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News from Connect2Canada
The Embassy of Canada celebrates Inauguration of President Obama
The Connect2Canada Team
Canadians and Americans gathered at the Embassy of Canada on Pennsylvania Avenue to watch the parade and celebrate the Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States. Hosted by the Canadian Tourism Commission and Canadian corporate sponsors, the tailgate party drew more than a thousand people at one of the best viewing spots on the parade route. The Embassy’s festivities featured live entertainment provided by the Nathaniel Dett Chorale (Canada's first professional choral group dedicated to Afrocentric music), the Canadian Football League’s coveted Grey Cup, Canadian "BeaverTail" pastries, NASCAR’s Jamie McMurray and his #26 Crown Royal stock car, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police standing guard to salute President Obama.
Photo gallery
Governor General Commemorates Obama's Inauguration
The Connect2Canada Team
Canadian Governor General Michaëlle Jean invited 125 young Canadians to Rideau Hall on January 20th in order to encourage dialogue about the significance of President Obama's historical inauguration. She kicked things off with some opening remarks concerning racial discrimination in North America, and then opened the floor for discussion. This event is in line with the Governor General's priority to shed light on the efforts of youth to make the world a better place. A video of the declaration is also available.
Special Features
Statement by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the inauguration of Barack Obama
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Office of the Prime Minister
Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued the following statement today on the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America:
“On behalf of all Canadians, I want to offer my heartfelt congratulations to Barack Obama as he assumes office as President of the United States of America and wish him and his administration well as they begin their new term in office.
“We also send our warmest wishes to our American neighbours as they celebrate this historic day with their friends around the world.
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Minister Kenney and Minister of State Kent to Travel to Washington, D.C., on Occasion of Presidential Inauguration
Monday, January 19, 2009
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced that the Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, and the Honourable Peter Kent, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas), will be in Washington, D.C., on January 20 to participate in the Embassy of Canada’s program of events to mark the presidential inauguration.
Canada’s Ambassador to the United States, Michael Wilson, will represent the Government of Canada at the swearing-in ceremony of President-elect Barack Obama on Capitol Hill. As has been the case in past U.S. presidential inaugurations, only ambassadors and their spouses may attend the swearing-in ceremony on behalf of their governments.
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Prime Minister and Premiers agree on action for the economy
Friday, January 16, 2009
Office of the Prime Minister
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Canada's Premiers and Territorial Leaders today agreed to work together on a number of important actions to provide stimulus to the Canadian economy. The Premiers and Territorial Leaders also shared with the Prime Minister their priorities for the January 27 Federal Budget.
"Canada's political leaders must work together on a stimulus plan that will help Canadian businesses, workers and families succeed so that Canada emerges from the global recession stronger than ever before," said the Prime Minister.
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International News
Embassy alive with ringside seat to history
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Lee-Anne Goodman, The Chronicle Herald
Alex P. Keaton was a 1980s poster boy for young, buttoned-down Republicans, but the man who played him joined the Barack Obama love-in Tuesday at the Canadian Embassy.
"I was saying to my son as we walked in here, it feels like Canada, it feels like home - there's an ease, a familiarity," Michael J. Fox told The Canadian Press after he made his way from the swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol to the Embassy just a few blocks away.
"I'm so excited just to be warm . . . (and) to see both my countries represented."
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Harper urged to form rapport with Obama
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Mike Blanchfield and Richard Foot, National Post
With a panel of experts pressing him to establish a strong personal rapport with Barack Obama, Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister, said yesterday it was a "wonderful gesture" he chose Canada as his first foreign trip.
On the eve of the historic inauguration of the 44th U. S. president, Mr. Harper said Mr. Obama's visit in the next few weeks is "a wonderful gesture and a great sign of re-establishing the strong Canadian-American relations, which this country had for many decades."
He added that Mr. Obama's inauguration as the first African-American president is a "hugely symbolic and important page in American history, [although] none of us are under any illusions about the great challenges" he will face.
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"Un pas majeur pour les États-Unis" - Michaëlle Jean
Lundi 19 janvier 2009
AFP, Le Droit
La gouverneure générale du Canada, Michaëlle Jean, en visite officielle en Haïti, a estimé hier que l'arrivée demain de Barack Obama à la Maison-Blanche était "un pas majeur pour les États-Unis, pour les Noirs du monde et pour l'Humanité".
