PRESS DIGEST - Canada - Jan 27

Jan 27 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories from selected Canadian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

THE GLOBE AND MAIL:

-- The Conservative government is confirming what it's been hinting at for weeks: spending cuts in the upcoming federal budget could be twice as deep as Ottawa's original target.

Rather than aiming for a 5 percent cut overall and permanent savings of $4 billion a year - as outlined in the 2011 budget - the government is now clearly describing the 5 percent cut as the low end of a targeted range.

Reports in the business section:

-- Sino-Forest Corp the embattled timber company facing fraud allegations, has failed to respond to requests by the Ontario Securities Commission for information about its assets and relationships with key business partners in China, according to a senior OSC investigator.

NATIONAL POST:

-- Addressing the World Economic Forum, Prime Minister Stephen Harper signalled his government will bring forward "major transformations" to the country in the coming months - in areas such as the retirement pension system, immigration, science and technology investment and the energy sector - while making a forceful case for pro-growth economic policies over entitlements.

-- Federal justice and public safety ministers on Thursday touted the progress they made over three days of meetings with provincial and territorial representatives, but danced around the total cost of new federal crime legislation that is expected to place a heavy financial burden on the provinces.

Reports in the Financial Post section:

-- Canada disassociated itself on Thursday from an embarrassing official policy paper that said the country's independent energy regulator, now studying a controversial oil pipeline, is in fact a government ally.

-- Quebec's ailing employment picture has suffered yet another blow with the announcement by Mexican home appliance maker Controlodora Mabe S.A. de C.V. that it is shutting down a dryer manufacturing factory in Montreal's east end.