WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden will discuss a number of important issues with his Canadian counterpart during his first visit to Ottawa as head of state, the White House announced.
These include national security and climate change issues, as well as trade and migration issues, the conflict in Ukraine and the unrest in Haiti.
Biden will travel to the Canadian capital on Thursday, where he will meet Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and address Parliament on Friday.
During the visit, Biden will discuss “concrete steps to increase defense spending, the global race to lead clean energy and create a prosperous and inclusive economy,” said John Kirby, the Security Council’s strategic communications coordinator. national.
The severity of these issues underscores not only the importance of the close relationship between the United States and Canada, two countries with the longest unguarded land border in the world, but also how lopsided that relationship is, analysts say. .
“It’s a relationship that often doesn’t get the attention and respect it deserves,” said Earl Anthony Wayne, a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center and former US ambassador to Afghanistan, Argentina and Mexico.
Biden is only visiting Ottawa now, more than halfway through his presidential term.
Former US Ambassador to Canada Gordon Griffin noted the saturation of the agenda for the short visit.
“Judging by the list of issues that I quote ‘should’ be addressed, Biden’s visit should last three weeks, not two days,” he said.
The White House has said security will be a key issue, including in the skies over North America, where it is provided by the Joint Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), in the Western Hemisphere facing the instability in Haiti and across the ocean in Europe and Asia.
Regarding calls for a UN peacekeeping force in volatile Haiti, Kirby said, “I think they will talk about the possibilities of our further support to the Haitian people and the Haitian National Security Forces in humanitarian terms. As for the multinational force or something like that, I wouldn’t want to prejudge that conversation.
Former Canadian diplomat and former head of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs Colin Robertson expects Biden to focus on security contributions.
“I will assume that the president will put pressure on us on defense and security,” he said. – We have made a commitment in NATO to devote 2% of GDP to these purposes. Meanwhile, for Canada, this figure is only 1.27%. Yes, we have recently made some investments in modernizing NATO, but we are expected to do much more.