"Je pense que les Haïtiens sont très frappés par ce nouveau chapitre qui s'écrit chez nos voisins américains", a-t-elle dit.
"Il faut avoir en mémoire que ce pays, qui voit un Afro-américain entrer à la Maison-Blanche, est un pays qui s'est construit sur la ségrégation, sur la nécessité d'un affranchissement pour davantage de justice, d'égalité, d'équité", a déclaré Michaëlle Jean à des journalistes.
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Proposed Climate-Change Pact
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Campbell Clark, Globe and Mail
Canada will propose a series of common environmental standards and energy-development plans to new U.S. President Barack Obama beyond a North American cap-and-trade system for greenhouse-gas emissions, government sources say. The Harper government is planning to propose the harmonization of goals for using bio-fuels such as ethanol, fuel-efficiency standards for cars, and targets for so-called "low-carbon" power plants - which, over time, might push the United States into buying more Canadian hydro to replace its dirtier coal-generated power.
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Transition at the top
Friday, January 16, 2009
Shawn McCarthy, The Globe and Mail
After eight years of Republican rule, environmentalists now believe they have a keen ally moving into the White House next week, and Canada's oil sands are high on their list of targets. But they'll have to deal with General James Jones.
As a monumental battle over energy policy shapes up within the new administration of president-elect Barack Obama, Gen. Jones, a former NATO supreme commander who retired from the U.S. Marine Corps, may turn out to be Canada's best ally.
After next week's historic presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C., he will be the new president's national security adviser, and has sent clear signals that he considers energy security to be a key part of his mandate.
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Wilkins to Winfrey for next envoy?
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Greg Weston, The London Free Press
At a recent farewell lunch with a dozen journalists, departing U.S. ambassador David Wilkins claimed to have it on good authority that his replacement would be Oprah Winfrey.
Good choice: The iconic talk show host devoted to helping children in godforsaken places would surely find Ottawa in the dead of winter is right up her alley.
Alas, Wilkins was merely treating the scribbling class to one last flash of hallmark humour.
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Canadians firm on 2011 Afghan pullout date
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Mike Blanchfield, Calgary Herald
Canadians may love Barack Obama, but not enough to keep our troops in Kandahar past 2011,a new poll says.
An exclusive survey by Ipsos Reid for Canwest News Service and Global National found 71 per cent of respondents said Prime Minister Stephen Harper should refuse if Obama requests an ex-tension of the Canadian combat mission in Afghanistan.
The poll may give Harper--or any future Canadian prime minister--some of the strongest empirical evidence to date of the political implications of dealing with such a request.
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Business and Trade
Feds seek stronger ties
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Kathleen Harris, Calgary Sun
With the new president now formally installed, the Conservative government is waiting to build deeper ties with the U.S. when Barack Obama makes his official "kickoff" state visit to Canada.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, who called yesterday's inauguration event "spectacular," said Canada and the U.S. will tackle climate change, trade and the Afghanistan mission as they build a new relationship under Obama.
But joint efforts to calm the economic crisis will top the agenda.
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Wilson: Selling NAFTA a priority
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Michael Oliveira, The Chronicle Herald
Canada will work swiftly to sell U.S. president-elect Barack Obama on the importance of the countries' trade relationship and lobby against any protectionist anti-NAFTA talk, ambassador to the United States Michael Wilson said Monday.
The North American Free Trade Agreement was frequently attacked during the Democratic primaries for costing Americans jobs and Wilson said that promoting an even stronger trade relationship with the U.S. will be a priority for Canada.
"We must continue to work together to deepen and strengthen this trading relationship that's been so beneficial for both of our countries," Wilson said during a speech to the Canadian Club of Toronto.
"We'll impress that view on the new administration and particularly on Congress, where protectionist
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U.S. pushes ahead with new bridge
Friday, January 16, 2009
Dave Battagello, Windsor Star
A new bridge that will link Windsor and Detroit crossed a key hurdle late Wednesday when the U.S. government gave final environmental approval for the multi-billion-dollar project.
