Archive | For 100 years, American presidents have visited Canada
American presidents have visited Canada for a century.
US President Joe Biden's official visit to Canada is part of a century-old tradition. Our archives recall some of these presidential visits.
“Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends.
—Excerpt from President John F. Kennedy's speech to the Canadian House of Commons, May 17, 1961
“When you come to Canada, you see a border of 6,400 kilometers. The largest unguarded border in the world. It has a special meaning. ”
— President Richard M. Nixon, excerpt from a speech in Ottawa, April 13, 1972
It was on July 26, 1923 that an American president crowded, in the performance of his duties, Canadian soil.
At this time, President Warren Harding met Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King in Vancouver.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first American head of state to address, in the midst of World War II, Canadian parliamentarians and an audience of 40,000 people gathered on August 25, 1943 in front of the Parliament of Canada.
Report by journalist Mathieu Prost summarizing 100 years of American presidential visits to Canada.
Excerpts from the presidential speeches, quoted above, are heard in a historical overview presented by journalist Mathieu Prost at the Téléjournal Grand Montréal 18 h of June 29, 2016, on the occasion of a visit by President Barack Obama to Canada.
Maxence Bilodeau hosts the Téléjournal Grand Montréal 18 h.
Mathieu Prost recalls some details concerning certain presidential visits.
In May 1961, for example, John F. Kennedy's speech masks the lack of esteem that the American president has for Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.
We now know that the two men insulted each other with unflattering epithets.
The atmosphere was quite different between President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.
President Clinton notably came on an official visit to Canada in February 1995.
He then gave a much-appreciated helping hand from Jean Chrétien by supporting openly the federalist option a few months before the referendum on Quebec sovereignty.
” Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Here Bernard Derome at the Château Frontenac in Quebec. Could it be possible to better illustrate the state of Canada-US relations which, in any case, have never been so euphoric? »
— Bernard Derome, March 17, 1985
Reports by journalists Francine Bastien and Raymond Saint-Pierre on the visit of President Ronald Reagan to Canada
The anchor of Téléjournal thus comments on the images of American President Ronald Reagan and the newly elected Prime Minister of Canada Brian Mulroney.
Indeed, captured in a somewhat unusual image, the two men push the song together on the stage of the Grand Théâtre de Québec!
It is March 17, 1985 and the two leaders, both of Irish descent, meet during what is known as the St. Patrick's Day Summit.
As the report of journalist Raymond Saint-Pierre confirms, the tone has positively changed between the two neighbors.
President Reagan admits to having atoms hooked up with this Conservative Prime Minister, who gives Washington the benefit of the doubt, who is a supporter of free enterprise and who is committed to increasing the Canadian defense budget, reports Raymond Saint-Pierre.
The St. Patrick's Day Summit ended with a gala evening during which Canadian artists, Mulroney and Reagan, accompanied by their wives, celebrated the Canada-US relationship.
Apart from the festive aspect of the meeting, serious discussions took place during this meeting.
This is what the report of the journalist Francine Bastien.
A significant part of the formal tete-a-tete between the U.S. and Canadian leaders focused on a possible deal to tackle the acid rain that has plagued bilateral relations for three years.
To At the end of their interview, President Reagan and Prime Minister Mulroney announced the appointment of two extraordinary ambassadors whose mandate was to obtain an unblocking of the file.
The fight against acid rain has also gained momentum in part thanks to another visit by President Reagan to Ottawa.
During this official visit in April 1987, the American head of state opened the door to a Canadian-American bilateral agreement to combat this scourge which was finalized in 1991.
On November 30, 2004, it was President George W. Bush's turn to make an official visit to Ottawa.
Reports and analysis by journalists Christine St-Pierre, Michel Jean, Patrice Roy and Daniel Lessard on the official visit of President George W. Bush to Canada
As the head of antenna of Téléjournal/Le Point Céline Galipeau, this visit is part of a renewed dialogue with Prime Minister Paul Martin and the Canadian government.
C is that the irritants between Ottawa and Washington are numerous.
As the report by journalist Patrice Roy confirms, the president's visit produced no specific announcement.
George W. Bush recalled, for example, that only officials could lift the ban on Canadian beef, banned from sale in the United States, because it was detected in Canada of Mad Cow Disease Cases
Not a word of apology either for the invasion of Iraq in which Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin's predecessor, refused to participate.
On the contrary, George W. Bush insists that he has just been re-elected for a second term and that the Americans, by that very fact, support his foreign policy.
The very relative importance of the visit of George W. Bush in Canada is also reflected in the attitude demonstrated by the American journalists who accompanied him to Ottawa.
The report by journalist Christine St-Pierre notes that the interest of many of them in covering this visit to Canada lies in the possibility… of being vaccinated against the flu.
There was a shortage of flu vaccines in the United States at the time.
Radio-Canada's bureau chief in Ottawa, Daniel Lessard, concludes the coverage of George W. Bush's visit to Ottawa by telling Céline Galipeau that we expected too much from this visit.
On trade matters, the US Congress, not the president, makes the final decisions.
The President Bush also asked nothing of Canada regarding Iraq or the possibility of participating in the construction of an anti-missile shield in space.
Opinion Canadian public is hostile to it and Prime Minister Martin, a minority in parliament, has no leeway, recalls the journalist.
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