"I've never seen so many Americans excited about the visit of a Canadian prime minister."
Obama said, calling this a special day for Canadians who work in America and "enrich our lives every day."
U.S. President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joked about hockey, beer, and gray hair, but also got serious about climate change, the Arctic, and border crossings. Sympatico? Not quite, especially about softwood lumber, though the president was insist that a deal would get done, one that no one would completely love. But this was as close to sympatico as we've seen in some time between a U.S. president and Canadian prime minister.
We also saw that sympatico with First Lady Michelle Obama and Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau, who Obama introduced as her "soul sister." The two ladies spent the afternoon at an event hosted by Let Girls Learn spotlighting on the importance of education for girls.
The White House State Dinner was the culmination of friendship, meetings, and renewed understanding between two countries that often take each other for granted. But this Trudeau trip to Washington will be the beginning: President Obama will address the Canadian Parliament as part of the Three Amigos summit in Canada in June.
There were plenty of discussions during the day as well as on Wednesday. We noted the work on border crossings and reducing methane emissions. There was some progress on a softwood lumber deal, though without details. The two country leaders did hold a press conference after the morning meetings.
White House throws State Dinner for Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
While many of the day's events were available on C-SPAN, most of the state dinner was not televised. We did get footage of the toasts, including a standing ovation for Margaret Trudeau. She was a fellow guest of honour at White House State Dinners for her husband, Pierre Trudeau. Watching her get that adulation, including encouragement from her son to stand and receive the gratitude was an emotional sight.
Paul Hunter of CBC News said on "The National" Thursday night that the standing ovation was the highlight of what he got to see before the press were kicked out of the dinner.
President Obama noted how important Canadians were in the United States, especially in terms of the economy. During the toast of the State Dinner, Obama reflected on how Canadians personally affect him. He started with his Canadian brother-in-law Konrad Ng from Burlington, Ontario. Ng told Obama that his family was able to immigrate to Canada in part due to policies from Pierre Trudeau.
Obama told the story of attending his half-sister Maya Kasandra Soetoro's wedding in 2004 in going to Burlington, and then to Mississauga. The president has had to pronounce a lot of unusual names, but the Toronto suburb is a name he struggled with even during the toast. "The Canadian people made us feel right at home." The Obamas also went to Toronto and Niagara Falls.
White House aide Marvin Nicholson also got a shout out, being from Toronto and Victoria, BC.
"And tonight, we want our Canadians friends to feel at home. So this is not a dinner, it’s supper. We thought of serving up some poutine. I was going to bring a two-four. And then we’d finish off the night with a double-double. But I had to draw the line at getting milk out of a bag — this, we Americans do not understand. We do, however, have a little Canadian whiskey. That, we do understand."
Obama had a bit of fun about a boy born in Calgary growing up to run for president of the United States (Ted Cruz), gave a shout-out to Cape Breton Island for willing to take in Americans, and "to the great credit of their people, Canadians from British Columbia to New Brunswick have, so far, rejected the idea of building a wall to keep out your southern neighbors." I loved how the president got the geography correct that the other 3 Maritime provinces don't physically border the United States.
Having a U.S. president who has an understanding of Canada is crucial to the relationship between the two countries. Sure, Obama probably had some help with some of those Canadian references. But the U.S. got to see the "leader of the free world" talk about Canada in a way as to give Americans a little insight into the country, their neighbour to the north.
For the full transcript of both toasts, click here.
Here is the menu for last night's dinner. Sadly, the maple syrup used came from New England and not Trudeau's home province of Quebec. The whisky (without the e) is from Canada.
Canadian celebrities that made the guest list were Lorne Michaels, Mike Myers, Sandra Oh, Michael J. Fox (and Tracy Pollan), and Ryan Reynolds (and Blake Lively).
Sports was represented by Gary Bettman and William Daly from the NHL and Adam Silver from the NBA. Former NBA star Grant Hill, also a member of The President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition, was there with his Canadian wife, Tamia, from Windsor.
A number of U.S. politicians were at the State Dinner:
- Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
- Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
- Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT)
- Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
- Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
- Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate
- Sen. Angus King (I-ME)
- Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Minority Leader
- Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA)
- Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA)
- Gov. Mark Dayton (D-MN)
4 journalists made the list: Juliet Eilperin (The Washington Post); Adam Entous (The Wall Street Journal); Audie Cornish-Emery (NPR); and Roberta Rampton (Reuters). Rampton is from Canada.
The ambassadors from each country was there. Sophie's parents and Margaret Trudeau were at the dinner: Justin noting that his mother's last State Dinner was in 1977.
Singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles was the musical guest at the White House State Dinner. My fun reference to Sarah MacLachlan and the Barenaked Ladies was meant in fun. Bareilles doesn't have any known connection to Canada.
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Having the Canadian prime minister in Washington was 99.9999999% about politics. But the prime minister who represents the Papineau riding in Montréal found a moment in the joint press conference to make a joke with a hint of seriousness about how he couldn't bring back his beloved Montréal Expos from Washington. The Expos moved to Washington after the 2004 season and became the Nationals.
If nothing else, this was another reminder in the U.S. that Montréal baseball fans really miss their team and want the Expos to come back. Maybe Trudeau will find a way to go to Olympic Stadium in early April to take in the Toronto Blue Jays exhibition games in Montréal.
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photos credit: White House (w/a nod to C-SPAN)
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