Canadian Crossing

President Obama to visit Canada on February 19

The date has been set: U.S. President Barack Obama's first foreign trip will be on Canadian soil on February 19.

This visit revives a presidential tradition of making the first foreign trip to Canada, which hasn't been done since 1993.

The trip will likely only be for a day. Trade between the countries and the economy will likely be on the docket for any speeches or discussions.

There is the possibility of speaking before Parliament, though it might not normally be in session.

Obama should get a warm reception from the Canadian people, something U.S. presidents don't always receive, regardless of party.

Even though the actual visits are significant, Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper have talked on the phone.

What would you like to see Obama and Harper talk about when they meet in Ottawa? Let us know in the comments section below.

Parliament is back; Harper likely to stay for now

Parliament was un-prorogued today, coming back into session after a 7-week layoff.

As we last left this crazy soap opera, the Liberals, New Democratic Party, and Bloc Quebecois were about to form a coalition, and force a vote of no confidence. PM Stephen Harper ran to Governor General Michaëlle Jean and asked her to prorogue Parliament.

Since then, the Liberals have switched party leaders, and it looks like Harper will remain Prime Minister. There are a number of reasons for this, and none of them have to do with Harper.

Canadians don't want another federal election, especially now. Michael Ignatieff probably doesn't want to be PM through a coalition. And the three parties not in control may have received enough concessions about the new budget; there is still wiggle room on all sides.

So no new boss yet in Canada, but this soap opera is not going away anytime soon.

NHL All-Stars shine bright in Montréal

Bienvenue a la Montréal, maison to the 2009 NHL All-Star Game. This year, the contest was held at the Bell Centre, home of the Canadiens. The game was placed in Montréal to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Canadiens.

The East won in the shootout 12-11, with Alex Kovalev of the hometown Canadiens scoring the game-clincher in the shootout.

In watching the game on Versus on the U.S. feed, they took time to profile the city, its fans, and previous standout Canadiens heroes.

The NHL isn't planning an All-Star Game next year due to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. The next All-Star Game is tentatively scheduled for Glendale, AZ, home of the Phoenix Coyotes, a decidedly non-traditional hockey site.

No Oscar nominations for Canada, but plenty of potential Razzies for Mike Myers

While last year, the Oscar nominations were kind to Canadians, this year is eerily silent from a Canadian perspective.

The movie, "Frozen River," takes place in New York state and Quebec. Its lead actress, Melissa Leo, was nominated for Best Actress. This is not a mainstream, hundreds of movie theaters at one time, kind of movie. But it is about smuggling people across the U.S.-Canada border, and that is good enough for us.

"Frozen River" was also nominated for Original Screenplay.

On the other hand, Mike Myers did receive a lot of nominations. Unfortunately for him, they were for the Razzies. "The Love Guru" (which we wrote about last summer) received seven Razzies nomination, including Worst Picture and Worst Actor.

For all the negativity surrounding the Razzies, it's good to keep in mind that the second-worst film of the year gets no award. At least with the Razzies, people care enough to tell you they hated your movie.

The Oscars airs February 22 on ABC and CTV.

Canada draws U.S., Italy, Venezuela in World Baseball Classic

The experiment, part II begins in March: the second attempt at the World Baseball Classic.

In 2006, Canada played with the United States, Mexico, and South Africa. Despite going 2-1 (including a win over the U.S.), the Canadians did not advance past the first round. Hopefully, Justin Morneau, Jason Bay, and company will do even better for the maple leaf.

In 2009, Canada is in Pool C with the United States, Italy, and Venezuela. One advantage the Canadians might get this year is that all first-round games will be on Canadian soil, at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

The first round (double-elimination) takes place March 7-11. Canada plays its first game against the United States on March 7 at 2 pm EST.

In 2006, Canada downed South Africa 11-8 and edged the U.S. 8-6. But in losing to Mexico 9-1, the run differential turned out to be the tiebreaker.

Coverage in the U.S. is expected on the MLB Network and ESPN. The ESPN games will likely end up on TSN, but that hasn't been confirmed.

Watching border crossings on TV; ABC's 'Homeland Security'

I missed the premiere of "Homeland Security USA" since I figured it would be like "COPS" but more depressing. And while "Homeland Security USA" is certainly more boring than "COPS," the program on ABC does give a peak into the world of border crossings.

Unlike COPS, which mercifully is only 30 minutes, Homeland Security USA is 60 minutes in a 13-part series. And most of the program is devoted to Mexico crossings.

However, there are stories about Canadian crossings. In the episode I watched (second overall), there were two stories from the Detroit-Windsor crossing and a story from the Blaine, WA crossing at I-5.

The Detroit stories were about a man from Tennessee who crossed back from Canada with a skull in his car. Oh, and he had handguns. The cops seemed concerned that he brought guns back. I was more concerned that he got in Canada with handguns, an absolute no-no. The other Detroit story was a drunk woman who was detained by the border patrol since they couldn't arrest her for drunk driving (not a federal law). Despite the delay in getting local police involved, she still blew a .21, according to the show. That's really drunk.

