Meeting between Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau
On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made efforts to give away the rift amid the Trump era and envisioned to write new pages of normalcy by strengthening the deep ties between countries and pledged to stand together against Chinese influence. Both countries tried to establish the lost bonds by conducting a virtual conference and also focussed on addressing climate change.
"The United States has no closer friend than Canada. This was the main reason that you were my first call as president and my first bilateral meeting," Biden made a flattering remark on the US- Canada ties in an electronic meeting. After the two hour meeting, both leaders declared that they planned to battle against the global Covid 19 pandemic and combat climate change, with an aim of net zero emissions by 2050. Trudeau also extended his gratitude for the US's help in releasing two Canadians held captive by China, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig. "Human beings are not bartering commodities and we will work till the end for their safe return," Biden said.
Trudeau wholeheartedly welcomed the support of the Biden administration, highlighting their attention towards climate change in contrast to former US President Donald Trump. "Thank You for being the part of the union to combat climate change again. The US leadership was sorely missed over past years," he said. Canada has always been the first foreign venture for the US President but the pandemic barred the physical interaction to a virtual affair. Biden along with Vice President Kamala Harris and other officials sat on a long table wearing masks in White House meeting room near a video screen showing Trudeau's image. As revealed by a Canadian source, there's been no progress in Canadian access to covid 19 vaccines produced in the US. It is currently dependent on plants in Europe. "Both nations are currently focussing on themselves, restricted by supply shortages," the source added, requesting anonymity on this topic.
Biden agitated Ottawa after taking to his office on January 20 and blocking a $8 billion Keystone XL pipeline project to pump oil sands crude from Alberta to Nebraska and implementing the "Buy American" programme to surge domestic production. But the leaders maturely kept the dispute behind in order to work together. Trudeau was the first world leader to congratulate Biden on Democrats' victory in US Presidential elections 2020. The former Republican President, who fanned the sparks of conflict with traditional allies and imposed tariffs on Canadian aluminium and steel. He travelled to Canada only once for a G7 meeting in 2018, and blasted Trudeau for being “very dishonest and weak” after he left.
The Tuesday session progressed with a 45 minute talk between Biden, Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and their Canadian counterparts. Meetings with other officials were followed by Trudeau accompanied by his finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, and others.
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