[IN IMAGES] Joe Biden arrived in Canada for his first official visit

UPDATE DAY

Joe Biden arrived in Canada on Thursday for a visit that promises to be very cordial, but should not evacuate a few delicate subjects, related to trade, immigration, military cooperation and Haiti.

The American president must first be received with his wife Jill Biden at the residence of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa for a private party.

On Friday, the two leaders will have a working meeting, before Joe Biden does not address the Canadian Parliament.

The President will then give a joint press conference with Mr. Trudeau, before a gala dinner.

This is the first visit of its kind since that of Barack Obama in 2009.

It is customary for the American president to book his first trip to Canada after the inauguration. But pandemic obliges, Joe Biden was content in February 2021 with a virtual “visit”.

This trip marks the cordiality found between the two countries after the presidency of Donald Trump, who maintained a relationship notoriously difficult with Justin Trudeau.

Immigration

This time, the tone will be quite different, but that does not evacuate all the subjects of friction.

For example immigration.

Canada sees the arrival of thousands of people from Haiti, Venezuela and Colombia via the United States, who cross the border on foot, bypassing the official entry points.

This immigration irregular route, which notably passes through a makeshift access road called “Roxham Road”, is the subject of fierce political debate, in a country where this problem is relatively new, and has caused some tension with Washington.< /p>

According to Radio Canada and New York Times, Americans and Canadians have reached an agreement to close this access route, located south of Montreal, with Ottawa agreeing in exchange to welcome a certain number of migrants entering on a regular basis.

“The United States is committed to working” with Canada to manage migration flows , said Joe Biden's spokeswoman, Karine Jean-Pierre, on Thursday. she added.

The United States is also seeing record arrivals of migrants, much more numerous, at its border with Mexico.

Another thorny subject could be that of defence, and more particularly the Canadian contribution to NATO and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad).

The United States and Canada are on the same wavelength when it comes to supporting Ukraine.

Defense

But Ottawa is far from devoting 2% of its gross domestic product (GDP) to military spending, the threshold set for NATO member countries.

The two leaders should finally talk about the situation in Haiti, plagued by extreme gang violence and a humanitarian crisis.

Washington would welcome Canada's leadership in sending an international force to the country.

For the White House, “the situation on the ground will not improve without international military assistance,” said Karine Jean-Pierre, indicating that “discussions” were continuing with Canada and other countries.

Last sensitive subject on Friday's agenda: trade.

The American president, who unashamedly defends “Made in America”, has adopted a pharaonic plan subsidies for the energy transition, the “Inflation Reduction Act” (IRA).

In Ottawa, we are pleased that the United States has taken Canada into account in a disp subsidy initiative for electric cars, “but it must not stop there”, according to Canadian government sources.