Wednesday March 9, 2016

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Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Wednesday March 9, 2016 Trudeau and Obama forging special relationship, White House says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is winning praise from the White House for his leadership on climate change ahead of this week's visit to Washington where that issue will be high on the agenda. In a call with reporters Tuesday morning, officials from President Barack Obama's administration also noted the personal relationship that is developing between the two leaders. Obama extended the invitation for a state visit and dinner, the first in 19 years for a Canadian prime minister, when he met Trudeau at the APEC summit late last year. The officials said Canada and the U.S. always have a close relationship, regardless of who occupies 24 Sussex Drive or 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but they acknowledged Trudeau and Obama have a lot in common. Trudeau arrives in the U.S. capital Wednesday along with his wife Sophie GrŽgoire-Trudeau and a delegation that includes five cabinet members: Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna, Foreign Affairs Minister StŽphane Dion, International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and Fisheries Minister Hunter Tootoo. They will attend a lavish state dinner at the White House on Thursday night after a day of meetings in the Oval Office and at the State Department. The White House officials discussed the close bilateral relationship between the two countries in terms of trade and defence but they paid particular attention to how Canada and the U.S. are co-operating on the environment file and suggested there is a change in tone since Trudeau defeated former prime minister Stephen Harper in October. "Since Prime Minister Trudeau assumed office we have also had tremendous co-operation with Canada on climate and clean energy issues," said Roberta Jacobson, assistant secretary of state, bureau of Western Hemisphere affairs. (Source: CBC News) http

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday March 9, 2016

Trudeau and Obama forging special relationship, White House says

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is winning praise from the White House for his leadership on climate change ahead of this week’s visit to Washington where that issue will be high on the agenda.

Justin Trudeau

Justin Trudeau

In a call with reporters Tuesday morning, officials from President Barack Obama’s administration also noted the personal relationship that is developing between the two leaders.

Obama extended the invitation for a state visit and dinner, the first in 19 years for a Canadian prime minister, when he met Trudeau at the APEC summit late last year.

The officials said Canada and the U.S. always have a close relationship, regardless of who occupies 24 Sussex Drive or 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but they acknowledged Trudeau and Obama have a lot in common.

Trudeau arrives in the U.S. capital Wednesday along with his wife Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau and a delegation that includes five cabinet members: Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna, Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion, International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and Fisheries Minister Hunter Tootoo.

They will attend a lavish state dinner at the White House on Thursday night after a day of meetings in the Oval Office and at the State Department.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Saturday, February 20, 2016 Obama to visit Cuba: Two views As the Toronto Star has argued before, efforts by 10 successive U.S. presidents to unseat the regime in Havana have demeaned a superpower, discredited Cuban reformers and impoverished the island. By Cuban reckoning, the embargo has inflicted more than $120 billion in economic losses since Fidel Castro came to power in 1959. The U.S. severed diplomatic ties in 1961 and imposed the embargo in 1962. With every passing year the embargo became more pointlessly vindictive, as the U.S. traded briskly with Communist China, with communist regimes in Vietnam and Laos, even to a limited extent with North Korea. ItÕs a point of pride for Canadians that we played a small positive role by hosting the secret talks that led to the U.S. and Cuba breaking the ice in 2014, restoring diplomatic ties and embassies, upgrading trade and air links, and easing aspects of the boycott. Canada never endorsed or joined the boycott, taking the view that Cubans must be free to shape their own political course. Only Congress can fully lift the embargo. ThatÕs beyond this presidentÕs power. But Obama is right to make good on his promise before he leaves office. CubaÕs democrats and reformers will be cheered by this visit as they press for credible elections, independent courts and a more open economy. And the government will no longer be able to cite U.S. hostility as a pretext for Òdefending the revolutionÓ by intimidating critics and suppressing human rights. (Source: Toronto Star) http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2016/02/18/obama-visit-to-cuba-buoys-reformers-hopes-editorial.html Meanwhile, another take on the coming visit, though less earnest: Canadians who want to visit Cuba before an influx of Americans ÒruinsÓ it better move fast: President Obama is planning a visit in the next few weeks, and you can bet a lot of others will follow soon. On Tuesday Washington

February 20, 2016

The White House officials discussed the close bilateral relationship between the two countries in terms of trade and defence but they paid particular attention to how Canada and the U.S. are co-operating on the environment file and suggested there is a change in tone since Trudeau defeated former prime minister Stephen Harper in October.

“Since Prime Minister Trudeau assumed office we have also had tremendous co-operation with Canada on climate and clean energy issues,” said Roberta Jacobson, assistant secretary of state, bureau of Western Hemisphere affairs. (Source: CBC News)

Published in the Hamilton Spectator, March 16, 2016

Published in the Hamilton Spectator, March 16, 2016