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NEW YORK — Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in the Big Apple today, capitalizing on the goodwill from last week's presidential visit to extol Canada's virtues to American business representatives.
Mr. Harper began his day with an interview with Fox News, where he reminded a U.S. audience of the value of the relationship between the two countries — even if one of them isn't prone to blowing its own horn very much.
“The one thing we often suffer from is because were not a squeaky wheel, we often don't get the grease and we're forgotten,” Mr. Harper said. “So it was great to have that kind of attention from our great friends in the United States.”
In his meetings with President Barack Obama, Mr. Harper said he reiterated the dangers of protectionism, warning that any attempt to rekindle “Buy American” sentiment in the U.S. could cause a serious economic situation to get even worse.
“In my judgment, the biggest single risk we have in the world recession right now is protectionism.
“Protectionism is the one thing that could turn a very deep recession into a very deep depression if we are not careful.”
Mr. Harper then made his way to the United Nations to discuss a litany of issues, including global security and Afghanistan, in a brief sit-down with UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon.
“We're to capitalize on the president's visit last week and to tell an American audience about our banking system and how strong it is, and about our own economic stimulus package,” said spokesman Dmitri Soudas.
Mr. Harper also paid a visit to the New York headquarters of information giant Thomson Reuters, where he sat down with a slate of business leaders and senior investment banking executives.
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