Canada's relationship with the U.S. needed rebuilding post-Trump says Ambassador Hillman

Canada’s Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman says the country’s relationship with its American counterparts required rebuilding after the Trump administration.

On CTV’s Power Play Wednesday, host Vassy Kapelos asked Hillman if she agreed with a characterization that the relationship needed to be rebuilt.

“Yes, I do, in some respects I think it did require rebuilding,” she answered.

Her comments followed remarks from White House Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council John Kirby Wednesday afternoon.

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“In the first year of this administration we focused on rebuilding that bilateral relationship,” Kirby said in a White House briefing.

Hillman told Kapelos the federal government was able to find common successes with the Trump administration in the early days of the pandemic and in NAFTA negotiations.

“But it wasn’t an administration that was that interested working with allies to solve certain kind of problems,” Hillman said. She highlighted climate change and NATO as some of those problems.

Hillman’s remarks on the Canada-U.S. relationship comes ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to Canada Thursday evening and Friday.

Hillman discusses President Biden’s visit in the video at the top of this article.