Quebec, Ontario mayors excluded from White House meeting, diplomatic protocol cited
MONTREAL — Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante and St. Catharine’s, Ont., Mayor Mat Siscoe have been denied accreditation for a meeting at the White House on Friday amid the trade war between Canada and the U.S.
The two mayors are in Washington, D.C., for meetings of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, a group of municipal and Indigenous government leaders who represent the region on both sides of the border.
A spokesperson for the cities initiative says the names of Plante, Siscoe, and a mayor from an American city were submitted ahead of Friday’s meeting, scheduled as part of the annual Great Lakes Day event in Washington.
The group says it was informed on Wednesday that due to diplomatic protocol, there wasn’t enough time to process the requests of the Canadian mayors. Instead, three American mayors will attend the meeting, whose White House participants were not disclosed.
