Harper, Cannon, Flaherty, Prentice lead Obama luncheon guest list

Minutes after saying I was inching back towards Twitter, I'm almost ready to declare I'm a believer. That's because Carl Meyer, the Ottawa Bureau Chief of the Canadian University Press, just tweeted to say that Obama's luncheon guests tomorrow are all set and they include:

• Prime Minister Stephen Harper
• Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon
• Finance Minister Jim Flaherty
• Environment Minister Jim Prentice
• Clerk of the Privy Council Kevin Lynch
• PCO Foreign and Defense Policy Advisor Claude Carrière
• Canada's Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Wilson
• PMO Chief of Staff Guy Giorno
• PMO Director of Communication Kory Teneycke

Carl's tweet prompted me to pick up my BlackBerry and, lo and behold, there was the whole PMO-controlled itinerary. Here's the airport welcoming party:

• Governor General Michaëlle Jean
• Her husband Jean-Daniel Lafond
• Cannon
• Wilson
• U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Terry Breese
• DFAIT Chief of Protocol Robert Peck

At Parliament Hill's Centre Block, Obama will be welcomed by:

• House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken
• Senate Speaker Noel Kinsella
• House of Commons Clerk Audrey O'Brien
• House of Commons Sergeant-At-Arms Kevin Vickers
• Usher of the Black Rod Kevin MacLeod
• Clerk of the Senate Paul Bélisle

Now the PMO won't tell you, of course, that when Obama heads back to the Ottawa airport at around 3:30 pm or so, he'll be heading to a half-hour or so meeting with Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff (and his foreign affairs critic Bob Rae, apparently.)

Then, when Iggy and Barack are done, Transport, Infrastructure and Communities Minister John Baird will lead the farewell party to bid the president on his way.

Technorati Tags: barack obama, stephen harper, United States – Foreign Policy