After a two-year tenure in office, US President Joe Biden has arrived in Canada and is about to wake up to a full-day event in the capital.
Alongside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Biden will meet with senior officials, reaffirm the strength of the relationship between Canada and the United States, and address parliament to advance cross-border stimulus.
His and Mrs. Jill Biden’s whirlwind overnight visit kicked off Thursday night with a warm welcome from Canadian ministers and foreign affairs officials, followed by a brief meeting with Governor Mary Simon and her husband Whit Fraser. Talks continued.
The Bidens then had an intimate dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Trudeau and Mr. and Mrs. Sophie Gregoire Trudeau at their home in Rideau Cottage.
Today’s itinerary is jam-packed. Before the event begins, the streets in front of Parliament Hill are lined with American flags and security throughout Ottawa is very tight.
This is a cross-jurisdictional effort, with increased police and first responder presence around Congress, military planes in the air, and road closures as POTUS Secret Service convoys move. I’m here.
Biden will start the day with a daily briefing before heading to the Capitol, according to the White House. There, the president will be welcomed in the Western Bloc by representatives of the House and Senate, as well as opposition leaders, before signing the guestbook.
POTUS will hold bilateral talks with Trudeau inside his office, followed by expanded talks with cabinet ministers and members of Biden’s delegation. These talks are expected to involve discussions on the substantive policies of the visit, but the pre-visit preparations will take weeks, if not months, and officials on both sides said today: We may have already discussed many of the details.
The main event of Mr. Biden’s visit will be his address to Congress at 2:00 p.m. ET. In the glass-ceilinged temporary House of Commons chamber, the President of the United States addresses an audience of members of Congress, senators, dignitaries, other key stakeholders and his members of the community.
Biden is expected to highlight how the Canada-U.S. partnership is beneficial to both sides and encourage continued cooperation on pressing challenges. Both FLOTUS and Gregoire Trudeau attend the speech. We left the hills in the morning to meet with a young curler to talk about mental health in sport, visit the National Gallery of Canada for lunch, and see an exhibit focused on Canadian women artists.
Following their speeches, Biden and Trudeau headed across the street from the Capitol to the Sir John A. Macdonald building, where they would be available to joint media at 3:45 p.m. Discuss the outcome of the event.
With no plans to take a detour from the Capitol, many eyes in Ottawa will be waiting to see if Biden makes an urgent visit that would put him in public with the Canadians.
Briefing to reporters ahead of the visit, both Canadian and U.S. officials said how world leaders will use this “meaningful” visit to address the major challenges facing their countries and the world. He said he plans to discuss ways to work together to help.
From the need to strengthen Arctic defenses and continue aid to Ukraine and Haiti, to how to combat climate change and build a competitive and clean economy.
There is also optimism on both sides that a deal can be struck to address the influx of illegal immigrants caused by loopholes in secure third country agreements 20 years ago. A senior government source who told CTV News in the background said Canadians were encouraged by the signal from the United States, but nothing was finalized until the leaders met.
How concrete the commitments will be remains to be seen, as both sides feel political pressure to exit the conference with a victory.
After a substantial portion of the day is over, Biden, First Lady and the American delegation will attend a gala dinner hosted by Trudeau and his wife at 6:30 p.m. ET at the Canadian Air and Space Museum. Attend with 100 guests. .
Biden’s current departure time from the Ottawa airport is Friday night at 9:25 PM ET.
