Joe Biden’s visit to Canada. Image credit: twitter page of President Biden
Ottawa/CMEDIA: After a day of meetings on Parliament Hill, U.S President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed to commit to shared values, shared prosperity and longstanding liberty, media reports said.
“I can’t think of a challenge we haven’t met together,” Biden said during a joint press conference standing next to Trudeau. “Today as we stand… at an inflection point in history, our nations are once again called upon to lead, and together I believe we’re answering the call.”
Included in the highlights of what Canada and the U.S. have agreed to are: “Catalzye” clean energy and strengthen the critical mineral sector, “Manage” migration by revising the Safe Third Country Agreement, “Protecting” shared waters, “Bolstering” global alliances and offering more to Haiti, Ukraine, and “Invest” in collective defence and security,
“In this serious time, with all the challenges we face, we’re doubling down on our partnership, and our friendship,” Trudeau said during the joint press conference. “We’ll also continue to work together as partners to keep our people safe. Keeping people safe also includes keeping asylum seekers safe, keeping our borders secure, and keeping our immigration system strong.”
Biden’s first visit to Canada since taking office, was largely an effort to reaffirm the strength of the Canada-U.S. relationship after rocky years under the previous Trump administration, and to discuss ways of working together to tackle the big challenges both countries and the world are facing.
“Our enduring partnership is based on a mutual commitment to shared security, shared prosperity, and shared democratic values,” reads part of a joint statement issued by Biden and Trudeau on Friday afternoon. “As the closest of friends and allies, we remain committed to making life better for people on both sides of our shared border and to building a more free, equitable, secure, and prosperous world.”
“Americans and Canadians are two people, two countries, in my view, sharing one heart. It’s a personal connection. No two nations on Earth are bound by such close ties: friendship, family, commerce and culture. Our labour unions cross borders, so do our sports leagues,” Biden was reported saying.
Besides news about the policy agreements reached on Friday, Biden spoke about the opioid epidemic, his support for unions, how he followed Trudeau in appointing a gender-balanced cabinet, and how the two countries collaborated to get through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biden’s scheduled departure time from the Ottawa Airport was 9:25 p.m. on Friday night.
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