OTTAWA — Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper came away impressed with President Barack Obama’s confidence in the face of the worst economic crisis in decades, following Obama’s first foreign trip as president.
OTTAWA — Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper came away impressed with President Barack Obama’s confidence in the face of the worst economic crisis in decades, following Obama’s first foreign trip as president. Harper noted Obama’s cool demeanor in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. after Obama departed Ottawa Thursday. "I look at the challenges in front of me, and when I look at the challenges in front of him, they are just overwhelming," Harper said. "But he seems to have a good perspective on it all, he seems to able to understand the complexity and the difficulties of these challenges, but it doesn’t seem in any way to be overwhelming him or stressing him. That’s something that’s impressive at this point, but obviously we both have a long way to go through this economic time," he said. The prime minister said the leaders focused on larger issues during their meeting and didn’t get caught up on grievances. They pledged to cooperate on trade, Afghanistan and climate change. Harper said Obama is "an easy guy to like and an easy guy to get to know." The prime minister wasn’t the only Canadian impressed by Obama, who caused something of a sensation when he took an unscheduled detour into Ottawa’s Byward Market before departing for Washington. The president drew screams and cheers as he purchased a famous Canadian delicacy — a Beavertail, a patty of whole-wheat dough stretched into the shape of a beaver tail. "He was actually so down to earth," said Jessica Milien, the 17-year-old Ottawa high-school student who sold him the delicacy. Marie Schofield and her friend Dagmar Weinert caught a bus at 4 a.m. for the five-hour trip to Ottawa from Kitchener, Ontario. "I think this is special," Schofield said. "It’s unique, it’s once in a lifetime." Allison Heather, 31, said it’s an honor that Canada is Obama’s first international trip. "This is such a monumental event for world history, having a Black president in US office. It makes me feel more optimistic about racial equality in general in North America," Heather said. Obama’s remarks on Canada’s oil sands industry and an agreement to begin a clean-energy dialogue reassured some Canadians who were worried about possible U.S. restrictions on Canadian oil shipments. Obama also declined to ask war-weary Canada to stay longer in Afghanistan. Canada, which has lost more than 100 soldiers in Afghanistan, is withdrawing its 2,500 combat forces out of the volatile south in 2011. Although Obama stuck to his pledge to eventually seek changes in the North American Free Trade Agreement, he said he intended to do it in a way "that is not disruptive to the extraordinarily important trade relationships" between the U.S. and Canada. The Obama visit "sets a really good tone for Canadian and American relations, and it should set a tone for any discussions of those issues," said Robert Bothwell, director of the international relations program at the University of Toronto. Paul Cellucci, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada, said Canadian officials were worried about pressure from Canadian and American environmentalists to restrict imports to the U.S. of oil derived from Alberta’s oil sands, where refining generates high levels of the greenhouse gases blamed for climate change. Cellucci said he didn’t think Canadians had to worry following the agreement after hearing Obama compare the oil sands to America’s coal industry. "Clearly, Obama is not going to shut down all the coal burning plants in the United States," Cellucci said. "He’s putting the oil sands into the same basket. It sounds to me like he’s not going to support restricting oil from the oil sands from coming into the United States." ______ Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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