Article content
OTTAWA — When former president Barack Obama first visited Ottawa in 2009 he went home with souvenir cookies for his daughters bought during his unannounced visit to the famed ByWard Market, which local residents have been talking about ever since.
Advertisement 2
Article content
When President Joe Biden departs after about 27 hours in the Canadian capital Friday night, he will carry with him a Canadian bar of chocolate.
Article content
“I love chocolate,” Biden said, after being handed a yellow-wrapped bar with the word “Peace” written on it by Green Leader Elizabeth May.
Biden’s visit was surrounded by heavy levels of security — much of downtown Ottawa was shut down for the day, civil servants who just recently returned to work in person were urged to stay home, and sniper teams, drones and helicopters dotted the sky around the parliamentary precinct.
But it did not draw the same fanfare as Obama did in 2009, when a couple of thousand people crowded onto Parliament Hill to await his arrival, hoping to glimpse the president from afar.
Article content
Advertisement 3
Article content
RECOMMENDED VIDEO
Only a couple of dozen people stood on the street by Parliament on Friday, holding a “Welcome to Canada” sign, along with a lone protester from the “Freedom Convoy” who waved a large flag.
Obama was also mobbed by happy crowds when he suddenly showed up in the ByWard Market, just northeast of Parliament Hill. He visited a bakery where he purchased maple leaf-shaped iced sugar cookies as souvenirs for his kids, and was also given a fried-dough treat called a BeaverTail.
The cookies became a popular hit, prompting the bakery, Moulin de Provence, to turn the sale into a marketing opportunity. They erected multiple signs referencing the president and the cookies are known now as “Obama cookies.” The store still has the cookies and the signs.
Advertisement 4
Article content
Ottawa’s culinary offering to Biden came thanks to the local ice cream store Moo Shu Ice Cream and Kitchen. The president, and first lady Jill Biden, had a private dinner with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family at their home Thursday night.
The meal ended with the president’s well-known favourite food for dessert.
Moo Shu made toasted marshmallow & maple sugar ice cream, spun with chocolate, officially dubbing it “Friend-chip Goals” to commemorate the two nations’ unbreakable bond.
Biden’s chocolate souvenir comes from Nova Scotia-based chocolatier Peace by Chocolate, run by Syrian refugees who arrived in Canada in 2016. Their venture has been so successful they now have multiple stores and ship their products all over Canada. A documentary was made about their story.
Advertisement 5
Article content
May, who was part of a receiving line of party leaders and other dignitaries greeting Biden on Parliament Hill, told the president she saw the chocolate at a store and thought “you need one too.”
RECOMMENDED VIDEO
When he signed the Hill guest book, Biden handed the bar to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau briefly, who passed it on to one of the House of Commons staff. But Biden didn’t let it go for long.
“Where’s my chocolate?” he asked as handlers began to usher him out of the room.
He insisted on waiting until the bar was back in his hands. Trudeau told him the story of its makers. Then Biden told the reporters following him around that he might share it with them, later, “depending on how tough your questions are.”
The lack of hoopla around Biden’s visit did not deter Jin Kim from travelling in from Toronto on Friday to see the president in person.
Advertisement 6
Article content
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see even a glimpse of him,” said Kim. “We are very excited to be here.”
She travelled to town alongside volunteers from Korea and Chile who are part of the International Youth Fellowship. They said that as future leaders, they want to show the president support.
Another pair of students from the University of Ottawa said they were grabbing a coffee downtown when they decided to spontaneously make their way to Parliament, one of them saying: “All presidents are cool in their own way.”
Two American university students visiting from Virginia expressed annoyance that the police made them change their scenic running route. They were unfazed by the fact of their own president being in town and the heavy security it brought.
The motorcades did draw some excitement. The first lady’s motorcade drove past people Friday who waved excitedly or quickly pulled out their phones to snap photos.
Related Stories
-
Allow unvaccinated Canadians to cross U.S. border, Poilievre asks Biden
OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Friday he asked President Joe Biden to remove the U.S. government’s requirement that Canadians be vaccinated for COVID-19 before crossing the border.
-
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau to introduce FLOTUS to curling during first lady’s visit
OTTAWA — The United States’ first lady will be given a sweeping introduction to Canadian sports culture in Ottawa today as Sophie Gregoire Trudeau takes Jill Biden to the curling rink.
-
Advertisement 2
-
EDITORIAL: Glad you could drop by, Joe
American President Joe Biden has been in office more than two years and now, finally, he’s managed to find time to visit Canada.
-
Trudeau, Biden to talk protectionism, Haiti, migration
OTTAWA — U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Ottawa Thursday evening for a whirlwind 27-hour visit expected to focus on both the friendly and thorny aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship, including protectionism and migration on both sides of the border.
-
Firm handshakes, hard lines: Trudeau, Biden to talk protectionism, Haiti, migration
OTTAWA — U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Ottawa Thursday evening for a whirlwind 27-hour visit expected to focus on both the friendly and thorny aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship, including protectionism and migration on both sides of the border.
Comments
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.
Join the Conversation