Cautious neighbour policy: Canada's helping hand in winding down the Vietnam War

Abstract

Openly critical at times of the United States for its actions in the Vietnam War, Canada was not for all that in a position to put its continental interests into question, and advocated therefore a conciliatory agenda towards its neighbour in this matter. This was particularly true in 1973 when it accepted an American invitation to take part in the international commission for implementing a ceasefire in Vietnam, thereby providing the US with a chance to withdraw without losing face completely. This article also notes that, in a show of North Atlantic solidarity, as the Cold War went on, Canada's measures were supported all along by Great Britain.

Notes

The Advisory Board and Editorial Board of Cold War History regret to announce the death of Charles Rhéaume on 25 July 2010. Our condolences go to his wife Julie and daughter Alice.

Charles Rhéaume held a PhD in history from McGill University (Montreal). His book on Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov earned a prize from the Institute of France in 2005. As Historian with the Department of National Defence in Canada, he wrote about the non-nuclearisation of the Vietnam War. His research also included a history of the Canadian military delegations to the 1954 truce supervision commissions for Indochina, and that of 1973 for Vietnam.

 [1] Claude Lemelin, ‘Pour lui arracher sa participation à la CIS, Washington a trompé le Canada’, Le Devoir, 26 mars 1973, 6.

 [2] Nossal, ‘Canada and the International Commission of Control and Supervision’, 100.

 [3] The concept of a formal free trade area arrangement gradually developed until full implementation with the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994.

 [4] Levant, Quiet Complicity, 37–8.

 [5] Jerry M. Flint, ‘Woodcock Backs Curbs on Imports’, The New York Times, 20 October 1972, 23. See also John Harbron, ‘Nationalistic Locals Face U.S.-Led Unions in Canada’, The New York Times, 24 November 1972, 59, 62.

 [6] ‘A Growing Economy’, in ‘Survey – Canada’ (a supplement on Canada), The Economist, 12 February 1972, 12.

 [7] Jay Walz, ‘Canada Says U.S. Export Plan For Cars Violates Trade Pacts’, The New York Times, 29 April 1972, 39, 41.

 [8] Muirhead, ‘From Special Relationship to Third Option’, 454.

 [9] Jay Walz, ‘U.S. and Canada: Basic Problems Persist’, The New York Times, 17 April 1972, 8. Muirhead, ‘From Special Relationship to Third Option’, 449. See also Donneur, ‘Le facteur américain dans la politique extérieure canadienne’. Annales d' Études Internationales, 2 (1971), 64.

[10] Jay Walz, ‘A Bold Trudeau Stance’, The New York Times, 13 October 1972, 17.

[11] Donneur, ‘Le facteur américain dans la politique extérieure canadienne’, 65.

[12] Axworthy, ‘To Stand Not So High Perhaps but Always Alone’, 31.

[13] Van Praagh, ‘Canada and Southeast Asia’, 333.

[14] Muirhead, ‘From Special Relationship to Third Option’, 456, 461–2. See also Bothwell, ‘Small Problems’, 216–20, and Axworthy, ‘To Stand Not So High Perhaps but Always Alone’, 36.

[15] Pierre Elliott Trudeau, ‘Cahier du 25 avril 1959’, in ‘Voyage été 1959 – Journal de voyage et autres documents concernant le Japon – 1959’, Trudeau Fonds, MG 26 02, Vol. 13, File 5, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa.

[16] Pierre Elliott Trudeau, ‘Cahier du 25 avril 1959’, in ‘Voyage été 1959 – Journal de voyage et autres documents concernant le Japon – 1959’, Trudeau Fonds, MG 26 02, Vol. 13, File 5, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa

[17] McCall and Clarkson, Trudeau and Our Times, 203.

[18] McCall and Clarkson, Trudeau and Our Times, 194.

[19] Trudeau, Memoirs, 217–18.

[20] For good accounts of the Seaborn and Ronning missions, see Preston, ‘Balancing War and Peace’; Donaghy, Tolerant Allies; and Van Praagh, ‘Canada and Southeast Asia’.

[21] Eayrs, In Defence of Canada, 221.

[22] Nossal, ‘Canada and the International Commission of Control and Supervision’, 17.

[23] See in particular Sharp, Which Reminds Me…, 212–3.

[24] Ross, In the Interests of Peace.

[25] Ross, In the Interests of Peace, 344.

[26] Ross, In the Interests of Peace, 346–7.

[27] ‘Prepare for Peacekeeping’, The Globe and Mail, 16 December 1972, 6. See also Taylor, Snow Job, 156.

[28] Head and Trudeau, The Canadian Way, 189–90.

[29] Van Praagh, ‘Canada and Southeast Asia’, 318.

[30] Levant, Quiet Complicity, 220.

[31] Nossal, ‘Canada and the International Commission of Control and Supervision’, 50.

[32] Ross, In the Interests of Peace, 347.

[33] Department of National Defence, ‘The Nature and Extent, Including Alternatives, of Possible Participation by Canadian Forces in an International Peacekeeping Force in the Event of a Cease-Fire, Armistice or Truce in Vietnam’, 11 May 1967, pp. 5, 41, Library and Archives Canada, RG25, External Affairs, Series A-3-c, Volume 10129, File: 21-13-VIET-ICSC-12 (‘Military Actions – Armistice – Vietnam – ICSC – Studies of Future Peacekeeping Role’).

[34] See in particular ‘Record of a Conversation on 26 February, 1973, British Embassy, Paris’, FCO 15/1839, C287149, The National Archives, Kew, England.

[35] Levant, Quiet Complicity, 223.

[36] Nixon, No More Vietnams, 167–8.

[37] ‘Record of a Conversation on 26 February, 1973, British Embassy, Paris’.

[38] ‘Don't Pull Canada Out of Truce Role, Sharp being Urged’, The Globe and Mail, 16 March 1973, 1.

[39] Nossal, ‘Canada and the International Commission of Control and Supervision’, 64.

[40] Memo from Richard T. Fell, of the High Commission for Britain in Ottawa, to M.R.J. Guest of Foreign and Commonwealth Office's South East Asia Department, ‘Vietnam – Mr. Sharp's Statement Following His Visit’, 23 March 1973, 1.

[41] Letter of Canadian Senator C.W. Carter to His Excellency P.T. Hayman, High Commissioner for Britain in Canada, 15 January 1973, FCO 15/1839, C287149, The National Archives, Kew, England.

[42] See for example a memo from C.W. Squire, of Foreign and Commonwealth Office's South East Asia Department, to Sir Peter Hayman, High Commissioner for Britain in Ottawa, ‘Canada and the Vietnam Settlement’, 7 February 1973, FCO 15/1839, C287149, The National Archives, Kew, England.

[43] Sharp, Which Reminds Me…, 214.

[44] Lyon, ‘Canada, the United States, and Vietnam: A Comment’, 152.

[45] Van Praagh, ‘Canada and Southeast Asia’, 331–2.