Trudeau expressed disappointment at Biden’s decision to revoke the Keystone XL’s cross-border permit, officials said, adding that Biden acknowledged it was a blow to Canada but stressed it was his campaign commitment.
Earlier Friday, Trudeau said he plans to talk to Biden about its effects. Keystone is about Canadian work. But he indicated that he would not fight with Biden over the matter, noting that Canadians and the new government ‘agree much more on the values’ than the previous one. He and other federal officials have said they “respect” Biden’s decision.
“It will not always be a perfect connection to the United States,” Trudeau said Friday morning. “That’s the case with any president.”
Yet leaders of Canada’s recovered oil-producing provinces say Biden’s Day One action was an insult and forced Trudeau to take a harder line. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has called on Trudeau to impose trade and economic sanctions on Washington if diplomatic efforts to enter the pipeline fail, and he appeared on Fox News on Friday to reiterate his anger.
“It’s very frustrating that one of the first acts of a new president, in my opinion, was to disrespect America’s best friend and ally – Canada,” Kenney told Fox.
Trudeau and Biden have agreed to connect their offices on Buy America issues so that Canada is not surprised, one official said. Biden is expected to launch an executive order next week promoting Buy America.
The leaders also discussed Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadians who have been detained in China since December 2018. They are suspected of being arrested by Beijing against Canada’s arrest of Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou on a US extradition request.
Biden said the U.S. would “be as helpful as possible,” the second official said.
During the call, Biden recalls his most recent trip to Canada in December 2016 when Trudeau threw the then vice president a state dinner in December 2016.
“I think this is a new moment and full of new opportunities for a very good relationship,” the second official said, describing the call as “genuinely warm and cooperative”.