Canadian Foreign Minister loses hockey bet with Clinton

Posted By Josh Rogin Friday, April 27, 2012 - 3:02 PM

Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird donned a New York Rangers hockey jersey Friday to fulfill the terms of a bet he made with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this month over the playoff series between the Rangers and Baird's home team, the Ottawa Senators.

"The Ottawa Senators lost a heartbreaking Game 7 in their series against the New York Rangers on Thursday night," the Canadian Foreign Ministry said in a Friday statement.

Baird wore the Rangers Jersey in the foyer of the House of Commons. He also congratulated the Senators on their success this season in the House of Commons during Friday's question period, the ministry said.

The Canadian Foreign Ministry did not immediately return requests for comment on your humble Cable guy's contention that in fact, the Philadelphia Flyers, who beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in their first round playoff series in 6 games, are the best team in the NHL.

Canadian Foreign Ministry

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GOP senators ramp up push for Keystone XL pipeline

Posted By Josh Rogin Wednesday, November 30, 2011 - 3:11 PM

Thirty-seven Republican senators have co-sponsored a new bill aimed at forcing the Obama administration to move forward with the Keystone XL U.S.-Canada oil pipeline project.

"Jobs will be created right away and billions of dollars in investment will be unleashed through legislation introduced to permit the $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline, the largest infrastructure project ready in the United States, to commence construction," said Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN), the lead sponsor of the "North American Energy Security Act," introduced Wednesday, in a release. "This is no time for delay."

Lugar is leading the drive to move the project forward along with Sens. John Hoeven (R-ND) and David Vitter (R-LA).

The White House announced a delay in moving forward with the project on Nov. 10, saying that it needed time to explore alternative routes for the pipeline, which would bring crude oil from Canadian oil sands deposits to refineries in the southern United States. The delay announcement came right in the middle of the State Department's own review of the project. In a statement, State said it was particularly sensitive to concerns about running the pipeline through the environmentally sensitive Sand Hills region of Nebraska.

The main builder of the pipeline, TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, LP, applied for a permit to build the pipeline in 2008. The State Department is in charge of doing the Environmental Impact Study on the project, but has been criticized for outsourcing that work to a company called Cardno Entrix, which has deep financial ties to TransCanada.

Despite that, the pipeline's environmental impact review is ongoing, and the 37 GOP senators want the permit issued within the next 60 days. They are accusing the White House of delaying the project for political reasons.

"President Obama has the opportunity of creating 20,000 new jobs NOW. Incredibly, he has delayed a decision until after the 2012 election apparently in fear of offending a part of his political base and even risking the ire of construction unions who support the pipeline," Lugar said.

Specifically, the bill would require the Secretary of State to issue the permit within 60 days unless the president determines it is not in the national interest. The legislation would also require the permit to contain provisions for environmental protection and would specify that the state of Nebraska would have the right to make sure the pipeline route does not impact the Sands Hills area.

Lugar is promising to press for quick consideration of the bill in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The other sponsors are: Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Pat Roberts (R-KS), John Barrasso (R-WY), Dan Coats (R-IN), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Jerry Moran (R-KS), John Thune (R-SD), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Jim Risch (R-ID), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Rob Portman (R-OH), Richard Burr (R-NC), Richard Shelby (R-AL), John Boozman (R-AR), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Mike Lee (R-UT), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Dean Heller (R-NV), and Bob Corker (R-TN).

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Obama’s Canada trip: All about Asia

Posted By Josh Rogin Friday, June 25, 2010 - 2:36 PM

During President Obama's trip to Canada this weekend for the G-8 and G-20 meetings on global economic reform, the real action will be taking place in his meetings with several top Asian leaders on the sidelines of the events.

"We also want to use these meetings as an opportunity to underscore America's commitment to leadership and increased engagement in Asia," said a senior administration official about the trip. "We see this is an opportunity to continue our efforts to renew our leadership in Asia."

Five out of the six precious bilateral meetings Obama will grant over the weekend will go to leaders from East Asian countries. After the first meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron in Toronto, his one-on-ones will be with President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea, Chinese President Hu Jintao, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India, and the new Japanese prime minister, Naoto Kan.

