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NEWS: Harper, Obama, Calderon to meet for North American summit, Nov. 13

Canada.com reports, “The White House has announced President Barack Obama will host Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon for a North American leaders’ summit in Honolulu on November 13.”

“There’s no shortage of things for Harper and Obama to discuss, and the prime minister will almost certainly take the opportunity to make an 11th hour pitch for the Keystone XL pipeline’s approval. Of course, everyone’s still waiting for the overdue announcement of Harper and Obama’s perimeter security and trade agreement. First promised by the end of summer, the Canadian government says the Beyond the Border deal is still unfinished. Will it be announced in Hawaii, which is, technically, outside the continental perimeter?”

The article adds, “The Three Amigos summits were a bigger deal when President George W. Bush was in the White House, starting in 2005 and held every year until he left office. But they’ve been less of a priority during the Obama administration. Calderon hosted one in Guadalajara in 2009, but there was no leaders meeting at all in 2010.”

The last North American leaders’ summit in Canada took place in Montebello, Quebec in August 2007. At the top of the agenda at that time was the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, http://canadians.org/integratethis/summit/index.html.