White House: President Obama has phoned Justin Trudeau to offer his congratulations

President Barack Obama phoned Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau today to congratulate him on his astonishing victory in the 2015 Canadian federal elections, the White House has announced, providing the following readout:

Readout of the President’s Call with Prime Minister-Designate Justin Trudeau of Canada

The President spoke by phone today with Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau of Canada to congratulate him on the Liberal Party’s victory in the October 19 elections. The two leaders agreed on the importance of deepening the already strong United States-Canada relationship and committed to strengthening the countries’ joint efforts to promote trade, combat terrorism, and mitigate climate change. In particular, they noted the successful conclusion of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and the need to move forward with implementing the high standards of the agreement, which promises to boost economic growth and support good-paying jobs on both sides of the border. They committed to work together to achieve an ambitious and durable global climate agreement in Paris in December. The President wished the Prime Minister-Designate well and noted that he looks forward to meeting with him in the near future.

Trudeau’s victory is a cause for celebration for the Obama administration, which has had a cool relationship with Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Obama will now assuredly have a new and better partner north of the border for his final year and a quarter in office — and someone at the head of a majority in Parliament to boot. Trudeau supports construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, but has vowed not to allow U.S.-Canadian relations to sour based on differences over that project.