Joe Biden left the White House Thursday for his first official visit to Canada in a sign of a newfound friendship, despite friction over trade, immigration and military spending.
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Shortly after his arrival in Ottawa, the American President, together with his wives Jill Biden and Sophie Grégoire, was received by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a private celebration.
The two heads of state will hold a working meeting on Friday before Joe Biden addresses the Canadian parliament.
The American President will then give a joint press conference with Mr. Trudeau before a gala dinner.
This is the first official visit to Canada by an American president since 2009, and it must mark the friendship found following the presidency of Donald Trump, who had a difficult relationship with Justin Trudeau.
The tone will be very different this time, but Canada and the United States still have their areas of tension.
Among them, immigration: Ottawa wants its neighbor to help it stem the flow of irregular migrants arriving at its land border.
Canada will also want to defend its commercial interests, while Joe Biden’s Made in America policies are a cause for concern.
For its part, Washington, while praising Canada’s support for Ukraine, will no doubt want to raise the issue of military spending.
Ottawa is a long way from spending 2% of its gross domestic product on military spending, the threshold set for NATO member countries.
And Joe Biden could use the trip to reiterate how much Washington would support a Canadian leadership role in sending an international force to Haiti in the grip of an extreme security, health and economic crisis.