In pictures: A look at past U.S. presidential addresses to Parliament
United States President Joe Biden is set to deliver a speech to Parliament on Friday, becoming the ninth president to address Canadians in Ottawa.
Here's a look back at past presidential speeches and the eras that defined them.
Then-U.S. president Franklin Delano Roosevelt's visit to Ottawa, Aug. 25, 1943. (CP PHOTO / National Archives of Canada)
Aug. 25, 1943 - Franklin Roosevelt
In his speech, Roosevelt envisioned future after the Second World War, where the Allies defeat the Nazis. He also celebrated a victory in Italy, weeks before the country surrendered to American, Canadian and British Allies in Sicily.
“There is a longing in the air. It is not a longing to go back to what they call 'the good old days.' I have distinct reservations as to how good 'the good old days' were. I would rather believe that we can achieve new and better days.”
Read more:
- Firm handshakes, hard lines: Trudeau, Biden to talk protectionism, Haiti, migration
- Biden is coming to Canada: Here's what we know about his visit
- Where to watch live coverage of U.S. President Joe Biden's trip to Canada
- Upgrading Safe Third Country Agreement about reassuring Canadians: PM Trudeau
- Canada's relationship with the U.S. needed rebuilding post-Trump says Ambassador Hillman
Then-U.S. president Harry S. Truman walks with then-prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King in Ottawa, in November 1947. (CP PHOTO / National Archives of Canada, Bill and Jean Newton )
June 11, 1947 - Harry S. Truman
Truman addressed Parliament during the post-war era, when he pushed for the building of both countries' military defence and trade, adding that they jointly “face the future unafraid” as they uphold peace around the world.
“We know that in this trying period, between a war that is over and a peace that is not yet secure, the destitute and the oppressed of the Earth look chiefly to us for sustenance and support until they can again face life with self-confidence and self-reliance.”
Then-U.S. president Dwight Eisenhower gestures June 26,1959 as he points out features of the St. Lawrence Seaway to Queen Elizabeth II. (AP Photo)
Nov. 14, 1953 - Dwight Eisenhower
During the Cold War's atomic age, Eisenhower spoke about building Atlantic security, and promised “no Soviet wile or lure” would divide the Commonwealth, and nothing would corrupt the Canadian-American partnership. That year, the Soviet Union detonated its first hydrogen bomb amidst the nuclear arms race, and Queen Elizabeth II was crowned.
“Beyond the shadow of the atomic cloud, the horizon is bright with promise. No shadow can halt our advance together. For we, Canada and the United States, shall use carefully and wisely the God-given graces of faith and reason as we march together toward it--toward the horizon of a world where each man, each family, each nation lives at peace in a climate of freedom.”
Eisenhower addressed Parliament again on June 26, 1959.
Then-U.S. president John F. Kennedy with then-prime minister John Diefenbaker seen here in Ottawa, during his 1961 visit to Canada. (CP PHOTO/DW/stf)
May 17, 1961 - John F. Kennedy
Kennedy chose Canada as the first country to visit after becoming president because its borders “knows neither guns nor guerrillas.” He spoke about strengthening NATO, and advancing the U.S. and Canada's common causes.
“Our opponents are watching to see if we in the West are divided. They take courage when we are. We must not let them be deceived or in doubt about our willingness to maintain our own freedom.”
Then-U.S. president Richard Nixon and then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau talk in Trudeau's office on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in this April 14, 1972 photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chuck Mitchell
April 17, 1972 - Richard Nixon
Nixon's visit to Canada came midway between his visits to Beijing and to Moscow. While previous presidential addresses focused heavily on the unbroken friendships between Canada and the U.S., Nixon promoted his doctrine that each nation must have autonomous, independent policies.
“We must realize that we are friends not because there have been no problems between us, but because we have trusted one another enough to be candid about our problems - and because our candour has nourished our co-operation.”
In this March 17, 1985, file photo, then-prime minister Brian Mulroney and then-U.S. president Ronald Reagan hold their first round of talks in Quebec City, Quebec. (AP Photo/Scott Applewhite)
April 6, 1987 - Ronald Reagan
In his second speech to Parliament (the first was in 1981), Reagan acknowledged the need for a treaty on acid rain, caused by emissions, and pushed for pollution-controlled technologies that would grow both nations economies.
“This is your Canada, and our continent. This is the chosen place in history our two nations occupy: a land where the mind and heart of man is free, a land of peace, a land where indeed anything is possible.”
Then-U.S. president Bill Clinton and then-prime minister Jean Chretien take in a round of golf at a Halifax golf course in this June 14, 1995 photo. (CP PICTURE ARCHIVE/Andrew Vaughan)
Feb. 23, 1995 - Bill Clinton
As voters in Quebec were set to vote on a referendum on sovereignty later that year, Clinton broke from American neutrality and urged Canadians to stay together as he expressed his opposition to Quebec's separation.
“In a world darkened by ethnic conflicts that tear nations apart, Canada stands as a model of how people of different cultures can live and work together in peace, prosperity and mutual respect.”
Media reports at the time noted his statement brought almost all MPs to their feet, with the exception of the Bloc Quebecois, which at that time served as the official Opposition.
Then-U.S. president Barack Obama addresses Parliament in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill, as then-House Speaker Geoff Regan looks on, in Ottawa on Wednesday, June 29, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
June 29, 2016 - Barack Obama
During a year accentuated by terror attacks, and the United Kingdom's referendum to leave the European Union, known as Brexit, Obama addressed global uncertainty and the need for peaceful diplomacy. He said these are moments where the world looks to Canada and the U.S. as an example.
“In the end, it is this respect for the dignity of all people, especially the most vulnerable among us, that perhaps more than anything else binds our two countries together. Being Canadian, being American, is not about what we look like or where our families came from. It is about our commitment to a common creed.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2023.
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Local Spotlight
Fergus, Ont. man feels nickel-and-dimed for $0.05 property tax bill
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
Twins from Toronto were Canada's top two female finishers at this year's Boston Marathon
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
Mystery surrounds giant custom Canucks jerseys worn by Lions Gate Bridge statues
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
'I'm committed': Oilers fan won't cut hair until Stanley Cup comes to Edmonton
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
'It's not my father's body!' Wrong man sent home after death on family vacation in Cuba
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
'Once is too many times': Education assistants facing rising violence in classrooms
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
What is capital gains tax? How is it going to affect the economy and the younger generations?
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
UBC football star turning heads in lead up to NFL draft
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Cat found at Pearson airport 3 days after going missing
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.