U.S. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden arrive at Ottawa/Macdonald–Cartier International Airport ahead of an official state visit in Ottawa, Thursday, March 23, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
OTTAWA – President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau say in a joint statement they are bolstering Norad, updating a treaty on cross-border asylum seekers and launching a one-year energy transformation task force.
They are also pointing to new spending on alternative fuel corridors, critical minerals, semiconductor projects, Great Lakes conservation and Arctic radar.
The joint statement confirms that the Safe Third Country Agreement will be applied between official ports of entry along the entire Canada-United States border, and that Canada will take in 15,000 more migrants from the Western Hemisphere over the next year.
It says Canada will spend $6.96 billion on surveillance system modernization in the North and another $7.3 billion toward aircraft, refuelling and airfield improvements ahead of its procurement of F-35 fighter jets, with Trudeau saying the money will come from planned investments.
And it says the energy task force, to be chaired by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and the U.S. special presidential co-ordinator for global infrastructure, will focus on renewable energy, electric vehicles, critical minerals and nuclear energy.
The statement also commits both countries to achieving net-zero power grids by 2035 and building a network of electric-vehicle chargers on both sides of the border.
Biden and Trudeau are condemning Russia’s war in Ukraine and says China poses a “serious long-term challenge to the international order,” but it does not announce new measures for Haiti despite acknowledging the country’s “deteriorating security.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2023.