The decision allows the State of Michigan to begin property acquisitions and design work.
"It's a key milestone to ensure this project moves towards construction," Doug Hecox, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Transportation, said Thursday. "This signifies, as far as the U.S. government is concerned, all environmental reviews have been completed," Hecox said. "This has been a pretty rigorous process. What this decision does is indicate everything looked at is fine."
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Area beef producers applaud label ruling
Friday, January 16, 2009
Nick Gardiner, The Kingston Whig-Standard
Eastern Ontario producers are cheering Tuesday's announcement exempting Canadian beef and pork from U. S. country-of-origin labelling regulations.
"It's a good news story and hopefully we'll see more good news stories in the future," said Athens-area beef producer Kim Sytsma.
The U. S. market for Canadian producers shrank dramatically last fall when American feedlot owners were ordered to segregate livestock based on the country of origin.
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U.S. recovery key to revival of economy in Canada
Friday, January 16, 2009
Les Whittington, Toronto Star
Can Barack Obama save Canada?
While the budget now being prepared by Prime Minister Stephen Harper is intended to spur economic growth, the revival of Canada's struggling economy will in the end hinge less on what the Conservatives do here than on the new U. S. president's recovery plan.
With the U.S. taking 80 per cent of Canada's exports, the Canadian economy inevitably rises or falls along with consumer and business demand south of the border.
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Laurels from the U.S.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Rebecca Penty, Telegraph-Journal
The United States is eyeing liquefied natural gas exports from New Brunswick as key to meeting future North American demands.
A report, by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on 2007 imports and exports of gas published this week, said imports of liquefied natural gas reached "historically high volumes" and pipeline gas, largely from Canada, increased to "near-record levels."
The liquefied natural gas terminal being developed in Saint John by Canaport LNG - for completion by the end of the month - is lauded in the report as the Canadian project that will "most immediately" meet demands.
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Bombardier wins Las Vegas monorail extension
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The Montreal Gazette
Bombardier Inc.'s transportation unit said yesterday it received an order valued at $58 million U.S. to continue running the monorail system in Las Vegas.
Bombardier has run the driverless Las Vegas monorail since it opened for passenger service in 2004. The monorail, a fleet of nine four-car trains, links seven stations along 6.4 kilometres of dual-lane elevated guideway, the firm said. It services the east side of the Las Vegas strip, including the convention centre, and has carried more than 33 million passengers.
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Owners of HBC to combine operations
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Dana Flavelle, Toronto Star
In a move that will eventually cut costs and lead to some job losses, the U.S. owners of Canada's oldest department store chain, Hudson's Bay Company, say they plan to centralize many of their Canadian and U.S. operations.
The stores, which operate in Canada as The Bay, Zellers, Home Outfitters and Fields, and in the U.S. as Lord & Taylor, would continue to maintain their own marketing, merchandising and store teams, the company said.
But the so-called back-office functions, such as accounting, supply chain, logistics and information technology, would be shared on both sides of the border, the company said.
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Canadian News
Canada sings for Obama
Friday, January 16, 2009
Jane Stevenson, Toronto Sun
The Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Canada's first professional choir dedicated to Afro-Centric music, has performed for world leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu over the past 10 years.
It's probably fair to say that nothing, however, will compare to the Toronto ensemble's part in Barack Obama's historic inauguration on Tuesday as the first African-American president of the United States, followed by a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue.
The 21-member group of classically trained vocalists will perform at the Canadian Embassy on Inauguration Day. They also will give a 40-minute concert Monday morning at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. Their performances are part of a three-day festival, Out Of Many, inspired by Obama's election night speech.
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Canadians celebrate as Obama takes office
Monday, January 19, 2009
Times & Transcript
The inauguration of the 44th U.S. president will see Canadians gather in theatres, school gymnasiums, churches and offices nationwide to celebrate Barack Obama as if he were one of their own.
Others will make the trek to Washington, D.C., to witness what some are calling the biggest event the storied city has ever hosted.
For many Canadians, the audacity of hope that propelled Obama to the White House has struck a powerful chord.
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Canucks catch Obama fever
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Peter Zimonjic, Toronto Sun
After a sleep-deprived bus trip, hours of fighting the cold and battling the current of mind-boggling crowds, the verdict is in: "It was totally worth it."
