Harper meets Keystone builder TransCanada ahead of Obama meeting in Mexico

MEXICO CITY - Prime Minister Stephen Harper is meeting leaders from the company that wants to build the Keystone XL pipeline just hours before he pushes U.S. President Barack Obama one more time to approve it.

Harper's tete-a-tete with TransCanada officials comes this morning in Mexico City before he travels to the neighbouring city of Toluca for the so-called Three Amigos summit with Obama and Mexico's Enrique Pena Nieto.

No progress is likely on TransCanada's long-stalled plan to link Alberta's oil sands with the southern United States because neither leader is expected to deviate from their stated positions on Keystone.

Harper is signalling he will once again push Obama for speedy approval, while the White House maintains the president will reiterate the approval process is still ongoing for several more months.

Harper will press Obama on the sidelines of a relatively short but packed meeting of the three North American leaders that will focus on deepening economic integration, energy, labour mobility and security.

They will be marking the 20th anniversary of North American Free Trade Agreement, a deal Harper has lauded despite the fact it has left Canada in a trade deficit with Mexico.