That decision has alarmed Jim Prentice, Canada's environment minister, who wants the highest environmental standards to be applied.

ECONOMIST: Oil drilling in the Arctic

As a one-time member of a federal claims commission, Jim Prentice, the new minister of Indian and northern affairs, has wide experience of aboriginal affairs.

ECONOMIST: Canada

Jim Prentice, the industry minister, wants to build a new bridge between Windsor and Detroit to supplement the existing one and a tunnel, both dating from the 1920s.

ECONOMIST: Canada and the United States