President Joe Biden arrives in Ottawa on Thursday for a whirlwind 24-hour visit

Determined to give back to the #x27;American manufacturing industry its former glory, the President of the United States regards free trade as a bad word.

This is the first official visit to Canada by United States President Joe Biden since his election to the White House in January 2021.

United States President Joe Biden arrives in Ottawa on Thursday evening as part of a whirlwind 24-hour visit, with a less busy itinerary than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office had envisioned.

Two full years have passed since Joe Biden took charge in Washington.

This will be the first real face-to-face bilateral meeting between the two leaders in Canada since 2009, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

Joe Biden's first year in office was dedicated to rebuilding Canada-US relations after the controversial tenure of his predecessor Donald Trump. The second focused on meeting obligations, including prioritizing orderly and safe migration through regular channels, Mr. Kirby said.

Now, as we approach the third, this visit is to take stock of what we have done, where we are and what we need to prioritize for the future, he stressed.

Although he's less unruly and publicly combative than his predecessor, Joe Biden's first two years in the Oval Office caused the Prime Minister plenty of headaches Justin Trudeau.

Friday's meetings may not offer much respite.

A top discussion priority for Canada will be the Buy American Act, the protectionist doctrine that has been used by every 21st century president except George W. Bush, and this is from one of Biden's favorite national political messages.

The President is very committed to policies that create jobs in the United States, and we do not challenge that policy, said Kirsten Hillman, Canadian Ambassador to the United States.

At least 60% of the material goods Canada exports to the United States go into the manufacture of other goods, and the same is true of what Canada imports from the United States, Hillman pointed out.

So if we start excluding ourselves from our supply chains, the economic impact on jobs in our own country will be huge. We're shooting each other in the foot, basically – both countries, she admitted.

It should also be about Canada's role in defending Haiti, the impoverished, earthquake-ravaged Caribbean nation that has become a failed state since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. .

Criminal gangs now control more than half of Port-au-Prince, the capital of a country struggling with a cholera epidemic with few; access to medical aid, an almost total lack of public safety and an impotent caretaker government.

The Biden administration, which already has its hands full with Russia's war in Ukraine, the rise of China and other great power concerns, wants Canada – which is home to a large diaspora of French-speaking Haitians, mainly in Quebec – plays a prominent role.

Criminal gangs now control more than half of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

There is a lot of pressure , said Carleton University professor Stephen Saideman. The reality is that Trudeau doesn't want to do this, and so he presents every possible argument to distract.

I am hopeful that Canada will be able to intervene and show leadership in Haiti, because it will matter in Washington, for his part declared Gordon Giffin, who has was Bill Clinton's envoy to Ottawa from 1997 to 2001.

Removing this one from our menu would be a big help to the US administration, he said. -it indicated.

While this may seem simplistic at the highest levels of intergovernmental relations, the quid pro quo approach is fundamental to how countries get along and deal with various irritants in the relationship, he suggested. /p>

I think this is a typical example of the United States saying, “We need you to help us on this,” Mr. Giffin told a panel hosted by the Council of the Americas.

He recalls frequent interactions between his former boss and Jean Chrétien, who was prime minister while Bill Clinton was in the White House.< /p>

Chrétien looked for places where Bill Clinton needed a little help, Giffin said.

I heard very quickly: " OK, we'll do this, Gordon, but for that I need this,' he said in his best Jean Chretien impersonation.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby did not say on Wednesday whether Mr. Biden intends to make a direct request to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Haiti.

As for a multinational force or something like that, I don't want to preempt the conversation. As we have said before, if it is necessary, if there is a place for it, all of this will have to be settled directly with the Haitian government and with the UN.

As of 2017, Roxham Road has been the preferred location for refugee claimants to enter Canada. Infrastructure has been put in place to accommodate these migrants.

Mr. Kirby also downplayed expectations for another big Canadian demand, the renegotiation of the Safe Third Country Agreement, a 2004 treaty between the two countries that many attribute to a recent spike in irregular migration.

We are well aware of the concerns of Canadians. We have our own concerns, Mr. Kirby said. It's a shared challenge. So I have no doubt that they will discuss it.

Senior government officials in Ottawa believe the Haiti discussion will involve the two leaders, but not the Haitians themselves. So far, Justin Trudeau has focused on sanctions, helping Haitian authorities monitor gang activity and building political consensus on how best the West can help.

Mr. Saideman, who previously worked with the US Department of Defense, said Ottawa is trying to avoid that at all costs. Our government does not want to incur huge costs or run huge risks.

He noted that Canada's largest deployment is currently in Latvia and that Ottawa has agreed to increase its presence to reinforce that country's border with Russia.

According to Mr. Saideman, it would be impossible to expand this force while leading an intervention in Haiti, particularly because each unit deployed generally requires a second unit in training and a third in recovery from the previous rotation.< /p>

Furthermore, gang violence would be much more risky than previous missions aimed at preventing clashes between warring armies, such as in Bosnia or Cyprus.

I'm not saying we shouldn't, but I understand why the government is cautious about this, said Saideman, who is director of the Canadian Defense and Security Network.

In Haiti, this is not the first rodeo, he pointed out. Previous missions did not fix things and did not lead to a lasting solution.