Three Friends Summit: No awkward handshakes, but no concessions on the EV tax credit

Politics Insider for Nov 19, 2021: Prime Minister Has a Tough Journey; the military heads to BC; a great vaccination day

At least the handshakes went well: When Joe biden, Justin trudeau and Mexican counterpart Andrés Manuel López Obrador entered the East Room of the White House for their highly publicized trilateral conspiracy, the three masked men sat so far away from each other as allowed by the long table. And it doesn’t appear that Trudeau came much closer to getting the president of the United States to inject a compromise into congressional legislation that includes an electric vehicle tax credit that could freeze Canadian-made cars and trucks.

Biden, prior to his earlier face-to-face with Trudeau, did not commit to what suddenly became Canada’s top bilateral issue, one that could hit its auto sector. “The answer is: I don’t know,” Biden said, when asked about the neighborhood exemptions. “And frankly, I don’t know what we’re going to be dealing with when the legislation comes out.”

It was the first policy issue that Trudeau raised in the one-on-one, the Toronto Star’s Edward Keenan, based in Washington writes:

Meanwhile, in Congress, the House of Representatives was pushing for a vote on the Build Back Better economic package, including the Buy American policy, possibly on Thursday night. It seemed like a good chance that while Trudeau was still in town filing the case against him, the House was going to vote in favor. So maybe it’s not a landslide success story for the Canadian delegation. But no one expected success in that dossier in the form of any kind of decision or announcement in favor of Canada. The best that was hoped for was to keep talking about it as the bill progresses through the political process. And there is a lot of process left.

The meeting of the leaders of the former NAFTA area lasted about three hours. its joint declaration it slipped past irritants like trade and (on the US-Mexico border) migration, and was predictably full of terms like “reiterated” and “committing to launch efforts to improve cooperation” on issues like climate change, trade and pandemic.

In a break with tradition, there was no three-headed press conference, leaving Trudeau to jump a few blocks down Pennsylvania Avenue to speak to reporters at the Canadian embassy. When asked repeatedly about the progress he’s made on the tax credit, Trudeau replied that Americans are “very aware of Canada’s position on this … and the threats posed to more than 50 years of integrated automobile manufacturing in our two countries. ” BalloonAdrian morrow observed: “Translation: repeatedly raised, but Americans do not move.”

The feds go west: Speaking of Team Canada, that’s a Minister of Defense term Anita anand used when discussing the federal response to the catastrophic floods in British Columbia. Anand was accompanied at a briefing on Thursday by the Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill blair, Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra and the Minister of Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, along with Gen. Wayne eyre, Acting Chief of Defense Staff. (Notable absence, given the devastation of Fraser Valley Farms: Minister of Agriculture Marie-Claude Bibeau, but this was already a very staffed press conference).

Much of this was trivial in these early stages of a long (drink) crisis from which to rebuild, a kind of hands-on show, an emphasis on get people to safety for now-and something clear linkage with climate change, adaptation and rebuilding with resilience from Wilkinson, the former environment minister. Anand and Eyre had the most concrete messages to send, with 120 pairs of Canadian Armed Forces boots on the ground now at Abbottsford, 350 more ready for deployment from Edmonton for immediate response. “If necessary, we have thousands more members ready to help the province.” Anand said.

Logistical, human and financial support: British Columbia will need it from Canada. When asked on Thursday about any anticipated price tags, the Minister of Public Safety Mike farnworth I could only say: “It’s going to be a lot.”

Biden offered his thoughts during Trudeau’s visit: “I know we both keep our minds close to the families affected by the storms that flooded the British Columbia area in the Pacific Northwest.” British Columbia is likely leaning on Americans for more than just thoughts, given the number of supply chains that were cut; It has already been suggested to Prime Minister John Horgan that they will need support. of US fuel reserves, Global News reports.

Boy this won’t hurt a bit: The news that Canadian parents and their family members have waited for months finally arrives today at 10 a.m. ET, when Health Canada officials announce regulatory approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children 5 years and older. (Don’t expect a cameo from the Prime Minister; his itinerary says his flight from Washington will still be in the air when the briefing begins.)

Canada has expected 2.9 million doses of Pfizer of the children’s mRNA injection to arrive “shortly” after this approval: a first dose for each eligible child, the Toronto starAlex Boyd Explain.

From there, provincial governments will rush to establish and announce their own vaccination approaches. Some provinces have offered parents the opportunity to “pre-register” their children, but that mainly amounts to registering so that they are immediately notified when there is something they really need to register for.

In the United States, which gave the green light to the Pfizer youth vaccine on November 2, it has vaccinated nearly 10 percent of its new eligible children in the first two weeks in that country. COVID vaccination program.

Kenney’s dysfunctional family reunion: After Jason Kenney’s year, one imagines that Alberta’s prime minister wishes a weekend spent with his United Conservative Party loyalists would be a welcome refuge from all his other challenges. Not so at all.

The UCP is holding its first annual in-person convention since 2019 this weekend at a hotel casino in Tsuu T’ina Nation, outside Calgary. The grassroots are restless, arguing that it doesn’t listen much, and more than 20 constituencies want a broader and more accelerated leadership review by March. (There is currently one scheduled for April). There have been leaks across UCP territory that point to the various ways Kenney’s team will attempt to tilt the convention’s votes and motions in its favor: a corporate executive recruiting employees to register and revolutionize the convention. . floor, like Calgary heraldDon braid reports, or the premier’s office telling legislature staff members how to vote to downplay political motions that are out of line with Kenney’s agenda, like Elise von Scheel of CBC Calgary Chronicles.

A motion designed to derail an early leadership review is debated Friday night, and Kenney will shake the hospitality suite Saturday morning to deliver a pre-lunch speech in the delegates’ ballroom. He will almost certainly survive this weekend, whether his tactics prevail or disgruntled members do. But it’s hard to see how it emerges stronger Maclean’s writes on your stage.

—Jason Markusoff



Reference-www.macleans.ca

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