"That is, I think, an eloquent demonstration of the importance that the president attaches to Asia, the importance of Asia to our political security and economic interest," another senior administration official said.

For the Korea bilat, the sinking of the Cheonan will be at the top of the agenda. The U.N. debate over how to reprimand North Korea for sinking the ship is going on now and strategies for finishing that effort need to be discussed.

With the Chinese president, Obama will likely follow up on the slight change China made to its currency policy this week. Congress isn't quite yet satisfied with the move and is still pressing legislation, so Obama needs to find out whether Hu intends to go further.

In a blistering New York Times column Friday, Princeton University economist Paul Krugman argued that China's currency adjustment was "basically a joke" and called on Beijing to "stop giving us the runaround and deliver real change" or face trade sanctions.

Obama may also want to raise Beijing's refusal to resume military-to-military dialogue, as shown most dramatically when China refused to let U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates visit last month when he was traveling in the region.

"It's our view and it's the president's view that military-to-military relations between the U.S. and China are in China's interest and in the U.S.'s interest," the senior administration official said. "This is not a favor that either side does to the other."

"We believe they should be continuous and should not be subject to ups and downs based on events in the relationship," he said, a reference to the administration's decision to go ahead with arms sales to Taiwan over Beijing's vociferous objections, as well as Chinese anger over Obama's welcoming of the Dalai Lama in February.

With Japan's Kan, Obama's mission is to make nice and get off to a better start than he did with ousted Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. The Kan administration definitely seems to be on board with that idea and the White House is sending the message that, as far as the United States is concerned, the dispute over the Futenma air station on Okinawa is settled.

"Prime Minister Kan has made clear that he endorses the agreement that we reached on basing in Okinawa. He does not question it, and he's looking to strengthen the alliance," the senior administration official said.

Obama is scheduled to visit India, Japan, and Korea on a trip in November, so the meetings are also meant to prepare for that as well. No word yet on whether Indonesia will be added as a stop.

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Clinton rebuke overshadows Arctic meeting

Posted By Blake Hounshell Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - 6:58 AM

The world's headline writers had some fun yesterday with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's complaint that a meeting of five Arctic powers, held in Canada ahead of a G-8 pre-summit gathering of foreign ministers, wasn't inclusive enough.

Yahoo! Canada: "Icy Clinton leaves Arctic summit, says 'legitimate interests' frozen out"

The Canadian Press: "Icy words for Canada from Clinton at Arctic summit"

Even the Washington Post, whose parent company owns FP, got into the act, saying the meeting of "polar pals" had turned "chilly." Ha, ha.

The Canwest news service called her comments a "bombshell." But what did Clinton actually say?

"Significant international discussions on Arctic issues should include those who have legitimate interests in the region," said Clinton, "and I hope the Arctic will always showcase our ability to work together, not create new divisions."

Brrr! I guess that's what passes for a bombshell in Canada.

Clinton was speaking on behalf of indigenous groups, who complained of being excluded from the meeting, as well as Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. Those three countries are represented in the eight-nation Arctic Council, which since its establishment in 1996 (in Ottawa, no less) has been the preferred forum for discussing Arctic issues.

The aim of the meeting, according to State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, was to "focus on long-term trends in the Arctic and pursue discussion of potential cooperation in the area of science, natural resource development, public safety, and extended continental shelves."

It's not clear why Clinton chose to attend a gathering she thought was too exclusive. She later called the meeting "excellent" in an appearance on a Canadian television network.

Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon spent much of his news conference -- which his U.S. counterpart pointedly skipped -- responding to Clinton's comments, explaining that the five countries at the meeting were chosen because they are "coastal" states with significant oil and gas claims in the region. "This meeting was not (designed) to replace or undermine the Arctic Council," he reportedly said. "This forum is not meant to become a permanent institution."

Norway's Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store also spoke up for the excluded Nordic states. Er, sort of. "It's not a good thing that the three who are not here are unhappy about it," he said.