Harper In New York, Takes Meetings, Does Media
Prime Minister Capitalizes On Obama Visit's Momentum
Feb 25, 2009
Harper’s spokesman Kory Teneycke commented to Canadian Press that “raising some base-level awareness about Canada is important.” The trip was viewed as a way to do just that.
U.N. Meeting
Harper’s meeting with the Secretary General dealt mainly with the kidnapping of U.N. diplomat Robert Fowler, and his release. Fowler was kidnapped in Niger, along with his aide Louis Guay by a group identified as the North African arm of Al Quaida.
In a comment published in a Globe & Mail article Ban summarized the meeting: “We discussed how we can expedite the process of releasing my special envoy.” Al Quaida is requesting the release of prisoners in exchange for Fowler. The two leaders also discussed Afghanistan, the economy, and climate change. They expressed their disappointment at the alarming frequency of such kidnapping incidents.
Meeting with Financial Leaders, Media Appearances
Harper attended a business luncheon with financial leaders of Wall Street to emphasize trade, and warn against protectionist measures. They discussed the recently passed $7.8 billion stimulus plan, and how to stabilize Wall Street. Among the attendees were senior officials from Golman Sachs, Barclays, Royal Bank of Canada, and Thomson-Reuters.
Harper was observed taking notes, and seemed genuinely interested in what was said.
Canadian reporters following the Prime Minister weren’t permitted access to him. Instead Harper chose to directly appeal to Americans on several networks including Fox News and the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board. He used these appearances to emphasize the ties with Canada, and our relative economic stability.
In a morning appearance on Fox News he emphasized the need for stabilization in the financial sector telling the audience: “It is essential that the United States stabilize its financial sector.”
He added that Canada was in good shape because of our banking system. Harper owed the banks' stability to something he called a “fairly cautious culture at Canada’s banks. He explained that the housing market wasn’t as hard hit as the American market, and there is no sub-prime mortgage here.
On the controversial Buy American policy, Harper told Fox News he told Obama that the clause could make the situation worse: “Protectionism is the one thing that could turn a very deep recession into a very deep depression.”
The Prime Minister appeared to enjoy the attention, telling Fox: “Because we’re not a squeaky wheel, we often don’t get the grease and we’re forgotten, so it was great to have that kind of attention from our great friends in the United States.”
The visit was in part an effort to continue building momentum following Obama’s visit, and according to Harper’s staff will be the first of many.
