bryanmckenzie - 10-28-2011 at 03:39 PM
WASHINGTON — The Three Amigos meet again.
3 Amigos: Harper, Obama, Calderon to meet next month in Hawaii
U.S. President President Barack Obama will host Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon for a North American leaders'
summit in Honolulu on Nov. 13, the White House announced Friday.
The trilateral summit will come on the heels of the larger meeting of leaders from the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation nations scheduled for Nov.
12 to Nov. 13 in Obama's hometown.
It's the first time since 2009 that Obama, Harper and Calderon will hold the North American leaders summit. The Three Amigos meeting had been an
annual tradition starting in 2005 when then-U.S. president George W. Bush hosted prime minister Paul Martin and Mexican president Vicente Fox at
Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and at his ranch in nearby Crawford.
The meeting comes as Canadians await the outcome of negotiations between Ottawa and Washington on a perimeter-security pact, which Harper and Obama
first announced last February.
The Canadian government had initially said the Beyond the Border deal would be ready by the end of summer, but only last week the agreement had yet to
be finalized.
The two countries are working on deal to better co-ordinate intelligence-sharing at the border and to streamline cross-border trade. There's been some
tension between Canada and U.S., however, in recent weeks after the White House included new Buy American provisions in Obama's $447-billion job
creation bill. The Canadian government is also upset over a new $5.50 customs user fee on travellers entering the United States by air or ship.
Harper is also likely to make an 11th-hour pitch for Obama to approve the $7-billion Keystone XL oilsands pipeline, a project that has become bogged
down in regulatory delays and political wrangling.
[Edited on 2011-10-28 by bryanmckenzie]