Trudeau in New York: PM visits U.S. think tank as he builds on Biden trip 

Trudeau is at the Council on Foreign Relations, a respected New York think tank, to promote Canada as a wise investment and trusted trading partner.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will take his Canadian sales pitch to an influential U.S. audience Friday morning.

Trudeau is at the Council on Foreign Relations, a respected New York think tank, to promote Canada as a wise investment and trusted trading partner.

The idea is to capitalize on the momentum that was generated by last month’s visit to Ottawa by U.S. President Joe Biden.

The centrepiece of that visit was a new Canada-U.S. strategy for the extraction, development and processing of critical minerals.

Experts say would-be investors and developers now want to hear how Canada plans to streamline the regulatory process in order to capitalize on the country’s underground riches.

Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s envoy to the U.S., acknowledges the appetite for clarity and says it’s a high priority – although the details likely won’t come today.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, Canada’s permitting processes are actually more efficient than those in the U.S., although she agrees they need improvement.

“I’m not saying it’s good enough. And I’m not saying we don’t want to continue to streamline and improve,” Hillman said Thursday.