{"id":15634,"date":"2014-04-09T12:43:04","date_gmt":"2014-04-09T16:43:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/?p=15634"},"modified":"2014-04-09T12:55:47","modified_gmt":"2014-04-09T16:55:47","slug":"new-u-s-ambassador-to-canada-calls-for-more-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/2014\/04\/09\/new-u-s-ambassador-to-canada-calls-for-more-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"New U.S. ambassador to Canada calls for more trade"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Vice<\/a>

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<\/a>, some rights reserved<\/p><\/div>\n

Bruce Heyman is now fully installed<\/a> and beginning his official work as the newest U.S. ambassador to Canada.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> Heyman says he’ll jump in to help make that happen:<\/p>\n

And what matters is growth, not in which direction trade is flowing, he said: \u201cI am an agnostic about whether there is more trade going north or more trade going south. I just want more.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The CBC listed issues that are likely to figure largely on the diplomatic agenda<\/a>. Those include:\u00a0Keystone 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 \u00a0Trans-Pacific free-trade negotiations. (On that last issue, the U.S. wants Canada to re-vamp supply-management in sectors like dairy and poultry.)<\/p>\n

Heyman is on Twitter<\/a>, 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”<\/p>\n

This “meet the Heymans” video includes Vicki Heyman<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n