Economic and military collaboration between Canada and the United States was at the heart of US President Joe Biden’s speech to Canadian parliamentarians gathered in the House of Commons on Friday.
“Today I tell you: You will always, always be able to count on the United States of America,” promised the president in his half-hour speech, where he received several standing ovations.
Joe Biden began his speech with a “Bonjour Canada”, in French, which made his audience laugh. “I took 4 years of French lessons at school. And now for the first time that I try to make a speech in French, they laugh at me, ”he joked.
Optimistic and green
The president’s outlook is optimistic, he says. And he sees the future in a partnership with Canada, a country which also intends to make a green shift in its economy. A deeply unionist, Biden argued with Canadian elected officials and senators that the green economy generated jobs.
On the topic of economics, which he dwelt on at length, he listed US laws that specifically include Canadian businesses.
He particularly praised his Inflation Reduction Act, “the biggest investment for our climate in history”, which makes electric vehicles assembled in Canada eligible for a tax credit. He used the example of the IBM plant in Bromont, which produces semiconductors, and supplied with chips from Vermont.
An agreement on Roxham
It was the President of the United States who announced, in place of Justin Trudeau, that Canada is committed to accepting 15,000 more asylum seekers per year through a regular entry route, in the wake of of the renegotiation of the safe third country agreement.
“Canada is coming up with a similar program with a legal pathway for 15,000 migrants coming to Canada from countries in the western hemisphere. [Nous continuons] to work together to deter illegal crossings and fully implement the updated Safe Third Country Agreement,” Biden said.
The president spoke at length about the Canada-US military collaboration in the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD), as well as the efforts of the two countries to help Ukraine against the Russian invasion of which it is the victim.
He mentioned in a few words a strengthening of the collaboration of the two countries for Haiti, but spoke more enthusiastically of his plan to collaborate with Canada in the fight against fentanyl overdoses. “It’s about public health! “, he chanted.
All-round collaboration
To demonstrate that “Canada and the United States can do great things”, he recalled that a Canadian must take part in the Artemis II mission, one of the stages for a new mission on the moon.
Like Justin Trudeau just before him, President Biden highlighted the presence in the Commons of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, the two Canadians detained in China for nearly three years, following the arrest of ex-Huawei financial executive Meng Wanzhou. in Vancouver under an extradition request from the United States. The Canadian prime minister praised the president’s “leadership” in their release.
In an awkward slip, Joe Biden mixed up the names of Canada and China at some point in his speech. “You see what I have in mind! “, he got out of it jokingly.
The American president first participated in a bilateral meeting with Justin Trudeau on Friday, along with several ministers from the governments of the two countries. Biden arrived Thursday evening in the Canadian capital, under heavy police surveillance.
The two heads of government must still announce, on Friday, details concerning the agreements concluded in several files. For example, Canada must provide $100 million for the national police of Haiti.
With Marie Vastel