Stefanik urges border-reopening discussion

WASHINGTON (WWNY) - President Joe Biden is expected to speak with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Friday and north country Congresswoman Elise Stefanik wants them to talk about reopening the border between the two countries.

Biden’s call with Trudeau will be his first with a foreign leader as president.

In a statement, Stefanik urges the president to discuss safely reopening the border, which has been closed to nonessential traffic since the pandemic began.

“I strongly urge President Biden to commit to a metrics-based bilateral plan to safely reopen the U.S.-Canada border as soon as possible,” Stefanik said.

One thing that will likely be discussed in the call is the Keystone XL pipeline.

One of Biden’s first acts as president was to revoke the permit for the controversial project, a move Stefanik said was “irresponsible” and Trudeau called “disappointing.”

The Keystone XL Pipeline is an expansion of the existing Keystone Pipeline, which sends crude oil from Alberta, Canada to refineries in the U.S.

Here is Stefanik’s full statement on reopening the border:

“As Co-Chair of the Northern Border Caucus and Representative of New York’s 21st Congressional District, I understand firsthand that bilateral collaboration between the United States and Canada is absolutely critical, especially as we work together to protect public health, safely restart our economy, and defeat the COVID-19 crisis. As we approach one year of border restrictions for non-essential travel, I strongly urge President Biden to commit to a metrics-based bilateral plan to safely reopen the U.S.-Canada border as soon as possible.”