Canada gets Obama's 1st foreign visit as president
Last Updated: Saturday, January 10, 2009 | 2:57 PM ET
CBC News
U.S. president-elect Barack Obama plans to travel to Canada for his first international trip after he takes office, the Prime Minister's Office confirmed Saturday.
"We have been in close contact with president-elect Obama's transition team. We can confirm that the president-elect has accepted the prime minister's invitation to visit Canada soon after he is inaugurated," a statement released by Stephen Harper's office said.
U.S. transition aides also said Obama picked his country's northern neighbour as his first venture outside the United States as president, but they added they could not discuss the date for the trip, nor its agenda.
A transition official said aides to the president-elect and Harper discussed the trip in recent days.
But the official said Obama and Harper themselves have not directly discussed the trip.
On Monday, Obama has a meeting scheduled in Washington with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, his first meeting with a world leader since he won the election on Nov. 4.
Obama's inauguration is set for Jan. 20.
In 2001, after George W. Bush was sworn in for his first term in office, he went to Mexico, breaking the long tradition of reserving the new U.S. president’s first visit for Canada.
With files from the Associated Press
