Obama to meet with leaders of Canada, Mexico to act on trade, climate change

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto before a summit with Obama

(Image credit: Chris Roussakis/AFP/Getty Images)

last updated 29 June 2016

On Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is hosting U.S. President Obama and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in Ottawa for a North American Leaders' Summit that will focus on regional cooperation on trade and climate change. Obama will also deliver an address to Canada's Parliament. Pena Nieto arrived in Canada early for a state visit, and he and Trudeau announced agreements to lower barriers between the two countries. With Obama, the three leaders are expected to announce a continent-wide climate change partnership, aiming to produce 50 percent of North America's energy from renewable sources by 2025.

The trade discussions follow likely Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's pledge Tuesday to scrap NAFTA and withdraw the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and Britain's vote to exit the European Union. "This is a time when a lot of leaders in the world are talking about building walls," Canadian International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland told The Associated Press. "What you are going to hear from the leaders of Canada, the United States, and Mexico is that we are a continent and we believe in building bridges. We really believe in the open society."

Trudeau and Obama are both advocates of robust measures to to fight climate change, but the young Canadian leader and the U.S. president are at different stages of their leadership, The New York Times notes. "Unlike his Canadian counterpart, the American president's hair is now gray, his speeches wizened by his experiences — and his message is likely to reflect the hard lessons he has learned as he has tried for nearly eight years to curb the climate-warming emissions of Canada's neighbor to the south."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.