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When American presidents visit Canada, there is a recurring pattern to their speeches. They send spoonfuls of sugar – sweet, syrupy odes to one of the world’s happiest nation-to-nation relations.
Then comes a dose of medicine – taken from tough love together with sucrose in the form of a request for Canada to do more in the world.
For example, the celebrated speech by John F. Kennedy, which is often quoted by politicians when crossing the border. “Geography has made us neighbors,” Kennedy said. “History has made us friends. Economy has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies.”
Less memorable was another part of the speech – the part where President Kennedy publicly encouraged a reluctant Prime Minister John Diefenbaker to join the hemisphere and join the Organization of American States (OAS). Kennedy also called for a NATO revamp.
“To be sure, this means additional responsibility,” Kennedy told Parliament in May 1961, speaking of the OAS. “But you are not a nation that shirks responsibility.”
President Barack Obama did the same. His 2016 speech to Parliament caused such a sugar high that by the time he finished, elected Canadian politicians were chanting, “Four more years!”
Lawmakers cheered even as Obama (gently, politely) insinuated that Canada had become a dead man when it came to spending on international security.
Drowning in applause, Obama said the world needs more Canada. “NATO needs more Canadians,” he said. “We need you.”
Which brings us to this week. And for Joe Biden’s visit, which begins Thursday.
For the first time in decades, a US president will spend one night in Canada during a bilateral visit. He will conclude with a speech in Parliament on Friday.
Relations between the two countries are relatively good. A potentially damaging spat over electric vehicles has been solved, like a small tiff through the reliable NEXUS program-travel, while perennial irritants remain through milk and wood.
Guns, jets and satellites
But there is a persistent U.S. demand on international issues that can be summed up in one sentence: No more, please, and faster. Specifically on migration, Haiti and defense spending.
US officials told their Canadian counterparts they were happy recently increases that will see Canadian defense spending grow by $15 billion, or 40 percent, in a few years. He has saluted Canada’s promise to buy F-35 jets and modernization of NORAD.
He also asked Canadians to speed up their schedule. Ottawa has been described 20 year program to repair NORAD. America wants it done sooner.
“We’re facing a 21st-century threat. And we need a 21st-century response. And a 21st-century response costs money,” US Ambassador David Cohen told the CBC. Rosemary Barton Live last weekend.
One area where Ottawa could accelerate the modernization of NORAD is replacing the satellites that cover the Arctic. They will reach the end of their useful life in 2026 and the new ones will not enter service until the early 2030s.
Defense Minister Anita Anand warned Tuesday that while she is always pushing for faster investment, there are logistical challenges in installing new technology.
“It’s a process and it takes time,” he said.
Help for Haiti
Miami Herald report The US is pressuring Canada to make a decision on whether to lead a multinational stabilization force after months of uncertainty. The administration is reportedly hoping for an answer when Biden is in Ottawa.
The U.S. pressured Canada on this issue for a number of reasons, a former State Department official said official.
Benjamin Gedan says that Haiti is facing many crises: the possibility of the collapse of the state, authoritarian politics, delayed elections, violence spread and migration migration humanitarian disasters.
He said the US needs help managing crises close to home, to free it up to deal with more distant geopolitical challenges, such as Ukraine.
In addition, he said The US is not trusted in Haiti because of past invasions and occupations there. Although the United Nations, given a role in a cholera outbreaks and sex abuse scandals there.
“Not many countries – or any – are willing to put their hands up [for this mission]”Gedan, now director of the Latin American project at Washington’s Wilson Center think-tank, told the Canusa Street podcast.
“What’s more, why does the United States keep moving to Canada.”
Canada does not like to lead troops.
The Trudeau government has pointedly drawn attention to other things the country can do to help Haiti – such as training police and sanctioning wealthy Haitians who fund street gangs.
“External intervention, as has been done in the past, cannot create long-term stability for Haiti,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Migrants and borders
Haiti is tied to another bilateral flashpoint: migration.
At agreement last year involving almost two dozen countries, Canada is committed to playing a leading role in Haiti and francophone migrant resettlement.
This was before Quebec Premier François Legault demanded that Ottawa stop irregular migration to the province and begin pursuing asylum seekers elsewhere.
One potential outcome of the Biden-Trudeau summit being discussed is the creation of additional legal pathways for Haitians to seek asylum.
This is something the US is focused on as Canadian politicians like Trudeau and Legault talk about renegotiating the Canada-US border agreement.
Canada wants the two-decade-old Safe Third Country Agreement to be extended at all borders, allowing migrants who cross between regular checkpoints to return to the US
But the US is on course to welcome three million migrants this year amid the biggest wave of global asylum seekers since World War II.
America has it made it abundantly clear that the priority is managing the massive international movement of people – not just closing down the Roxham Road crossing in Quebec.
If Biden says anything this week to continue Safe Third Country talks, Ottawa will see the new momentum as progress.
Cohen told the CBC that if the countries fix the Safe Third Nations deal, it will be part of a deeper discussion. “When you think about the problem, you realize that you have to deal with the causes of irregular migration,” he said.
Canada, can, as part of this conversation, show that it has accept more refugees than the US, even under Bidenand that a relatively modest percentage of the US population born abroad.
Beef with Buy American
Canada also has complaints.
Unhappy with the way the Biden administration continues to push the Buy American policy. In Biden’s latest State of the Union address, the mention of Buy American drew rare bipartisan applause.
Canadian officials are unsure about the president’s latest Buy American plan do a lot of damage based on fine print. The plan does not apply to federal, military or state level procurement by state agencies that sign a global agreement. It also does not include most products.
The head of Canada’s business lobby said he still hopes to hear assurances from Biden which is offered during the spat of electric vehicles, which is resolved.
“If there’s a will, there’s a way,” said Goldy Hyder, president of the Business Council of Canada.
“What we need [U.S.] Leadership is a signal that says, ‘Yes, Canada, you are special. We will do more with you than we can do with anyone else.’ This will only help build confidence for investment in Canada.
The unspoken truth about Biden’s visit, said Maryscott Greenwood, head of the Washington-based Canadian American Business Council, is that it’s not a big deal in the United States.
The day before the trip, Greenwood said, he sat down for an interview with a US TV network. He asked when it could be aired. Maybe never, he was told — not if Donald Trump were impeached or if the banking crisis worsened.
Greenwood compared the US to firefighters racing from one burning building to another. Biden had to navigate a series of crises at home and abroad, he said, from migration to Russia’s war in Ukraine to China’s invasion of Taiwan. Closer to home, the U.S. relationship with the Mexican president is also strained take a mischievous inflammatory turn.
‘You have to bring something relevant’
He said Canada could have more influence in the U.S. if it were seen as a potential solution to a problem. For example, he said, Canada’s push to develop critical mineral mining could increase its influence with a Biden administration eager to reduce America’s trade dependence on China.
So expect several announcements this week on critical minerals, on top of other recent funding announcements aimed at building this industry in North America.
But this is still a project on its own baby. And there is no guarantee it will work.
“If Canada wants to be on top, and have influence, and be important … you have to bring something relevant,” Greenwood said.
“[On critical minerals], Canada is ready to really make a gigantic difference, for themselves, for the US, for the world. But if it doesn’t take 15 or 20 years, it will outpace other jurisdictions that can move more definitely and faster. Like Australia.”
Maybe Biden will surprise everyone by not mentioning it. Maybe he would leave the weightier issues for private discussion.
Maybe he’ll give a speech to Parliament like Bill Clinton did. In 1995 speechThis difficult drug is reserved for Quebec separatism.
The rest is all sugar.
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