The White House is keen to turn the page on the years-long dispute over a crude oil pipeline with Canada. To put the fight aside, U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice said that the U.S. and Canada will celebrate their close economic and security ties with a state dinner.
According to Yahoo! News, the trade between the United States and Canada, as well as the joint efforts to control climate change, will be largely exposed on the agenda for the meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Washington. It will then be followed by the first state dinner to honour Canada in 19 years to show off the importance of the bilateral relationship.
Trudeau's Liberals came into effect in November by expelling the right-wing Conservative Leader Stephen Harper. His ties with Washington allegedly weaken as he intimidated Obama over the Keystone XL pipeline.
The U.S. President blocked the project last year, a victory for environmentalists who had advocated against the pipeline. The fight is in the past, Rice stated."In any bilateral relationship, there are going to be issues of difference and occasional friction," she told in an interview with Reuters.
The U.S. National Security Adviser also revealed that one of the agenda of the meeting is for Obama and Trudeau to discuss the next steps for the "Beyond the Border" initiative. Dailymail UK noted that the "Beyond the Border" is a plan to speed travel and trade between U.S. and Canada. Rice even claimed, "With the longest peaceful border and $2 billion a day in trade in both directions, we have an enormous shared stake in a border that is open for business and open for travel - and safe."
The Canadian Prime Minister campaigned to strengthen the bond between Canada and the United States. But Trudeau also promised that he will do his responsibilities to take out six fighter jets from the United States-led coalition against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
Meanwhile, Rice revealed that the White House is satisfied with the steps that the Canadian Prime Minister took to support training, surveillance, and other ways to aid the coalition. However, the White House has also watched closely as Trudeau welcomed 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada in four months.
