Make sure to be on your best behaviour, everyone! We’ve got an important guest visiting.
Driving the news: Today, Joe Biden makes his first visit to Canada since taking office. He’ll partake in 24 hours of pure, uncut diplomacy, including an address to Parliament, a dinner at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum, and a trip to a newly opened Zellers (kidding).
Why it matters: As Canada’s next-door neighbour and largest trade partner—over $1 trillion worth of stuff in 2021 alone—it’s crucial to be aligned with the US on pressing issues. This is doubly true in an era where a new Cold War looms, and massive new sectors are emerging.
Here are some topics that will almost certainly come up:
- Bills. Big Tech is urging Biden to bring up Canada’s potential online news and streaming acts. Major US companies like Meta and Netflix say these bills will unfairly target them if passed, but Canada isn’t backing down. Biden may try to make peace.
- NORAD. The Santa trackers’ day job (monitoring air space for military threats) has grown increasingly vital, with Arctic security in question and UFOs zipping around. Canada is revamping its NORAD capabilities, but the US wants it done quicker.
- Haiti. The Carribean nation has been in crisis since 2021 following a presidential assassination. The US, which is busy with other stuff and has a poor reputation there anyways, wants Canada to step up and lead a mission, but Canada’s not so sure.
- Migrants. The issue of an irregular border crossing at Roxham Road will be on the table, with Justin Trudeau likely to press Biden on updating the Safe Third Country Agreement, which offers a loophole to those trying to claim asylum in Canada.
And if they have any time left over after going through all that, Joe and Justin will chat about critical minerals, semiconductors, the state of the financial system, and climate change.—QH