Prime Minister Stephen Harper will spend two days in the U.S. selling Canada's solution to the global fiscal crisis — fix broken banks and maintain free trade — ahead of crucial meetings with world leaders in London next week.
Beginning Sunday, Harper will travel to Washington, New York, London and Strasbourg, France, squeezing in several international media interviews, a meeting with Queen Elizabeth and a celebration of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's 60th anniversary.
But the main purpose of his trip will be to convince Americans and, later, world leaders at the G20 summit in London that the global recession cannot end unless the financial system is fixed and that free trade is maintained.
“The London summit must focus on the economy and fixing the financial system,” said Kory Teneycke, the prime minister's director of communication.
“And we're really going to be championing the risks of creeping protectionism. That's a big deal.”
Harper will start selling that message Sunday in Washington with an interview with the anchor for the Sunday morning politics show on the U.S. Fox News network. The same network aired a show on March 17 that ridiculed and insulted the Canadian military . . . [Read the rest of the story]