* Finance minister says optimistic about 2010

* Calls OECD forecast for 2010 "pessimistic" (Adds comments on OECD forecast, protectionism)

OTTAWA, June 24 (Reuters) - Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Wednesday he was seeing more positive signs than negative ones in the country's economy.

"Certainly there are positive indications of stabilization in the economy. What we want to look for now are signs of the beginning of economic growth. We're starting to see some positive indications of consumer confidence, some increased activity in residential real estate," Flaherty said in a conference call from Washington.

Flaherty said the OECD's forecast on Wednesday of 0.7 percent growth next year was below most other predictions and was too pessimistic.

"Certainly the OECD figure for 2010 is below our assessment and below that of the private-sector forecasters and below that of the IMF. For all of those reasons I think ... it's pessimistic ...," Flaherty told reporters via teleconference.

"I'm not pessimistic about 2010. I'm optimistic about 2010."

A report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development forecast an economic contraction for Canada this year of 2.6 percent, similar to the Canadian government's latest budget assumption as of early June for a 2.5 percent decline.

The government has not updated its 2010 outlook since January when it saw growth of 2.4 percent in 2010, compared with the OECD's 0.7 percent forecast.