One of the top officials in the U.S. government, Nancy Pelosi, will get a crash course this week on Canada's oil sands in a series of private meetings quietly orchestrated by President Barack Obama's point man in Ottawa.

The meetings will focus on climate change, the oil sands and the Canadian energy industry. They come at a crucial time in relations between the United States and Canada, its top energy supplier, and as Washington considers approval of a landmark cross-border pipeline project.

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