OTTAWA, May 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will arrive here for a brief visit beginning on Thursday noon, according to the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Pence is scheduled to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the Canadian capital after a welcoming ceremony.
U.S. President Donald Trump has yet to make a state visit to Canada, stopping in La Malbaie in the country only briefly for the G7 summit last year.
Pence's primary aim is to push for a quick ratification of the new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which the United States has renamed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
Trudeau has said they will be primarily discussing the ratification process for the new NAFTA deal, although he will also bring up the increasing number of U.S. laws restricting women's access to abortion with Pence.
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland has said earlier this week that Canada will move ahead with ratification "in tandem with the United States," which is facing a more challenging ratification process because the U.S. Democrats have expressed a desire to reopen the deal.
