Justin Trudeau calls for generosity and unity in first Washington speech
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is taking his hope-over-fear, unity-over-division message to a country riven by political discord and public anxiety.

thestar.com
March 9, 2016
By Daniel Dale

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is taking his hope-over-fear, unity-over-division message to a country riven by political discord and public anxiety.

Standing a few hundred metres from the White House, Trudeau used the first speech of his three-day official visit to Washington to make a plea for harmony and mutual understanding in the face of challenging economic and cultural globalization.

It was the type of message Trudeau’s host, President Barack Obama, campaigned on in 2008, and standard thematic fare from him. But it was notable for its time and place: down the street from the office being sought by Donald Trump.

In a “rapidly pivoting world,” Trudeau said in the “grand salon” of a Smithsonian art gallery, “it becomes easy to become fearful. It becomes easy to turn in on ourselves. And we know from history that it’s much more important to turn outwards, and to draw out the best in each other. And to understand that whenever people get together, regardless of how different they may seem, there are always more things we have in common than that differentiate us.”

Trudeau, his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau and their three children landed at an Air Force base in Maryland on Wednesday afternoon to begin a high-profile trip intended to rejuvenate a crucial relationship that grew frosty during the tenure of Stephen Harper. They arrived to warm wishes, fawning news coverage and the promise of gourmet poutine.

The Obama administration used its menu for Thursday’s lavish state dinner to signal its own good intentions. The motif, unveiled by the office of First Lady Michelle Obama shortly before Trudeau arrived, is “the anticipation of spring.”

There was no sign of incipient Trudeaumania in a nation preoccupied with its own political drama; only a few dozen gawkers lined the barricades near the White House for his arrival. But the young prime minister’s celebrity has attracted an unusual level of media interest for a visit hosted by a lame-duck president for a low-key ally.

“Canada’s Trudeau brings warm front to Washington,” CNN reported, linking his arrival to the balmy March temperatures.

Trudeau’s first event was the evening reception held at the Smithsonian gallery by two liberal think-tanks, one Canadian and one American. Two uniformed Mounties stood guard at the door (and posed for selfies). The guests, many of them U.S. businesspeople, munched on fancy hors d’oeuvres that included Montreal smoked meat - from a New York deli, mind you - and short-rib sliders braised in Labatt Blue.

They paid little attention to the two introductory speeches, then became rapt when Trudeau took the stage.

“He just reminds me of Barack Obama,” said Sarah Hoffman, an American who works for a government consulting firm. “Fresh, forward-thinking, not establishment, even though he has the familial lineage in politics, he’s not bought and paid for.”

Trudeau said the world needs a North America at its “most generous” and “most wise.” In a rare deviation from the standard salesman shtick of a visiting foreign leader, he cautioned American progressives against an overly “rosy” view of Trudeau-era Canada.

He said his own country has serious issues and “good days and bad days.” His election, he said, doesn’t mean “Canada’s all a happy place and everyone’s progressive and everyone’s a feminist.”

The substantive part of the trip begins Thursday morning, when Trudeau and Obama will meet in the Oval Office and hold a joint news conference. They are expected to make announcements on border pre-clearance and on climate change.

Trudeau will also attend a luncheon hosted by Secretary of State John Kerry. The highlight of the day, and of the visit, is the opulent four-course state dinner on Thursday night.

The first course: baked Alaskan halibut “casseroles” - the quotation marks are on the menu - with angel hair asparagus. The second: roasted apricot salad with White House honey and Appalachian cheese from Virginia. The third: baby lamb chops from a small farm in Colorado, and Yukon potato dauphinoise, drizzled with Yukon Jack Canadian whiskey.

Then there is dessert: a cake “with delicate nuances of toasted Texas pecans and caramelized New England maple syrup.” (White House executive pastry chef Susan Morrison said they didn’t have Canadian syrup available.) And that’s not the end of it. Morrison has fashioned 22 Rocky Mountain landscape scenes out of little sugar pastries.

Every detail of the dinner is intended as symbolism. White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford said she thinks of the menu as “progressive,” “very healthy” and “very light,” in keeping with how she sees the prime minister and his wife.

But Comerford couldn’t resist a Canadian staple rarely called any of those things. Guests will arrive to little canapes of smoked-duck poutine.

“I thought it’s cute,” Comerford explained to reporters who were given a Wednesday preview of the table settings. She added: “It’s tiny, tiny bites. I wouldn’t worry about the calories.”