Justin Trudeau and Joe Biden each had a chance to be surprised on Monday because the two North American leaders had talked for the first time since Canada and the United States appeared to have parted ways on a common border.
The conference call was the first discussion between the two since they met on the G7 sidebar in June, giving Trudeau the opportunity to question his American counterparts on Canada’s victory in the Tokyo Olympic semifinals.
However, the White House version of the call indicated that after Tampa Bay sent the Habbs team in the Stanley Cup final, the President of the United States was more interested in the basket of Montreal bacon sandwiches he won.
The White House report said from the beginning that Biden reached out to Trudeau, “thank him for the gift of Montreal bacon.”
The reading did not mention the Canada-US border. Starting next week, fully vaccinated US citizens and permanent residents will be allowed to cross the border.
On the other hand, Canada raised this point.
“The Prime Minister and the President discussed Coronavirus disease And agreed to continue to cooperate closely in the management of the Canada-U.S. land border,” Ottawa said to the telephone.
Although flights from Canada to the United States have never been restricted, the White House has clearly chosen to maintain its land border restrictions, insisting-in the words of Press Secretary Jen Psaki-that its actions depend on public health advice, “rather than other countries.”
The PMO’s readings also indicated that Trudeau has chosen Canada as an economic partner. This is a priority message because Biden has fulfilled his promise that US companies and suppliers will be given priority in infrastructure spending in the United States.
As Congress is about to pass his iconic infrastructure plan, which will spend $1 trillion on upgrading roads, bridges, water systems, and high-speed Internet access, Biden traveled to Pennsylvania last week to pledge draconian measures.
“In recent years,’buy American goods’ has become an empty promise,” he said to a union-friendly blue-collar audience at the Mack Truck Factory in Macungie, Pennsylvania.
“My government will make’buy American goods’ a reality.”
Canada has successfully negotiated exemptions in the past, especially after the then President Barack Obama implemented his own version of the rules in 2009, and recently under Donald Trump’s leadership, the Federal Emergency Management Agency restricted individuals during the peak of the epidemic The exit of protective equipment. The COVID-19 pandemic.
Of course, there is also the mother of all the beacons of bilateral cooperation: the latest update of the North American Free Trade Agreement, named by Trump as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which has a progressive new approach to the impact of climate change and fairer working conditions. Law enforcement tools.
“The Prime Minister emphasized the significant consistency between the labor and environmental standards of the two countries,” the PMO said in a document read out, “and the benefits of public procurement for each country.”
White House version: A joint commitment to “strengthen the resilience and competitiveness of the U.S. and Canadian economies.”
Under this circumstance, Trudeau also proposed Line 5, a cross-border pipeline owned and operated by Canada, which Michigan hopes to close due to concerns about environmental disasters in the Great Lakes.
In the dispute between the state and Calgary-based Enbridge Inc., he “reaffirmed Canada’s support for a negotiated settlement” and the two sides “agree to continue to monitor developments closely.”
The two parties met with the mediator appointed by the court on August 11, and the talks are expected to end at the end of this month.
Trudeau and Biden also discussed the collective response to the wildfires currently raging in the western half of the African continent.
“Canada and the United States will work together to further strengthen bilateral cooperation on wildfires,” read the document, “including formulating proposals to increase and share firefighting resources.”
Last year, West Coast states such as California and Oregon fought the worst fires in recent history, and firefighters from BC and Alberta also participated in the fire fighting.
The leaders also called for the “immediate release” of Cumming Kai and Michael Spavor, two Canadian citizens who have been detained in China since December 2018 because of Meng Wanzhou’s detention.
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The head of finance of Chinese technology giant Huawei was detained by Canada at the request of the United States. She is wanted for trying to circumvent US sanctions on Iran.
In fact, the dilemma of the “two Michaels”, as they knew it in Canada, was the only theme that the White House chose to elaborate on.
Biden “condemned” the “arbitrary detention” of Cumming Kai and Spavor, calling the couple an “unfair detention” and promised to “stand with Canada to ensure their release.”
© 2021 Canadian Press
