| |
Posted Feb 18, 2009, 4:08 AM
|
 |
National Capital Region
|
|
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Eastern Ontario
Posts: 9,244
|
|
|
Obama Visits Ottawa
Should be pretty crazy on Thursday! IIRC Bush took Airport Parkway, not Colonel By
Quote:
Security swings into high gear for Obama visit
By Andrew Mayeda, Canwest News ServiceFebruary 17, 2009
U.S. Secret Service members will have been in Ottawa for more than a week overseeing security arrangements by the time U.S. President Barack Obama arrives on Thursday. Officially, the security arrangements are worked out in co-operation with the RCMP and Ottawa police, but there is no doubt that the Secret Service is the agency in control.
Photograph by: Mike Carroccetto, The Ottawa Citizen
OTTAWA — It will begin literally with an opening of the skies: the clearing of the airspace above Ottawa to prepare for his arrival.
At approximately 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Air Force One will alight at the nondescript hangar at Ottawa International Airport reserved for visiting dignitaries. Minutes later, the U.S. president, whose pop-culture celebrity has inspired T-shirt logos and happy-hour cocktails, will step onto the red-carpeted ramp and into a security bubble built and maintained with the precision planning of a military exercise.
Preparations for Mr. Obama's visit swung into action weeks ago, when a "pre-advance" team of Secret Service agents and White House staff slipped into the capital to case out the route for the presidential motorcade, conduct security sweeps of meeting sites, and cull intelligence from Canadian law-enforcement agencies on any terrorist threats or assassination plots.
"To see what goes into the preparations, and see how many stakeholders are involved, it's something the public doesn't really understand," said Norm Jarvis, a former Secret Service agent who served under four presidents.
By Thursday, a larger advance team will have been on the ground more than a week, refining the security plan down to the movements of individual vehicles and agents, setting up communications and checking camera angles.
Officially, the Prime Minister's Office and the White House jointly plan the visit, with the RCMP and the Secret Service co-ordinating security. In practice, U.S. officials don't hesitate to throw around their weight. Ahead of Ronald Reagan's visit to Ottawa in 1987, U.S. officials even carried out a security sweep of 24 Sussex Drive and edited out satirical elements from high-school skits to be performed for Nancy Reagan.
"The distinction really comes down to how much more produced the event is," said Scott Reid, who was director of communications under Paul Martin.
When George W. Bush visited Halifax in 2004, White House officials built a
hand-painted mural commemorating the history of U.S.-Canada relations because they weren't satisfied with the existing backdrop, Mr. Reid recalled.
"They didn't impose on us. They were respectful of our standards," he said.
"But it is clear from the questions they asked and the approach they took that they have much greater control over their media than we do here in Canada."
Ottawa residents will feel some of the ripples. Transport Canada has announced that airspace restrictions will be in effect from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., while airport officials have warned commercial travellers to check regularly for delays and cancellations.
Those hoping for a live glimpse of the president, who is even more popular here than in the U.S., are likely to be disappointed. Mr. Obama, who will not be joined by his wife, Michelle, or their two daughters, will not address Parliament or give any public speeches during the seven-hour "working" visit.
Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean is expected to greet the president on the tarmac. As vice-regal representative of the Queen, Ms. Jean would have been the official host on a formal "state" visit. Former governor general Jeanne Sauvé is believed to have been miffed at being relegated to the sidelines during Mr. Reagan's working visit to Quebec City in 1985, forever remembered for the sight of him and Brian Mulroney crooning When Irish Eyes are Smiling.
After meeting Ms. Jean, Mr. Obama will climb into a massive black limo that has been airlifted across the border. Nicknamed "The Beast," the custom-built Cadillac is said to boast armour eight-inches thick, bulletproof glass and a sealed interior to shield the president from chemical weapons.
Besides the ubiquitous agents in black overcoats and ear pieces, Mr. Obama's entourage is expected to include senior advisers, State Department officials, the president's medical staff and travelling chef, plus military officers tasked with carrying the "nuclear football," a suitcase that contains codes for launching a nuclear attack.
Mr. Obama's motorcade will wend its way to Parliament Hill, likely on Colonel By Drive along the Rideau Canal, although security officials will be ready to change routes at a moment's notice. Ottawa police have warned of sudden road closings, and have "encouraged" businesses to secure or remove trash cans, newspaper boxes, bicycle racks and street furniture.
Several groups are planning protests, including environmentalists who want to draw U.S. attention to the Alberta oilsands. So far, the RCMP has indicated the public will be free to gather on the Centre Block lawn.
However, snipers will likely be positioned on the roof of Parliament Hill buildings, and plainclothes officers will surely be milling among the crowd.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will greet Mr. Obama in the rotunda of the Centre Block. They will meet in the prime minister's third-floor office and have lunch in the dining room of the Senate speaker before holding a joint news conference.
The leaders should hold substantive preliminary discussions on the economy and other issues, but will likely steer clear of cross-border irritants such as Omar Khadr, the Canadian imprisoned in the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, said Eddie Goldenberg, a former senior adviser to Jean Chrétien.
"As with any two individuals, the first meeting is a get-to-know-you," Mr. Goldenberg said. "Remember, it's very early days for the American administration. They don't even have all their people in place yet."
The public has been banned from the Centre Block Wednesday and Thursday. MPs will still have access, but parliamentary staff and journalists have been asked to get special accreditation, a process that includes RCMP background checks.
Anyone entering the Centre Block will have to go through a side entrance and pass through metal detectors.
A small army of White House correspondents will accompany the president to Ottawa on a media charter. There will be only four questions at the news conference: two by Canadian journalists and two by the Americans, who will not be overly preoccupied with the nuances of Canada-U.S. relations.
Mr. Obama will meet briefly with Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff before flying back to Washington.
It could be years before the true nature of the chemistry between Mr. Harper and Mr. Obama breaks through the sunny haze of the official statements put out by their offices. As Lawrence Martin documented in The Presidents and the Prime Ministers, it took a decade before many details emerged about the 1965 visit to Camp David by Lester Pearson, during which a furious Lyndon Johnson grabbed the prime minister by the collar and berated him for criticizing the Vietnam War.
The media tend to overstate the importance of the personal dynamic between prime ministers and presidents, Mr. Goldenberg said. Nevertheless, the personal dimension can play a significant role in shaping bilateral relations, he added, and it is not a foregone conclusion that Mr. Harper, the taciturn Conservative, will not get along with Mr. Obama, the silky-smooth Democrat.
"I think people are greatly overestimating the fact they have different ideological views," Mr. Goldenberg said, "because those views won't affect the relationship."
- - -
Online
For live coverage of Barack Obama's visit to Ottawa, including blogs and video, go to ottawacitizen.com
|
|
|
|
Prev
Ottawa residents have been told they won't get a chance to see Barack Obama during his visit, but they'll still spot some road closures and flight delays. (CBC)Here's what you need to know about getting around Ottawa Thursday during the presidential visit.
Linear Mode