The Washington-BC crossing dealt with a couple that were denied access to Canada. He had been convicted before, and they were in a rental car. Didn't know a rental car would be a red flag, but this is what you can learn from TV.

The show is vehemently pro Homeland Security, but you knew that going into watching it.

If you think 60 minutes is too much to waste, honestly you could tape it (or DVR it), fast-forward the Mexico parts and go straight to the Canadian parts. Or check back here, and we'll try and give updates.

Homeland Security USA airs Tuesday nights at 8 pm Eastern on ABC-TV (But not on January 20 because of the Inauguration).

Canada will be Obama's first foreign destination

Shortly after Barack Obama becomes president, he will make a foreign visit to Canada. This is the typical reaction of someone who becomes a U.S. president. Except that no incoming president has made that trip since Bill Clinton in 1993.

George W. Bush went against tradition and practicality by not making an initial visit to Canada. In fact, he didn't make an official trip in his first four years. And this was despite the fact that Canadians participated greatly in helping air flights forced down in Canada on September 11, 2001 (he later did make a trip to acknowledge this, years after the incident).

During the campaign, John McCain did make a trip to Canada to give a speech in Ottawa, one of the rare times a candidate made a trip north of the border during an election cycle.

Obama's state trip will likely mention NAFTA, as is likely to happen during the scheduled meeting Obama has with Mexico President Felipe Calderon this week.

The Prime Minister Obama will meet will either be incumbent Stephen Harper or possibly Michael Ignatieff, current Liberal Party leader and theoretically PM in a coalition government, should that come to pass. Diplomatically, Obama may have to tip-toe on this issue.

Hopefully, Obama and the Canadian PM will build some strong rapport on trade, border crossings, and overall relations between each other's largest trading partner.

International Bowl in Toronto growing in success

The third annual International Bowl, the only American college football bowl held outside the United States, had a substantial increase in attendance this year. True, the nearby University of Buffalo Bulls were one of the teams, making the short trip to Toronto.

However, in these tough economic times, an increase of almost 9,000 to 40,184 is still impressive, given this is the only live exposure to U.S. college football.

The University of Connecticut beat the Bulls 38-20 in Saturday's contest.

Rogers Centre is getting used to having American football: while this was the first U.S. college contest this year, the facility hosted a Buffalo Bills exhibition game and a regular-season Buffalo contest.

Once again, the coverage in the States was on ESPN2 with its "all-Canadian" crew. Canadian natives John Saunders, Jesse Palmer, and sideline reporter David Amber were on the telecast along with CFL hero Doug Flutie. This was last year's commentary group with Amber replacing fellow Canadian Stacey Dales.

This year, ESPN2 showed a lot of shots of kids and adults skating on ponds to show off Canada. The more relevant touch was the shot of Nathan Phillips Square just north of the downtown area in Toronto. It was an actual sample of Toronto other than the skyline shots and a sculpture outside the Rogers Centre.

While there are probably too many college football bowl games, the International Bowl is making its presence known, especially for such a young game of three years.

Should Canada host a NHL Winter Classic?

The irony to the question is that Canada hosted the first regular-season NHL outdoor game, but since it wasn't part of the official NHL Winter Classic series, it seems to be forgotten.

The interest comes about after the huge success earlier today at Wrigley Field in Chicago, where the Detroit Red Wings (I can see Canada from their arena) downed the hometown Blackhawks 6-4 at the home of MLB's Chicago Cubs. The game was carried by NBC in the States and CBC in Canada.

This was the third regular-season outdoor game. The first Winter Classic was last New Year's Day in Buffalo when the Pittsburgh Penguins edged the Buffalo Sabres at Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the NFL's Buffalo Bills.

On November 22, 2003, the Heritage Classic was played in Edmonton between the Edmonton Oilers and the Montréal Canadiens. Montréal won that contest 4-3.

Today's game was the first in a baseball stadium. Edmonton's contest was held at Commonwealth Stadium, home of the CFL's Edmonton Eskimos.

So where in Canada could you play an outdoor classic? Unfortunately, the options aren't plentiful. Vancouver's football stadium has a dome. Montréal's outdoor football stadium only seats about 25,000. But Calgary has a football stadium and an NHL team. So does Ottawa. And Toronto has a domed stadium but the roof could be opened at the Rogers Centre.

There are some quality places in the United States as well to explore. The most logical place now would be Fenway Park in Boston. One city that would be cool, even if they don't have a home team, is Cleveland with two solid outdoor options right downtown near Lake Erie. Maybe the Columbus Blue Jackets could play a home game in Cleveland. Lambeau Field in Green Bay would also be great, even if Wisconsin doesn't have an NHL team (Minnesota Wild playing in Green Bay?).

PNC Park in Pittsburgh would be awesome, even if the Penguins have already played in the classic. Then there is the new Yankee Stadium to consider. It's too bad Tiger Stadium in Detroit isn't likely in good enough shape to play a game, though Comerica Park is an extremely nice facility.

So where should the NHL play its next Winter Classic? And if Canada gets picked, where should the NHL go? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.