U.S. president touches down in Ottawa for North American Leaders’ Summit

By The Canadian Press

Barack Obama has arrived in Ottawa for what is widely expected to be his last visit to Canada as president of the United States.

The president’s distinctive Boeing VC-25, commonly known as Air Force One, touched down at the Ottawa airport right on schedule, just before 10:15 a.m. ET. on Wednesday.

Governor General David Johnston, Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion, U.S. Ambassador Bruce Heyman and Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson were on hand to greet Obama, along with a phalanx of ceremonial guards.


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A towering convoy of black limousines and SUVs, including the heavily armoured presidential Cadillac nicknamed “The Beast,” was also waiting to whisk the president away to the National Gallery of Canada, not far from Parliament Hill.

Once there, Obama is scheduled to meet briefly with Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto before the pair join Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to kick off the North American Leaders’ Summit.

The huddle, colloquially known as the Three Amigos summit, is expected to focus on clean energy and climate change.

The Mexican president, who has been on a state visit to Canada since Monday, is to sign on to a Canada-U.S. pledge to cut methane emissions 40 to 45 per cent below 2012 levels by 2025.

The trio will also announce plans to achieve 50 per cent clean power generation across North America by 2025, including renewable energy, nuclear power, carbon capture and storage and increased energy efficiency.

Ahead of today’s summit, Trudeau and Pena Nieto cleared away Tuesday long-standing trade and travel irritants: Canada will lift its controversial visa requirement for Mexican visitors before the end of the year while Mexico will end restrictions on Canadian beef imports.

The two leaders touted the relationship between their countries as a model of political and economic co-operation, in sharp contrast to the growing strains of protectionism and isolation sweeping the United States and Britain, a message that’s likely to intensify today.

The trio are to hold a joint news conference at the conclusion of the summit this afternoon.

After the summit, Trudeau is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Obama, who will cap his daylong visit to the Canadian capital with an address to Parliament.

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