Joe Biden’s first presidential visit to Canada, designed to mark the renewed friendship between the two neighboring countries, was expected to result in announcements on Haiti, immigration and the economy on Friday.
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The program will be busy for the 80-year-old Democrat, who was unable to travel to this neighboring and allied country immediately after his inauguration due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as is customary for American presidents.
Joe Biden will be received by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a working meeting shortly after 10 a.m. He is due to address the Canadian Parliament at 12:50 p.m.
The two leaders will then hold a press conference at 2:45 p.m.
The relationship between Washington and Ottawa is infinitely warmer than it was during Donald Trump’s presidency, but the two countries have some sticking points.
The visit could lead to progress on one of them, irregular immigration, Radio-Canada and the New York Times assure.
Americans and Canadians have reportedly agreed to close the “Roxham Road,” a makeshift route that allowed about 40,000 migrants to enter Canada from the United States last year, bypassing official entry points.
These arrivals sparked lively political debate in Canada.
Haiti
The White House claims to understand Canada’s concerns, but points out that the issue is also relevant in the United States, on a very different scale.
In January, American authorities made more than 128,000 arrests for attempts to illegally invade American territory from Mexico, and the American right wing takes every opportunity to accuse Joe Biden of negligence in the face of this phenomenon.
Another topic for discussion will be Haiti, which is beset by extreme violence and a serious humanitarian crisis.
A Canadian government source told AFP it expects an announcement on Friday of “significant funding” related to humanitarian assistance and training for Haitian law enforcement officials.
The United States would also like Canada to play a leading role in sending an international force to the Caribbean country.
US chief of diplomacy Antony Blinken cautiously reported Thursday of “talking with the Canadian government to see what we could do together, as well as with other countries, the Caricom (Caribbean) countries and the region.”
Military spending will also be on the agenda as Washington urges an effort from NATO members amid the war in Ukraine and rising tensions with China.
Ottawa is a long way from spending 2% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on its defense budget, the threshold set for countries in the transatlantic alliance.
In particular, modernization of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) could be discussed in Ottawa on Friday.
Finally, the economy will be an inevitable issue for these two very closely integrated countries.
Justin Trudeau, whose country is the United States’ top foreign trade customer, will want to push his pawns on economic soil.
The American President has passed a huge subsidy plan for the energy transition, the “Inflation Reduction Act”, which is intended to support the production and development of technologies on American soil.
The United States’ major trading partners fear this turnaround will shut down their outlets.
The Canadian government source said it expects announcements on semiconductors and strengthening supply chains in North America at the joint press conference.