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The east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Ramat is seen from a distance on Wednesday. Canada voiced muted criticism Thursday over the plotted expansion of 1,600 new Israeli settlements in Ramat. (Dan Balilty/Associated Press)

Canada voiced muted criticism Thursday over the plotted expansion of 1,600 new Israeli settlements in disputed East Jerusalem.

In a statement released in Ottawa, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Canada “regrets” Israel’s settlement choice, because it undermines the pursuit of peace in the region.

The statement echoes Washington’s strong condemnation of the go, which cast a pall over U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel this week to revive the stalled Middle East peace process.

Biden was there to mediate indirect peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Israelis and Palestinians must build an atmosphere to support negotiations, not complicate them, he said.

The Interior Ministry announced the construction plans just as Biden was wrapping up a series of meetings with Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A spokesman for Netanyahu said he was unaware of the construction plot just announced by the Interior Ministry.

Efrat Orbach, an Interior Ministry spokeswoman, said the new homes are to be built in Ramat Shlomo, a neighbourhood for ultra-Orthodox Jews in east Jerusalem.

She noted there is a 60-day appeals period, indicating the choice may yet be changed.

Phil Kessel took a brilliant pass from Tyler Bozak and scored at 3:33 of overtime as the Toronto Maple Leafs place a dent in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s playoff hopes with a 4-3 victory Thursday night.

With the teams trading chances during an entertaining extra session, Bozak intercepted a pass and broke in on a 2-on-1, deked around Lightning forward Vincent Lecavalier and slipped the puck to an open Kessel, who easily beat a sprawling Mike Smith.

Bozak also scored in regulation, while fellow rookie Viktor Stahlberg added a pair as the Maple Leafs (22-33-12) won for the third time in four games on the backs of their youth.

Luca Caputi, another freshman, added two assists.

Steven Stamkos, extending his points streak to 18 games with his 42nd goal of the season, Kurtis Foster and Steve Downie answered for the Lightning (27-27-12), who lost for the seventh time in eight games.

Tampa Bay — fighting for the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference with Montreal, Boston, the Rangers and Atlanta — struggled to contain the Leafs’ kids all night and eventually paid for it.

Bozak had place the Leafs ahead 3-2 just 3:37 into the third when he picked up a loose puck to Smith’s right and fired it over the prone goalie.

But for the second time in the game, Toronto’s lead was shortlived.

Downie fired home a rebound past Jean-Sebastien Giguere just 1:13 later, setting up the exciting end.

A dull opening frame in which Stamkos’s late power-play goal was the only highlight gave way to a far more entertaining second that finished with the teams locked up 2-2.

Stahlberg tied things up 1-1 at 9:29 when he took a Caputi chip pass out of the Leafs end, broke in on a 2-on-1 and ripped a shot off Smith’s glove and in.

The Maple Leafs took the lead about seven minutes later on a weak shot, as Stahlberg won a battle for the puck behind the goal, skated out from the corner and swept the puck in past Smith from a terrible angle.

Undeterred by a second weak goal, the Lightning attacked relentlessly on the next shift and moments after Leafs defenceman Dion Phaneuf cleared the puck from the goal-line, Foster wired a loose puck in the high slot over a screened Giguere’s shoulder to tie it again.

The first real animosity in the game came moments later when Phaneuf and Downie traded a flurry of punches in a melee that brought in all their teammates. Phaneuf and Downie both served minors for roughing.

Stamkos opened the scoring at 18:17 of the first, taking a pass from Foster in the left faceoff dot and sending a laser beam over Giguere’s shoulder.

The federal government tabled legislation Thursday that could see more than 45,000 Canadians recognized as status Indians under changes to the Indian Act.

The changes come after Ottawa lost a court challenge addressing the different ways that men and women are treated when it comes to Indian status under the Indian Act.

In 1985, Ottawa changed the rules for women who married non-natives. They would retain their status, as would their children, but not their grandchildren.

The rules are different, but, for Indian men. A man who married a non-native can pass status to two generations.

Last year’s court choice has prompted the government to extend Indian status for one more generation. This means grandchildren of such a union will now have native status, but not fantastic-grandchildren.

The financial impact of the go is not yet known, Minister of Indian Affairs Chuck Strahl told reporters outside the House of Commons Thursday.

“If every single person that was eligible applied, you might end up with a change in the Indian status membership of about eight percent in the country,” he said.

But, many of the people that might apply would not necessarily want to go to a reserve, Strahl added.

“A lot of these people are urban aboriginal people who have made a life off reserve and so because of that it’s nearly impossible to guess and it would be a complete guess as to the financial impacts.”

The government is also in talks with national aboriginal organizations about other issues that came up during the consultation period but are outside the scope of the bill, including membership on reserves, voting privileges and Indian citizenship, Strahl said.