US top diplomat heading to Canada for first official visit

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - Secretary of State Antony Blinken will make his first official visit to Canada since assuming office in 2020 for a trip expected to address shared global priorities, the State Department announced Wednesday.

The trip "will strengthen our vital partnership with Canada to address shared goals, including providing continued support for Ukraine, addressing the humanitarian crisis in Haiti, deepening our cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and Arctic regions, and advancing cooperation on migration and refugee resettlement in the Americas and across the world," said spokesman Ned Price.

Blinken will depart Thursday for the two-day trip that will take him to Ottawa and Montreal. In the capital, Blinken will meet Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Minister Melanie Joly," Price said in a statement. He will be joined by Deputy Canadian Prime Minister Chryistia Freeland and Joly on a visit to a community center assisting Canadian refugees.

In Montreal, Blinken will be joined by Joly in visiting a lithium recycling facility in Quebec in what the State Department is billing as a visit "promoting North American competitiveness and deepening economic and supply chain cooperation."