Sophie Gregoire Trudeau introduces Jill Biden to curling during Ottawa visit
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau introduces Jill Biden to curling during Ottawa visit
OTTAWA -
The first lady of the United States got a sweeping introduction to Canadian sports culture in Ottawa Friday as Sophie Gregoire Trudeau took Jill Biden to the curling rink for her first trip to Ottawa.
While the president spent most of the day close to Parliament Hill in meetings with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, their wives visited the nearby 135 year-old Rideau Curling Club.
The 20 or so curlers on the ice seemed oblivious at first as the two women greeted each other in the lounge with a warm embrace before stepping out to the chilly rink.
The shouts of the tense curling matches quieted slightly as Gregoire Trudeau greeted the players.
"You know, I love sports," Gregoire Trudeau told the players from the side of the ice.
"I love sports," Biden agreed, which earned her a chuckle from the players.
An official itinerary promised that the two would get an introduction to the game, but they opted to take it in from the sidelines rather than pick up a rock or a broom themselves.
Back in the lounge, the first lady and Gregoire Trudeau joined a group of teens to talk about how sports contributes to their mental health and general sense of wellness.
They shook each high-schooler's hand before they sat down, and the first lady -- a former classroom teacher -- quipped that they were missing school.
"As a mental-heath advocate and as a teacher, we know that we can learn anything in school, which is extraordinary, but taking care of ourselves and knowing more about our mental and physical limits is very important," said Gregoire Trudeau.
"Sport can allow us to do that."
As the women listened to the perspective of the teens, Biden pulled out a pen and notebook to take down their thoughts.
They next travelled to the National Gallery of Canada in separate vehicles as people across downtown Ottawa stopped to wave or take out their phones to capture video of the motorcade. Some people stepped out of shops to watch the 19 vehicles drive by.
As Gregoire Trudeau led Biden into the lobby of the gallery, the first lady paused to admire the glass ceilings.
"I just had to take a moment," she said, as she smiled to step forward and greet the curators and view the exhibit.
Though the trip is the first lady's first to Ottawa, Biden and Gregoire Trudeau know each other fairly well.
The pair met a few months ago at the North American Leaders Summit in Mexico, when the first lady referred to Gregoire Trudeau as a "good friend and neighbour."
Gregoire Trudeau had also established a lasting friendship with former first lady Michelle Obama, who once referred to her as her "soulmate."
Biden and Gregoire Trudeau shared a private lunch at the gallery before joining their husbands as the president addressed Parliament.
The women were expected to end the visit by attending a gala dinner at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum.
Several Canadian dignitaries are on the guest list, including Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and her husband, cabinet ministers and Indigenous leaders.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2023.
A New Democrat MP is trying to convince his colleagues to change the rules that govern the House of Commons in a series of ways he says would instill 'democratic controls' on the prime minister's 'unfettered' powers.
Monday morning, the Public Service Alliance of Canada announced it had reached a 'tentative' agreement with the federal government for the 120,000 picketing Treasury Board workers who, since April 19, had been engaged in one of the largest strikes in Canadian history. Here's a rundown of the developments from Parliament Hill as they happened.
The House committee studying foreign election interference heard from top 2019 and 2021 Liberal and Conservative campaign directors on Tuesday, with party officials from both camps speaking about the need for politicians to come together to address any "legislative gaps" ahead of the next vote.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
U.S President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have announced updates on a number of cross-border issues, after a day of meetings on Parliament Hill.
Danielle Smith's win in the Alberta election hands her the most starkly divided province confronting any premier in Canada, writes commentator Don Martin.
Special rapporteur David Johnston didn't recommend public inquiry knowing it was a pathetically insufficient response for a foreign democratic assault of this magnitude, writes Don Martin in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
To frame a few new illustrations on pages tucked inside a passport as proof of a Liberal plot to purge the Canadian historical record seems like a severe stretch, writes Don Martin in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is a bright former federal prosecutor, who was destined to be a star in Justin Trudeau's cabinet. But in an opinion column on CTVNews.ca, Don Martin argues Mendicino has taken a stunning fall from grace, stumbling badly on important issues just 18 months into the job.
It's the most peculiar of elections with the frontrunner and her main opponent being the same person, writes columnist Don Martin. 'In the looming Alberta showdown, it's Premier Danielle Smith versus her mouth.'
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says the federal government is not ruling out finding ways to achieve net zero sooner than the existing 2050 goal, but would not say whether there would be a definitive commitment to move up the target.
Huda Mukbil, Canada's first Black Arab-Canadian Muslim spy, opens up in her new book about life in the world of espionage and the discrimination she faced within the CSIS.
The derailment in eastern India that killed 275 people and injured hundreds was caused by an error in the electronic signalling system that led a train to wrongly change tracks and crash into a freight train, officials said Sunday.
