Justin Trudeau says Joe Biden is aware of Canada’s concerns after the US ambassador announced that renegotiating the Safe Third Countries Agreement is not a priority for the United States.
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“I can assure you of that in my talks directly with the President [Joe] Biden, he understands the priority this is for Canada and it’s a shared priority,” Trudeau said on the sidelines of a news conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The prime minister insisted that a “discussion” on the matter would be held with his American counterpart during his planned visit to Ottawa in March.
The comments follow an interview the US Ambassador to Canada, David Cohen, granted to CBC on Wednesday.
He pointed out that migration in the broadest sense was a priority issue, but that no specific action was expected in relation to the negotiations between the two countries on this issue.
“You have never seen or heard anyone from the United States confirm that concrete discussions are taking place on the Safe Third Countries Agreement, and I will not be the first American official to make such a statement,” Mr Cohen replied on Wednesday .
More details to come…