Belgian State Visit to Canada: March 11-17, 2018


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Kronprinz said:
It's great that she was an astronaut but she's there as the head of state of Canada for all purposes. It looks like she could be going over to a friend's house for dinner on a weekend.
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The head of state of Canada is the british Queen only! The GG is just her stand-in!
 
Kronprinz said:
It's great that she was an astronaut but she's there as the head of state of Canada for all purposes. It looks like she could be going over to a friend's house for dinner on a weekend.
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Not sure what's wrong with her hair... it's naturally very curly. That doesn't make it uncombed or unkempt. Personally, I'm a fan of Ms. Payette's more relaxed, natural style.
 
Apparently, Justin Trudeau is too busy to meet with the King of the Belgians or anyone else in the Belgian delegatiion. Another diplomatic gaffe by the young Canadian PM ?
 
Mbruno said:
Apparently, Justin Trudeau is too busy to meet with the King of the Belgians or anyone else in the Belgian delegatiion. Another diplomatic gaffe by the young Canadian PM ?
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PM Trudeau is currently touring Canadian steel and aluminum facilities in opposition to the potential US tariffs. I agree that it's a bit of a gaffe to not meet with the Belgian delegation, but at the same time he is trying to promote a Canadian industry that recently faced attack... so, really as far as gaffes go, it could be a lot worse.
 
Prime minister Trudeau not meeting with the King is not a gaffe as there was never any meeting scheduled, as the Belgian Ambassador stated when he was interviewed today. Our head of state when the queen is in Britain is our GG so the royals met with our highest state official. Our Prime minister is head of government, hence the difference.
 
Canada is facing economic issues with the American tax tariff question. Trudeau is exactly where he is meant to be, working with the unions in our metal economy, trying to prepare for any changes coming. As important as a state visit is, Justin is exactly where he needs to be.

Besides as pointed out our GG is our acting head of state. It is her place to be hosting the royals. It isn't like we have shoved the Belgian royals off on some unimportant politician.
 
The King was at a meeting who exchange of views with Canadian trade minister François-Philippe Champagne. Importance of open trade, in the face of protectionist trends, with emphasis on environmental and social standards.

https://scontent.fath3-4.fna.fbcdn....=6372c30523a1d836755f7b20a07834a4&oe=5B3FD503
https://scontent.fath3-4.fna.fbcdn....=351cc7e82ee969b52e66ec4b450b1c1e&oe=5B3B30CB


And yesterday to the Rideau Hall , they have German and not Belgian flags. Mistakes happen!

Rideau Hall welcomes Belgian royalty with a German flag - Politics - CBC News

TheRoyalCouturier said:
Anyone knows the plan for the visit? I'm hoping to know when they'll be in Toronto go see them! :D
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This is the program!


https://www.belgianstatevisit.be/activities

Toronto tomorrow!!!

Gallery from the State Dinner

https://www.gettyimages.com/search/...42?assettype=image&family=editorial&sort=best
 
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Countessmeout said:
Canada is facing economic issues with the American tax tariff question. Trudeau is exactly where he is meant to be, working with the unions in our metal economy, trying to prepare for any changes coming. As important as a state visit is, Justin is exactly where he needs to be.

Besides as pointed out our GG is our acting head of state. It is her place to be hosting the royals. It isn't like we have shoved the Belgian royals off on some unimportant politician.
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Canada was exempted from Trump’s tariffs. Trudeau is just taking advantage of the issue for personal political gain .


The Brabant Laurel Wreath is a nice tiara, but the Queen ruined the look with that neckline. As someone else suggested, she could have worn the fleurons of the Spanish Wedding Gift tiara as a necklace, but maybe Fabiola’s tiara is unavailable after all.
 
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wyevale said:
https://france3-regions.francetvinf...ple-royal-belge-drapeau-allemand-1439295.html

Oops.. How difficult can it be to fly the correct flag ? Trudeau is already a laughing stock across much of the World [after his absurd visit to India] but this is a [bad] joke !
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Indeed, first the India fiasco. Now, they can't even fly the right flag for the King of Belgians who, again, doesn't seem to be considered important enough for Justin Trudeau to meet.


