Maxime Bernier, Oct 2007

Canada says it will tighten its existing sanctions against Burma because of the crackdown on pro-democracy activists by the country's military rulers.

Announcing the action Wednesday, Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier said there is no more room for compromise with what he called the "odious regime" in Burma.

The new sanctions include a ban on Canadian investment, trade and transfer of technical data to Burma.

The measures are seen as largely symbolic since total trade between Canada and Burma sank to $9 million last year.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.