Canada says to impose tougher sanctions on Burma's regime

OTTAWA (Reuters) -

Canada will tighten existing sanctions against Myanmar after the military junta's recent clampdown on demonstrators, Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier said on Wednesday.

In September, the junta crushed the biggest pro-democracy protests in nearly 20 years, killing at least 10 people.Myanmar was formerly known as Burma.

"Canada has long had measures against Burma. Now, we are going to impose the toughest sanctions in the world ... they are right on moral grounds. The regime in Burma is abhorrent to Canadian values," Bernier said in a speech in Toronto.

He said Canada would:

* ban all exports to Myanmar, except for humanitarian goods, and bar all imports

* freeze Canadian assets of Myanmar citizens connected with the junta

* prohibit the provision of Canadian financial services and the export of technical data to Myanmar

* ban new investment by Canadian individuals and firms

* ban ships and aircraft registered in either country from visiting the other

"There is no more room for compromise with this odious regime," said Bernier. No figures for annual trade between the two nations were immediately available.

Last month, the House of Commons granted honorary citizenship to Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent nearly 12 of the last 18 years in prison or under house arrest.