What exactly did Joe Biden say to Justin Trudeau? That depends on who you ask

WASHINGTON - To hear the White House tell it, the main reason U.S. President Joe Biden called Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday was to celebrate his victory in a sports bet over the Stanley Cup - and to gloat about enjoying the Montreal smoked meat Trudeau sent along to settle it.

The Prime Minister's Office doesn't mention that topic in its account of the conversation. Instead, it recounts Trudeau boasting about Canada's women's soccer team upsetting the U.S. at the Olympics.

In these calls between world leaders, it's not always easy to tell exactly how the discussion went. (It took an impeachment inquiry for the public to discover the vast gulf between what the U.S. said former president Donald Trump told the Ukrainian president and what was actually said.) Comparing the public notes from the two governments, you can see that each is selectively leaving at least some things out.

However, in comparing how each leader's office publicly recaps such a call, you can see their own priorities - what they want to be seen emphasizing to their own citizens, and which topics (like sports defeats) they'd prefer not to discuss back home.

For instance: Trudeau's summary very prominently says they talked about the benefits to each country of open government procurement." Team Biden's recollection of the call doesn't include anything about procurement at all.

That may be because Biden has recently been pumping a new protectionist Buy America" policy regarding procurement. He wants Americans to understand that he's shielding them from foreign competition. The benefits of government contracts open to Canadians sure doesn't help send that message. And even if Canada remains exempt from Biden's new Buy American policy by trade agreements, that's a nuance Biden's team would prefer not to publicize.

Trudeau, on the other hand, wants to emphasize that exemption to Canadian voters, who may be going to the polls very soon, and to sell the U.S. on the importance of keeping it in place.

Or take Line 5, the oil and natural gas pipeline through Michigan that's subject to a politically charged dispute. Environmentalists and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer want it shut down, while Canadian governments and industry consider it vitally important. Trudeau says he emphasized his support for the pipeline as essential to Canada's energy security," and that the two men agreed to monitor developments." Biden, caught between the environmental wing of his own party - and his own commitment to lead the U.S. away from fossil fuels - and the energy industry and the employees who depend on it, leaves out any mention of the topic.

Or take cross-border travel. As the pandemic ebbs and flows, Trudeau is reopening the Canadian border to vaccinated Americans as of Aug. 9, and says the two countries agreed to continue managing the land border in close collaboration."

The thing that's noteworthy about that close collaboration" is that it appears there hasn't been much recently - the U.S. is keeping its land borders closed to Canadians, and has gone pretty quiet on the subject.

Rep. Brian Higgins, who chairs the House of Representatives' northern border caucus, sounded the alarm this week that not only is the U.S. not prepared to open its border, but it may not even be properly prepared for Canada's reopening. In a letter to the White House, Higgins expressed concern that the U.S. hasn't provided enough testing capacity in border states to handle the requirements of Canada-bound travellers, and in a separate letter to U.S. border officials, he expressed concern about whether they'd have enough border staff to handle the volume of travellers.

So, maybe it isn't a surprise that the White House's recollection of the call with Trudeau didn't make any mention of the border at all.

The whole agenda of the call as recounted by the White House is much shorter than the PMO's. Canadian officials list eight topics discussed. The White House names only three. The hockey bet was one. Economic co-operation" was another.

The final topic might be reassuring for many Canadians: the detention by China of Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. The president condemned their arbitrary detention and reiterated his commitment to stand strong with Canada to secure their release," the White House readout says. Trudeau's recap mentions the same topic, in similar language.

It isn't much of a window into how, after more than two years, the determination to free the two Michaels can lead to successful action. But at least both leaders agree it is an official priority they want to emphasize.

If Biden can indeed help with that, Canada could ship him a lot more of the Montreal smoked meat he says he called to say thanks for. By then, we'll even know the colour of the Canadian soccer medal we'd want to brag about in return.

Edward Keenan is the Star's Washington Bureau chief. He covers U.S. politics and current affairs. Reach him via email: ekeenan@thestar.ca