"It was a wonderful speech, it was so motivational, I thought I was going to cry but I didn't," said Julie Guerin, 18, of Barrie, a social sciences student at the University of Ottawa. "I always thought the U.S. had this negative vibe to it, but now it feels like such a positive place with a bright future."
Guerin never really followed politics prior to her introductory political science course this year. Now she bounces with excitement at the thought that she was actually in Washington, D.C., when Barack Obama was sworn in.
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B.C. man designed Michelle Obama dress
Thursday, January 22, 2009
David Graham, Toronto Star
The creator of the decade's most famous dress – the white chiffon gown Michelle Obama wore to the inaugural balls Tuesday night, got his start sewing dresses for dolls in Vancouver, B.C.
According to Jason Wu's website, he learned to sew, draft patterns and sketch in fashion proportions by using dolls as mannequins.
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Des Québécois font le voyage à Washington
Mercredi 21 janvier 2009
Martin Croteau, La Presse
Carmen Garnes s'est levée à 4h30 pour obtenir une bonne place. La retraitée a attendu des heures dans le métro, avant de se frayer un chemin dans une foule colossale. C'est finalement sur écran géant qu'elle a vécu son rendez-vous avec l'histoire. Mais elle ne regrette rien.
"J'ai l'impression que mon coeur va sortir de ma poitrine tellement il bat", a confié la Montréalaise, quelques secondes après que Barack Obama eut - un brin maladroitement - prêté serment pour devenir le 44e président des États-Unis.
Même si elle n'a pas vu le premier président noir de ses yeux, elle n'a eu aucun mal à sentir sa présence. Des centaines de milliers de personnes comme elle ont bravé un froid presque canadien au pied de l'obélisque. Ils sont venus de partout aux États-Unis pour entendre celui qui incarne l'espoir du changement, à défaut de le voir.
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Download these Canadian songs, Mr. President
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Brad Wheeler, Globe and Mail
CBC Radio 2 asked its listeners to help select a list of the top 49 Canadian songs that best defined the country to Barack Obama, a music listener with self-described "pretty eclectic tastes." In an interview with Rolling Stone, the President-elect boasted of an iPod of Bob Dylan, Sheryl Crow, Yo-Yo Ma and Jay-Z. Some of the music he favoured while growing up was of the classic-rock FM-radio variety, namely the Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Earth, Wind & Fire.
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High-tech card to ease travel across U.S. border
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Bruce Owen, Winnipeg Free Press
Manitobans planning to travel south of the border this summer have one more item to pack--the province's new high-tech ID card. Without it or a passport they won't get across the border.
The cards, unveiled Monday, are needed by Manitoba adults driving into the United States as of June 1.
The new cards, issued under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), are the first phase of a voluntary program that will revamp provincial driver's licences later this year.
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Opinion/Editorial
Le passeport de Barack
Mardi 20 janvier 2009
J. Jacques Samson, Le Journal de Montréal
Le maintien d'une grande fluidité à la frontière canado-américaine sera le véritable test d'un changement réel dans les rapports entre les deux pays, à la suite de l'entrée en fonction de Barack Obama.
Le Canada a été confronté à un choix au lendemain des attentats du 11 septembre 2001 : adhérer à fond de train à la volonté de l'administration Bush d'ériger un périmètre de sécurité nord-américain extrêmement étanche ou rester à l'extérieur du mur virtuel que les Américains étaient déterminés à dresser.
La réponse trop tiède à leur goût des gouvernements Chrétien et Martin a déplu. Les relations se sont par la suite refroidies, à tous les niveaux, même si nos deux économies sont toujours aussi imbriquées.
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What the U.S. ambassador learned in Canada
Monday, January 19, 2009
Donna Jacobs, Ottawa Citizen
Tomorrow, Inauguration Day, is U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins' last day on the job here.
He has a lot of take-home lessons, though the instruction has been generally gentle. "I think Canadians," he said in a recent farewell interview, "are awfully polite."
"If they had something negative to say to me, they probably wouldn't say it. So most comments are very positive. I've been treated with great warmth and friendship wherever I've been."
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