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American mainstream media astroturfing notwithstanding, Monday’s one-day summit meeting in Washington with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon is the classic: “A picture is worth a Thousand Words” lesson. The American media presented the meeting as a run-of-the-mill get together of the three North American amigos.... Look at the expression on Barack Obama’s face from pictures taken during the event. The malevolent expression on Obama’s face as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was speaking tells a different story. The picture is right up there with Michelle’s countenance while looking at France’s Carla Bruni. President Barry Soetoro...

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) greets Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington April 12, 2010. Obama opened a 47-nation summit dedicated to keeping nuclear arms from terrorists and planned to seekmomentum in his push for a new round of sanctions on Iran. REUTERS/Jim Young (UNITED STATES)

The United States is losing ground to its major competitors in the global marketplace, according to the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom released today by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. This year, of the world's 20 largest economies, the U.S. suffered the largest drop in overall economic freedom. Its score declined to 78 from 80.7 on the 0 to 100 Index scale. .The U.S. lost ground on many fronts. Scores declined in seven of the 10 categories of economic freedom. Losses were particularly significant in the areas of financial and monetary freedom and property rights. Driving it...

Canadians are no more loving of the United States under its current leadership than during George W. Bush's presidency, suggested a poll published Monday. But they do like President Barack Obama a whole lot more than his predecessor, said the Historica Dominion Institute survey of 1,018 Canadians. Obama was viewed favorably by 86 percent of respondents, compared to only 21 percent for Bush in 2005. "What's striking about these findings is how Canadians have detached their personal view of Barack Obama, whom they quite like and respect, from the United States, which they still view with skepticism, even distrust," said...

When Barack Obama came to Ottawa in February, Canadians lowered their defences and surrendered, seduced by the new President’s promises that the United States would stand by its international trade obligations and resist protectionism. It was an object lesson in why politicians should be judged on results, not their intentions. The reality is that Canada and the United States are engaging in skirmishes that threaten to erupt into an all-out trade war. John Hayward runs an industrial equipment company, Hayward Gordon, in Halton Hills, Ontario, but is in the process of transferring some of his company’s manufacturing capacity to the...

The Obama administration said on Monday that it has no plans for reopening negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement to revise its labor and environmental provisions, as then-Senator Barack Obama promised to do during his presidential campaign. “The president has said we will look at all of our options, but I think they can be addressed without having to reopen the agreement,” said Ronald Kirk, the United States trade representative. Mr. Kirk spoke in a conference call with reporters after returning from the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad over the weekend. He said President Obama conferred there...

WASHINGTON — Janet Napolitano has a message for Canadians: It's a border. Get used to it. The new Homeland Security Secretary had only stern comments yesterday about the state and future of the Canada-U.S. border, at a symposium hosted by the Brookings Institution. Her goal seemed to be to throw a bucket of reality on anyone who hoped that the arrival of Barack Obama's new administration would herald a loosening of new restrictions on cross-border traffic. The days when Canadians and Americans moved back and forth across the border—“it's as though there's not a border at all,” as she put...

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian fighters scrambled to intercept an approaching Russian bomber less than 24 hours before U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Ottawa last week, Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay said on Friday. The Bear bomber did not enter Canada's Arctic airspace but the two Canadian F-18 fighters had to order the plane to turn back, MacKay told a news conference. Obama spent a few hours in the Canadian

Governor General Michaëlle Jean discussed the plight of her native Haiti with U.S. President Barack Obama, who invited her to come to Washington – an invitation that was not extended to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. American aides to the president who briefed the travelling White House reporters en route back to Washington Thursday said Obama and the Governor General exchanged "views about how we could be helpful to the government there in dealing with economic and social issues." "The president made clear that this is something that he did care about and wanted to confer and get the views of...

He had us at merci. Barack Obama's visit to Ottawa Thursday was a six-hour romance with a country eager to return his affections. Indeed, the whole nation seemed weak in the knees. It was easy to forgive the little slip at the beginning of an afternoon news conference when he started to explain what a “great pleasure it is to be in Iowa, er, Ottawa.” How could we not adore him when he followed that faux pas with a mention of his Canadian brother-in-law and two Canadian staff members and declared: “I love this country and think that we could...

