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From The Star
Seeking influence with U.S. leaders who are not President Donald Trump, Justin Trudeau will be the first Canadian prime minister to deliver a speech to a major conference of American state governors.
Trudeau will give the keynote address at the National Governors Association meeting in Providence, Rhode Island next Friday, just over a month before the expected launch of North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiation talks.
Trudeaus address will focus on trade, his government said in a news release, and he will also emphasize the importance of the Canada-U.S. partnership in cross-border security and the potential for common solutions on climate change.
The address is part of Trudeaus effort to build relationships with U.S. leaders outside of Trumps administration. On the whole, state governors are far more pro-NAFTA than Trump, who calls the deal a catastrophe.
Canadian premiers and federal legislators regularly attend National Governors Association meetings, but no Canadian prime minister has spoken there since its founding in 1908, according to U.S. State Department records.
Not in modern times have we have a sitting Canadian Prime Minister deliver a keynote address at either our Winter or Summer Meeting, said association spokesperson Elena Waskey.
Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence have also been invited, Waskey said. They have not publicly said if they will attend.