New U.S. ambassador to Canada calls for more trade
Vice President Joe Biden swears in Bruce Heyman as the U.S. Ambassador to Canada at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on March 26, 2014. Photo: State Department/Public Domain, some rights reserved
Bruce Heyman is now fully installed and beginning his official work as the newest U.S. ambassador to Canada.
Speaking to the Globe and Mail, Heyman said the much-debated Keystone XL pipeline project is important, but there’s far more to the U.S.-Canada trade relationship. In his first interview since taking office Heyman says he’ll jump in to help make that happen:
And what matters is growth, not in which direction trade is flowing, he said: “I am an agnostic about whether there is more trade going north or more trade going south. I just want more.”
The CBC listed issues that are likely to figure largely on the diplomatic agenda. Those include: Keystone XL, energy and the environment, who owes what to fund the Windsor-Detroit Bridge, U.S. concerns that Canada is not doing enough to curb production and smuggling of oxycodone, intellectual property issues and Trans-Pacific free-trade negotiations. (On that last issue, the U.S. wants Canada to re-vamp supply-management in sectors like dairy and poultry.)
Heyman is on Twitter, and has already used that platform to expand on similar themes, as in this tweet: “We have a commercial relationship that is the envy of the world, no two countries do more economically together”
This “meet the Heymans” video includes Vicki Heyman expounding on her family ties to Canada, it turns out her Great-grandparents came to Canada from Russia, after which her grandfather moved to the U.S.
Tags: border issues, Bruce Heyman, canada, economy, politics, trade, U.S.
These post have been very good.
But it seems like the In Box has completely transformed into the place to go for cross-border news issues.