In a scene unlikely to be replicated in Congress anytime soon, members of the Canadian Parliament gave President Obama repeated standing ovations and chanted “four more years” at the outgoing U.S. Commander in Chief on Wednesday.
Obama was visiting Canada for the North American Leaders’ Summit between the U.S. President, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a meeting that has been dubbed variously the “Three Amigos Summit” and “dude-plomacy.”
Obama got a warm reception during a speech where he mixed jokes about the Stanley Cup, and the War of 1812 (when American troops sacked Toronto and the British torched the White House), with messages about free trade and defense cooperation.
“We see ourselves in each other and our lives are richer for it,” Obama said. “The enduring partnership between Canada and the United States is as strong as it has ever been and we are more closely aligned than ever before.”
On what is likely Obama’s last visit to Canada before he leaves office in January, the conclusion of his speech was met with yet more applause, and the tongue-in-cheek call to extend his presidency into a third term (Canada doesn’t have a two-term limit for its leaders).
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