario deficit. Quebec's budget -- to be delivered today -- will probably only trim the deficit.

``What the Ontario budget did is show it's possible to focus on deficit reduction while stimulating the economy through tax measures,'' said Pierre Cleroux, a spokesman for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

Premier Lucien Bouchard has painted himself as a deficit-chopper with a heart. He has promised no income tax increases in his first budget as premier. But Quebec's fiscal woes are too deep for tax cuts.

Quebec is projecting a $3.2 billion deficit for the 1996-97 fiscal year, but it must find $600 million on top of $1.1 billion in cuts already announced.

Small quake in Niagara area shakes ground

The quake at 2:28 a.m. registered 2.5 on the Richter scale, a level that reportedly caused no damage but noticeably shook the ground.

The epicenter was under Lake Ontario, about 35 miles east of Hamilton.

``This is a small earthquake with no damage associated with it,'' said Janet Drysdale, a seismologist with the Geological Survey of Canada.

IN BUSINESS

Executive landed Paris job amid cutbacks

Claude Durand, a director of the hydro's equipment division before he moved to Paris with his family, works as a senior adviser to the International Union of Producers and Distributors of Electrical Energy.

The arrangement to lend Durand was made as Hydro Quebec cut thousands of jobs over the last two years and as its profits fell by half in 1995.

Durand refused to comment. He was sent to France on loan in 1994 for a two-year stint, but his appointment was extended to June 1997, Hydro spokesman Yvan Cliche said.

Cliche defended the posting.

``It allows us to network and create alliances with foreign utilities, which eventually leads to new business.''

Stocks fall amid forecasts of rising rates

Canadian Pacific, BCE and gold stocks led the Toronto Stock Exchange 300 Composite Index down 6.27 points to 5160.80.

``Yields keep creeping up, so it's hard for the market to gain,'' said Steve Bokor, a portfolio manager at Majendie Securities.

During the past few months, reports of stronger economic performance and rising commodity prices have ignited concern that the rate of inflation will accelerate and push rates higher soon.

The U.S. dollar closed Wednesday at C$1.3663; the Canadian dollar closed at U.S. 73.19 cents.