At least, someone spotted the mistake before the King and Queen arrived and avoided a diplomatic incident.
 
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To be fair it’s not Trudeau’s personal fault. There’s protocol officers who work for the Governor General to handle these sorts of things. No doubt some poor underling will be fired for it.

I’m not a fan of Justin Trudeau. I think he’s a twit but he’ll make an example out of someone over the flag to save face.
 
marlene said:
Prime minister Trudeau not meeting with the King is not a gaffe as there was never any meeting scheduled, as the Belgian Ambassador stated when he was interviewed today. Our head of state when the queen is in Britain is our GG so the royals met with our highest state official. Our Prime minister is head of government, hence the difference.
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Normally a state visit does include a meeting with the prime minister who is also one of the most important invitees to the state banquet. So, Trudeau's decision clearly shows that the Canadian government doesn't really care about Belgium (which is probably true but normally not made as visible during a state visit) as he wasn't interested in scheduling at least a short meeting.
 
Yes, Trudeau obviously doesn't care about Belgium but he should at least make an effort to hide it.

What would it take? A 30 minute meeting?

I can't imagine a foreign head of state visiting Britain and not getting a meeting with the PM.Because, after all, it's the government that dictates foreign policy. The GG is just the hostess and representative.
 
"One of the main thrusts of the state visit is a "thank you" of sorts for Canada's involvement in the liberation of Belgium during the First World War, the King said."

"We owe our freedom to the military men who came to our country 100 years ago to end the First World War," King Philippe said as he was greeted by GG of Canada. "We in Belgium, we don't forget that."

Via Canada Twitter
 
For all those people who seem to be beside themselves that The Royals aren't meeting Trudeau, you can take comfort now with the news that he will meet with them on Friday morning in Montreal. They will all be together to sign a trade deal to import more Belgian beer.
 
Anyone knows the plan for the visit? I'm hoping to know when they'll be in Toronto go see them! :D
 
I didn't see anyone who 'was beside him/herself'. There is no need to agree but no need to ascribe all kinds of extreme emotions to a few posters pointing out the lack of courtesy shown towards the monarchs that were invited by the govenment (albeit not in their name).

But good to read that they will at least meet him, according to last minute plans, although he didn't make it to the more official parts of the state visit. Hopefully he will learn from this experience and properly plan meetings with future heads of states and attend functions on these kind of visits.
 
.

Here are some pics of the concert yesterday evening, the belga gallery of day 2, posted above has been updated with pics of the evening as well:


** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** Pic 3 **
 
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Duc_et_Pair said:
From what I have seen on VTM and VRT (Belgian channels) it was pretty dull. It was like the President of the Czech Republic visiting Canada. The Court needs a modern communications adviser who knows how to use the splendour of the monarchy to promote Belgium.

Examples:

Return event in the Teatro Nacional Dona Isabel de Dona Maria II in Lisbon

Return event in the Petit Palais in Paris
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Can you imagine Belgian people - especially politicians- seeing (and reacting) to something that grand?! They would be outraged to say the least...
Plus, this tells me a lot of Philippe and Mathilde's personality...you just cannot compare and event arranged and supervised by WA and Maxima IMO.
 
But is it not exactly the nature of State Visits to pack out, to network, to build bridges?

President Macron welcomed President Putin in the splendour of Versailles. He took President Trump to Les Invalides and even offered a banquet by Alain Ducasse at the panorama deck of the Eiffel Tower.

In Australia the Dutch King and Queen had their return in the Sydney Opera, floodlit in orange, decorated with tons of flowers and offered a concert by the worldfamous Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. In their maelstrom the CEO's of Shell, Unilever, Philips, KLM and name them all took the opportunity to meet and greet the who-is-who. It is also showing who you are. I can not imagine that Belgian politicians will object against an effective promoting of Belgium...
 
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