Bill Clinton: “Good afternoon. I have just spent a very rewarding hour and a half with Prime Minister Campbell and members of her…”

“Good afternoon. I have just spent a very rewarding hour and a half with Prime Minister Campbell and members of her government. After a very impressive career in other posts in government and a very rapid rise to the leadership of her country, I must say I have been very impressed with the contributions that she has made to this summit and with the conversations that we have had all along, but especially today. The relationship that we have with Canada is really unique in all the world. It is our largest trading relationship. We are each other's largest trading partners. And even though we have disputes from time to time, when you consider the volume and diversity of trade between us, those disputes are remarkably few and narrow in scope. Canada has been a very strong security partner of the United States. And while we share a lot in common, we also are very different and distinctive countries, and I think we have a lot to learn from one another. I might just mention with regard to two specific issues that we discussed, first, I reaffirmed to the Prime Minister my commitment to successfully concluding the side agreements to the North American Free Trade Agreement and to then moving forward to successful passage of that agreement in the United States Congress. As you know, it has passed the Canadian Parliament pending its ratification by Congress. And secondly, I asked the Prime Minister for her support in our attempts to fulfill the agreement signed just a few days ago by President Aristide and General Cedras to restore democracy in Haiti. Canada has been one of the United States' best friends on the Haitian issue, with a substantial Haitian population and a lot of French-speaking people who can make a unique contribution to this restoration process. So for both those things, I am grateful for our common positions, and I appreciate her support. I think I'll turn the microphone over to Prime Minister Campbell now, and then we'll be glad to answer some questions. Prime Minister Campbell. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I'd simply like to reiterate that we had a very fruitful discussion, and I think as two novices in the summit process, we both enjoyed participating very much. I'd like to thank the President for responding very quickly to a request that we have made, and that is that he designate someone in the White House to be a point of contact for us in managing a variety of issues that arise between our two countries, and particularly some trade dispute issues. And the President has agreed to do that, and we're looking forward to having that person designated. I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate the President and his Government on the resolution of the situation in Haiti. I think without the United States' involvement, we would not have that kind of happy resolution. And I confirm Canada's willingness and commitment to be supportive to the followup process in Haiti. Economic Summit and Japan-U.S. Trade”