The White House confirmed Thursday that Canada has postponed the North American Leaders Summit scheduled for next month but would not say whether tension over the Keystone XL oil pipeline is the reason.
Canada, this year’s summit host, announced Thursday that the summit will be held later in 2015, though no exact date has been set. Some Canadian media outlets, such as the Toronto Sun, reported that the meeting was rescheduled because of President Obama’s continued indecision on Keystone, which the Canadian government strongly supports.
The Canadian government for years has consistently and publicly urged Mr. Obama to approve the project.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the administration does not know exactly why Canada postponed the summit.
Even if Keystone was the reason, Mr. Earnest said that would not indicate a serious rift between the U.S. and its ally to the north.
“The relationship we have with Canada is far deeper and far broader than this one infrastructure project,” he told reporters.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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