The ObamaTail's newest fan just might be the man it is named after. President Barack Obama shocked workers and patrons of the ByWard Market yesterday afternoon by jumping out of his motorcade for an unscheduled stop in the Ottawa landmark to "buy Canadian" for his daughters. Among his selections were some Maple Leaf shortbread cookies from Le Moulin de Provence, a keychain with a moose on it, and an example of Ottawa's legendary BeaverTail pastry -- this one named in his honour. When Mr. Obama got out of his armoured Cadillac just before 4 p.m. he was handed a crispy,...

U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Parliament Hill began with a warm wave to an adoring crowd of thousands and ended with a sugary sweet BeaverTail in the Byward Market. As Obama’s motorcade left his working visit in the Centre Block of Parliament Hill shortly before 4 p.m., it made an unexpected pit stop in the Byward Market. Obama exited his limousine to shop, shake hands, and grab one of the iconic Ottawa fried pastries. The Secret Service asked a nervous Jessica Milien, 17, an employee at the BeaverTail kiosk, to bring the president one of the savory treats. She...

President Barack Obama accompanied by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, waves to a crowd on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009, upon his arrival in the Canadian Capitol. U.S. President Barack Obama (L) talks with Canadian Governor General Michaelle Jean (R) after arriving in Ottawa February 19, 2009. Obama is making his first trip outside the U.S. since becoming president

( Fidgety in the White House? In office one month and on the road 25% of it already) Afghanistan, trade on table as Obama visits Canada OTTAWA, Ontario (CNN) -- President Obama touched down in Canada on Thursday in his first foreign trip as head of state. And though he enjoys an 81 percent approval rating north of the border, Obama is expected to tackle several explosive issues with America's largest trading partner. • The war in Afghanistan: Canada has about 2,800 troops in Afghanistan, but Parliament has voted to pull them out by 2011. At the same time, Obama...

Short trip, long agenda: Obama visits Canada President, P.M. discuss slumping economy, trade, war in Afghanistan David Boily More than 1000 supporters of President Barack Obama stood outside the Parliament Building as the U.S. leader met with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa. President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper hold a joint news conference from Ottawa, Canada. OTTAWA - President Barack Obama huddled with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Thursday on the slumping economy, trade, energy and the war in Afghanistan as the new U.S. leader traveled outside his country's borders for the first time...

Energy: President Obama was in Canada on Thursday for a visit that made oil producers there nervous. Americans should be a bit anxious, too, as this administration considers curbing a vital domestic source of power.Canada, rarely thought of as an oil-rich nation, is in fact awash in crude. Indeed, it is America's primary source of imported oil. The province of Alberta alone holds 173 billion barrels of crude. Some government analysts say that's enough to supply U.S. petroleum needs for 24 years. This Canadian crude doesn't gush from the ground. The tarlike oil is mixed with sand and has to...

It's going to be a doozy of a welcome for a very special guest who is pretty much guaranteed to be a no-show. Bus trips have been organized in Montreal, Kitchener and Toronto. Hotel rooms are booked, Facebook groups are buzzing and websites have sprung up to give visitors all the latest information. They're coming to wave signs on Parliament Hill -- if security allows it -- and to cheer at a church rally, where the poet Oni the Haitian Sensation will be performing. Mayor Larry O'Brien might be part of the action, though he hasn't confirmed yet, and a...

... Canada My wife just called from Rome having watched CNN World. They announced his first overseas trip to Canada.

It's a visit that promises a little of the glamour that swirled through the streets when John F. Kennedy and his wife arrived for a state visit in May, 1961. U.S. President Barack Obama will arrive at the Canadian capital in the morning of Feb. 19 and could be home before dark. There will be no state dinner or eloquent speeches to the Canadian people. And his wife could well stay home. But Mr. Obama's visit still promises to dazzle a mostly adoring country. Ajay Puri and other members of Canadians for Obama plan to be part of it. "C'mon,...