President Barack Obama was greeted by Canada's Governor General Michaelle Jean upon arriving in Ottawa for his first foreign visit.

Obama will meet separately with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and opposition leader Michael Ignatieff. Among the items on the agenda are trade, the environment and the war in Afghanistan.

Canada is hoping Obama will remain committed to NAFTA and the WTO. Also, they are worried that about environmental opposition to the type of "dirty" oil exported from Canada that produces a larger carbon footprint.

Obama will also discuss Canada's plan to pull out its troops from Afghanistan by 2011.

Thu Feb 19, 11:03 AM ET

President Barack Obama is escorted by Canada's Governor General Michaelle Jean upon his arrival in Ottawa, Canada, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009.

(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)


Obama Arrives in Canada for First International Trip
Washington Post - 44 minutes ago
By Michael D. Shear OTTAWA, Feb. 19 -- President Obama touched down Thursday morning in this snowy Canadian capital -- his first foray outside the United States as president -- and headed for discussion of trade and the environment with Prime Minister ...
Afghanistan, trade on table as Obama visits Canada CNN International
Comment by Pat Gallagher Director of Environmental Law, Sierra Club

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An astute European observer on Facebook asked whether I thought Barack would be taking any more foreign trips. After all, he notes, the Illinois senator got a good bump in the latest national polls. The bounce is much larger than the slight gains McCain received in a few swing states where the increase was less than the margin of error for either the current poll or the preceding one.

The old-timers say its unusual for a presidential candidate to take such long foreign trips especially at this point in the election. They would rather be in swing states pressing the flesh with voters. So, if there is a foreign trip it will probably be a short one, for example, a visit to the Beijing Olympics. Barack has already said he would not attend the opening ceremonies in protest of the Chinese crackdown in Tibet, but he could decide to stop by. He's a sports fan and the trip could be justified by his handlers as a great PR opportunity. Obama for America is already spending millions in a nearly unprecedented Olympics television ad campaign.