DIPLOMATIC DOUGH PAS — U.S. Ambassador DAVID COHEN really stepped into it at the end of a 23-minute interview when Playbook asked the envoy for one word to describe a Montreal bagel.
“Good,” he said in his office at the U.S. embassy in Ottawa. “Good, but not excellent.” — The year ahead: 2023 is poised to be busy for the former Comcast exec — and not just because his bagel review will follow him for the rest of his days in Canada. The embassy is just beginning to sort out details of President JOE BIDEN’s visit in March. — Work in progress: An agenda for Biden’s official visit is still in flux, he said, adding critical minerals, continental defense (the Arctic, in particular) and migration issues are some significant bilat issues that could be ripe for high-level talks. “Everyone's just back from [the North American Leaders’ Summit] and I think everyone's taking a little bit of a breath,” Cohen said. — Bet on this: “We going to stick to the roadmap,” Cohen said when asked what opportunities he sees for stronger U.S.-Canada relations this year. Trudeau and Biden unveiled the “Roadmap for a Renewed U.S.-Canada Partnership” after meeting in February 2021. They called it a blueprint to support ambitions of “mutual prosperity.” — Quiet as a good thing: Playbook asked Cohen how often he talks with President Biden. “I actually don't talk to him very often, which he tells me is what I should hope for,” Cohen said. “Because the odds are if he's calling me it's because I've done something wrong or he needs me to do something more than what I'm doing. I talk to his senior staff on a much more frequent basis.” — New year priorities: Haiti continues to be a hot topic between the U.S. and Canada while the humanitarian situation worsens in the country. Any involvement in Haiti, Cohen said, “in all likelihood, will need to be a United Nations-sponsored and the United Nations-organized effort.” He said any assistance is more likely to be related to the police than military “just to sort of adjust some of what people have been talking about.” Sanctions targeting “Haitian elites” is Global Affairs Canada’s current go-to approach to quelling gang terror in the country. This interview excerpt has been edited for length and clarity. The U.S. sees potential in Canada taking a leadership role in Haiti, could you help us understand what that leadership role is? The United States does have an interest in Canada stepping up and playing a leadership role in whatever is determined to be in the best interests of resolving the situation in Haiti, which first and foremost will be something that Haiti is interested in. Haiti has to ask for help. If there was a takeaway from the NALS on Haiti, it wasn't at the level of "will Canada play a leadership role?" Or, "what will that leadership role look like?" The agreement was that Canada and the United States should work together with the United Nations to try to develop what an engagement and external engagement would look like, in order to support the Haitian National Police to bring some stability to Haiti, all under the guidance, direction and at the request of Haiti. And once we have that, then we can address the issue of what a leadership role by Canada would look like. Is there any timeline for that external engagement? It’s ongoing. First, you have to have the plan. We have started the Canada-U.S.engagement in trying to determine what that engagement would look like. There's a plan for a plan. Well, there was an agreement to talk about what a plan would look like. I don't know that that in and of itself is a plan. That was the major Haiti takeaway from the NALS. Do you enjoy Ottawa Playbook? Maybe you know others who would like it, too.Point them to this link where they can sign up for free. | 
