OTTAWA — Business optimism in Canada is rising sharply as the gloom of the winter months appears to be giving way to better expectations for sales, hiring and investment, a new Bank of Canada survey suggests. The quarterly survey of senior management from 100 representative firms, conducted over four weeks in February and March, found the outlook for future sales among the most positive since the recession. It showed 58 of the respondents expected higher sales in the next 12 months, as opposed to 23 that expected fewer. The Bank of Canada's important measure of business confidence was positive 35,…