‘Four more years!’: Obama gives speech to enthralled Parliament

[President Barack Obama addresses the Canadian Parliament in the House of Commons in Ottawa as House Speaker Geoff Regan, right, looks on, Wednesday, June 29, 2016 / AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais]

By Carl Meyer

U.S. President Barack Obama gave what many observers instantly deemed to be one of his most powerful speeches to the Parliament of Canada on Wednesday — but between all the praise, he also worked in a point about Canadian defence spending.

Pivoting quickly from a news conference at the North American Leaders’ Summit alongside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, Obama’s long, snaking motorcade headed to Parliament Hill to address a joint session of the House of Commons and the Senate.

Obama’s speech — the first such address by a U.S. president since Bill Clinton in 1995 — began lightly with references to Canadiana before shifting into a passionate defence of liberal internationalism. Along the way he touched on environmental issues, poverty, terrorism and extremism. By the time it was over, he had more than captured the imagination of those in attendance.

They showered him with applause, cries of support and even chants of “four more years!”

“We could not ask for a better friend or ally than Canada,” said Obama to thunderous applause. “We do not take it for granted.”

His speech centered on the idea that pitting economic growth and economic inclusion against each other is a false choice.

“We need growth that is broad and lifts everybody up,” he said.

While the world is “more prosperous than ever before,” Obama acknowledged there is also rising inequality, but said the way to combat this is not for politicians to tap into fears and promote “bygone days” by “arguing that we must rebuild walls,” he said.

“More trade, and more people-to-people ties” can help “break down old divides,” he said. “Wealthy countries like ours cannot reach our full potential while others remain mired in poverty.”

But protectionism, “in this 21st century economy, will not work.”

The speech also included one interesting nugget about Canadian military spending. In a section on military co-operation, Obama said the U.S., Canada and its allies are united in defence of their collective security.

“And doing so requires a range of tools,” he said.

“As your ally and as your friend, let me say that we’ll be more secure when every NATO member, including Canada, contributes its full share to our common security.”

Canada has been criticized for not spending two per cent of GDP on defence, something the country agreed to in 2006. Spending is currently hovering around one per cent.

“The world needs more Canada,” said Obama. “NATO needs more Canada.”

Earlier, Trudeau, Obama and Peña Nieto spoke about the importance of partnerships, free trade and even globalization in the face of apparent anti-trade currents in Western countries.

From presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s promise to kill or re-open NAFTA and build a wall between the United States and Mexico, to Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, or Brexit, the leaders tried to push back.

“I’m not prepared to concede,” said Obama at the summit, his voice rising, “that some of the rhetoric that’s popping up is ‘populist.’”

Populism means serving the people, he said, but an us-versus-them mentality is not populism.

“That’s nativism,” Obama said.

“Or xenophobia. Or worse.”