From Quebec ancestry to canal skating, Clinton has strong Canadian ties
OTTAWA — Hillary Clinton was determined to go skating.
The First Lady, as she was called when she came to Ottawa on a February 1995 state visit with then-U.S. president Bill Clinton, had often heard about the Rideau Canal, but never had the chance to glide along its surface like so many visitors and locals.
Word had leaked out to the media, however, and the U.S. Secret Service wanted to shut it down.
Gordon Giffin, who became the American ambassador to Canada two years later, still has a vivid memory of her reaction.