May 30 (Bloomberg) -- Former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush disagreed on the Cuban trade embargo and gay marriage, while showing camaraderie as they reflected on their White House tenures during a joint event in Canada.

Clinton and Bush, both 62, addressed about 6,000 people yesterday at the appearance in Toronto, for which admission was charged.

Bush said keeping the embargo on Cuba “is an important thing.” He also said, “my attitude is, if they empty out the prisons and if they give the people a voice, then we change strategy, but not until then.”

Clinton said the communist country “ought to be part of our future.” He also called on Congress to give U.S. presidents more freedom to manage relations with Cuba.

President Barack Obama in April removed travel limits for Cuban-Americans visiting family in Cuba that had been toughened by Bush. Obama also ended restrictions on how much money Cuban- Americans can send relatives on the island and allowed U.S. telecommunications companies such as AT&T Inc. to get licenses to operate there. Leaders of some Latin American countries are pressing him to end the U.S. embargo against Cuba.

“Cubans are our neighbors, they ought to be part of the hemisphere, they ought to be part of our future,” Clinton said. “We can negotiate a better future if we let the president be trusted again.”

Each made brief separate remarks and then took questions from a moderator. Along with discussing various issues, they traded jokes about what happens when a president leaves office.

Dog Walking

Clinton said he was disoriented when he first resumed private life, in part because he didn’t hear the customary “Hail to the Chief” as he entered a room. Bush said that as he has resumed walking his dog, Barney, he found himself “picking up what I’ve been dodging for eight years.”

Asked about gay marriages, Bush said, “I happen to believe marriage is a sacred institution between a man and a woman, and therefore defended it and still believe that.”

He also said “there’s ways to establish rights while at the same time defending marriage.”

Clinton said the more gay people he knows, the more he thinks their relationships “should be up to them.”

Low Profile

Bush has kept a low profile since he left office in January after two terms. During a one-hour speech on March 17 at a private event in the Canadian city of Calgary, he praised the Obama administration’s efforts to repair the economy.

In a speech earlier this week in Benton Harbor, Michigan, Bush defended the enhanced interrogation techniques authorized by his administration for terrorist suspects as legal and useful in gathering valuable information. “I vowed to take whatever steps that were necessary to protect you,” he told his audience, according to a CNN report.

The torture issue wasn’t raised during yesterday’s appearance. Nor was Bush asked about claims by his vice president, Dick Cheney, that decisions by the Obama administration have made the U.S. less safe.

The two former presidents were friendly toward each other, with Bush joking to the audience that his mother considers Clinton like a son because of extensive charitable work he’s done with his father, George H. W. Bush -- the former president whom Clinton defeated in 1992. Turning toward Clinton, Bush said, “so brother, good to be with you.”

Fighting AIDS

Clinton told the crowd that the younger Bush “deserves a lot of credit” for having the most diverse cabinet of any Republican administration and rallying Christian evangelicals to help fight the spread of AIDS in Africa.

Since leaving office in 2001 after two terms, Clinton has established the New York-based William J. ClintonFoundation, a charitable group which has focused on issues including AIDS and global poverty. He received a $10 million advance for his memoir, titled “My Life” and published in 2004. He campaigned vigorously for his wife in her unsuccessful bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

Clinton told his listeners yesterday that not committing the U.S. to efforts to stop the Rwanda genocide during the 1990s was “one of the two or three greatest regrets in my presidency.” Bush responded that he was being “too tough” on himself and said such interventions in other countries was harder than it may seem to observers.

Bush defended his decision to launch the war in Iraq, saying “getting rid of Saddam Hussein made the world a more peaceful place.” He also said, “the question is, is it working? And I think it is.”

Passport Rule

Both former presidents pleaded ignorance about the June 1 implementation of a passport requirement at the U.S.-Canada border. Bush said he was surprised his “easy-pass” proposal, an identity card that would have speeded up the process for travelers, wasn’t implemented. Clinton promised to raise the subject when he returns to the U.S.

Bush frequently sparked laughter from the audience, usually with self-deprecating comments. He said someone asked him if people often remark he looks like George W. Bush, and he responded, “I get that all the time.” Bush said the man then replied, “that must make you mad!”

Clinton struck a more serious tone, urging the audience not to rely on governments and get involved in civil society to solve global problems such as climate change and poverty.

A small crowd of protesters stood outside the convention center where the event was held, brandishing a large banner that read, “Clinton & Bush: war criminals not welcome in Canada.”

The appearance by the 42nd and 43rd U.S. presidents, for which they were paid an undisclosed amount, was organized by the Power Within, a Toronto-based firm that produces motivational and training programs for businesses and the public.

Bush told the crowd, which had paid a minimum of C$229 ($210) per ticket and as much as C$2,500, that “Clinton and I used to believe in free speech, so thanks for coming.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Alexandre Deslongchamps in Toronto at adeslongcham@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 30, 2009 00:03 EDT