Prince Harry is set to testify in the first of his five pending legal cases largely centred around battles with British tabloids. Opening statements are scheduled Monday in his case.
Alexei Navalny voiced hope for a better future in Russia as his supporters held pickets and demonstrations to mark the imprisoned opposition leader's 47th birthday on Sunday.
Another northern Quebec town was evacuated due to an out of control wildfire on Saturday as the federal government confirmed that Canadian Forces personnel would be deployed to help combat forest fires in the province.
Heavy rain and some military reinforcements arrived to assist efforts on Saturday to quell the wildfires that have destroyed homes and caused the evacuation of thousands of people across Nova Scotia.
China's military rebuked the United States and Canada for 'deliberately provoking risk' after the countries' navies staged a rare joint sailing through the sensitive Taiwan Strait.
Ottawa Centre MP Yasir Naqvi submitted his paperwork on Friday to enter the Ontario Liberal leadership race, a campaign spokesperson told CTV News Ottawa.
A marine conservation charity and Inuit hunters are praising cruise operators for agreeing to avoid a Nunavut waterway where thousands of narwhal migrate each summer.
The derailment in eastern India that killed 275 people and injured hundreds was caused by an error in the electronic signalling system that led a train to wrongly change tracks and crash into a freight train, officials said Sunday.
Alexei Navalny voiced hope for a better future in Russia as his supporters held pickets and demonstrations to mark the imprisoned opposition leader's 47th birthday on Sunday.
Concerns around civilian safety spiked in Ukraine on Saturday, as officials announced that an inspection had found nearly a quarter of the country's air-raid shelters locked or unusable, just days after a woman in Kyiv allegedly died waiting outside a shuttered shelter during a Russian missile barrage.
The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed again Sunday to push for a second attempt to launch a spy satellite as she lambasted a UN Security Council meeting over the North's first, failed launch.
Hong Kong police detained eight people, including activists and artists, on the eve of the 34th anniversary of China's Tiananmen Square crackdown, a move that signals the city's shrinking freedom of expression.
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says the federal government is not ruling out finding ways to achieve net zero sooner than the existing 2050 goal, but would not say whether there would be a definitive commitment to move up the target.
Jenny Kwan has been outspoken against human-rights violations by the Chinese Communist Party and often advocates for the country's Uyghur Muslim minority. The Hong Kong-born member of Parliament said in an interview with The Canadian Press that that's what made her an 'evergreen' target of the Chinese government.
New study finds increase in antipsychotic drugs use in long-term care homes across Canada, despite no significant increase in behavioural symptoms – something that may expose a potential area of concern for quality of care, researchers say.
The number of people in Canada with inflammatory bowel disease is increasing rapidly and is expected to grow to 470,000 by 2035, according to a new report from Crohn's and Colitis Canada.
Racial bias built into a common medical test for lung function is likely leading to fewer Black patients getting care for breathing problems, a study published Thursday suggests.
Twitter's head of trust and safety, Ella Irwin, told Reuters on Thursday that she has resigned from the social media company, which has faced criticism for lax protections against harmful content since billionaire Elon Musk acquired it in October.
Deep in an open coal mine in southern Greece, researchers have discovered the antiquities-rich country's oldest archaeological site, which dates to 700,000 years ago and is associated with modern humans' hominin ancestors. The find announced Thursday would drag the dawn of Greek archaeology back by as much as a quarter of a million years, although older hominin sites have been discovered elsewhere in Europe. The oldest, in Spain, dates to more than a million years ago.
In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, director Christopher Nolan offers a guide to his favourite formats, explaining why it matters and even where he likes to sit so that audiences don't feel like they need a film school degree (or one in theoretical physics) before settling on a theatre.
The major oil-producing countries led by Saudi Arabia and Russia are wrestling with whether to make another cut in supply to the global economy as the OPEC+ alliance struggles to prop up sagging oil prices that have been a boon to U.S. drivers and helped ease inflation worldwide.
A tanker transporting crude oil broke down in a single-lane part of Egypt's Suez Canal on Sunday, briefly disrupting traffic in the global waterway, Egyptian authorities said.
Walt Disney's Pixar Animation Studios has eliminated 75 positions including those of two executives behind box office disappointment 'Lightyear,' sources said on Saturday, the first significant job cuts at the studio in a decade.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says the process to sell the Ottawa Senators is moving forward as "quickly as possible," and the New York-based company overseeing the sale is advising to "expect a very good outcome in the next few weeks."
Zach Whitecloud scored from long-range with just over 13 minutes left, after Adin Hill made arguably the best save of the playoffs, and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Florida Panthers 5-2 Saturday night in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final.
Bianca Andreescu was eliminated from the French Open after losing to Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1, in the third round on Saturday.
America apparently needs more car seats. So, when Volkswagen unveiled the ID. Buzz, a retro-styled electric van, last year, it noted that the version for the North American market would be longer and would have three rows of seats.
