MEPFOKP MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON SUNDAY. FEBRUARY, 17. 1963 j
U.S. - Canadian Relations Crisis Result of Series of Squabbles
Bv BRUCE ACNFW i n il ;....., ,r- J- 11. r- . ....ii ..!-. -. - - - . . .
By BRUCE AGNEW
United Pins International
("Today if the United
Slates and Canada, with
their common language,
common history, common
economic and political in
terests and close ties can
not live peacefully with one
another, then what hope is
there for the rest of the
world?"
-Sen. John F. Kennedy,
June, 1957).
Washington - UTI' - In the
pest of times, U S Canadian
relations are marked by a
slight uneasiness north of the
border and a slight exaspera
tion in Washington.
The Unilcd States and Can
ada have too much in common
to get along without trouble.
A U.S. dam project can
back up water on a Canadian
river. A U.S. tariff can pre
vent a small baker in Wind
sor, Out., from selling his
bread in Detroit. A newspaper
strike in New York can mean
layoffs at a Nova Scotia paper
mill.
An Open Corridor
A Canadian antiaircraft
missile without a warhead can
mean - in U.S. eyes - an open
corridor for Soviet bombers.
The inevitable friction is
complicated by the fact that
Canadians can never forget
that their 18.5 million citizens
are outnumbered ten-to-one
by the population of the
friendly giant below their
border.
They are quick to react to
what they regard as pressure
tactics, proud of any Canad
ian who makes it tough for
the United States in negotiat
ing (proud also of Canadian
baseball players who make
the big leagues, or Canadian
actors who star on Broadway),
insistent that although they
like hamburgers and milk
shakes and old American
movies on television, they are
very different from Ameri
cans - they are Canadian.
But underlying the fric
tions, no matter how angry
relations seem, is a deep
friendship. It is a relationship
the United States shares with
few countries.
The current crisis in U.S.
Canadian relations came
after a long series of squab
bles, not only with the gov
ernment of Prime Minister
John G. Diefenbaker but
'also with the liberal party
governments that preceded
him before 1957.
' Most of the previous dif
ferences were over eco
nomic and trade matters.
But some of the disputes
have involved other mat
ters, and have been serious.
In April. 11)57, the Canadian
ambassador to Egypt com
mitted suicide because, ac
cording to his embassy, the
U.S. Senate Internal Secur
ity Subcommittee had made
public a charge that he had
been a Communist while a
student at Columbia uni
versity in 1938.
Charge Disproved
The Canadian govern
ment said the charge had
long since been disproved,
and the then External Af
fairs Minister Lester B.
Pearson - now Diefenbak
er's opponent in the com
ing election - called the
subcommittee action an "in
tolerable" intervention in
Canadian affairs.
Two months later, Dicfcn
baker's progressive conserv
ative party beat the liberals
in a national election for
the first time in 22 years.
His campaign had strong
undertones of anti-Americanism,
though not the bit
ter strain of resentment
which has appeared in some
countries. Diefenbaker call
ed it "pro-Canadianism."
Diefcnbaker's 1957 election
ramp at. a tilTie when U.S.-
Csnadian relations already
seemed to be heading into one
of their bump periods.
In the next year and a half
differences arose over:
U.S. disposal of agricul
tural surpluses at low prices
and under conditions which
Canada fell damaged its ex
port markets, (president Ei
senhower denied that U.S
special-term sales affected
world prices because he said
the underdeveloped countries
involved could not afford
world prices. But a joint U.S.
Canadian committee was set
up to conduct quarterly
studies of the program).
U S. proposals for quotas
on oil imports. (Canada even
tually won exemption from
quotas.)
U.S. imposition of quotas
on lead and zinc that cut U.S.
imports by one-third. (Eisen
hower delayed a decision for
further study when the tariff
commission first recommend
ed the quotas, but finally put
them into effect.)
Refutes Ford to Sell
U.S. refusal to allow Ford
of Canada, a subsidiary of the
Ford Motor company, to sell
1.000 cars to Communist
China. (The United States
later promised to take Can
adian interests into account,
and (hat same year permitted
a Canadian subsidiary of a
U.S. firm to sell wood pulp
to Red China.)
Canadian wheat sales to
Red China. (They have con
tinued.) The heavy proportion of
U.S. investment in Canada.
(A Canadian study commis
sion reported that in 1955
U.S. interests owned 68 per
cent of the Canadian petrol
eum industry, 51 per cent of
the chemical industry, 45 per
cent of the paper industry and
95 per cent of the automotive
industry. There has not been
much change since.)
Disclosure of the Strate
gic Air Command's "fail safe'
system and of alerts with nuclear-armed
bombers. (Dief
enbaker. assured parliament
that U.S. planes carrying nu
clear weapons did not fly over
Canadian territory except on
special occasions and with spe
cial permission.)
During the same period,
however, cooperation went
along on building the St.
Lawrence seaway connect
ing the Great Lakes with
the Atlantic ocean, and
Canada and the United
States signed the North
American Air Defense
(N'ORAD) agreement, unify
ing their air defense forces
under one command.
President Eisenhower and
his secretary of state, John
Foster Dulles, visited Ot
tawa in July, 1958. As a
result of their talks with
Diefenbaker and his cabi
net a number of joint U.S.
Canadian consultative me
chanisms were created, in
cluding cabinet-level com
mittees on defense and eco
nomic matters.
But another problem
arose. Soon after Fidel
Castro ousted the Fulgcncio
Batista regime in Cuba in
January, 1959, the United
States began to have second
thoughts about where
Castro was leading the Ca
ribbean island.
Canada saw things differ
ently. First Embargo Action
In October, 1960, the
United States took its first
embargo action against
Castro. It was not until De
cember that Diefenbaker
stated a position and it was
not all the United States
had hoped for.
Diefenbaker said Canada
would restrict shipments of
strategic materials to Cuba
and would see that U.S.
goods did not reach Cuba
through Canadian middle
men. But he said otherwise
Canadian trade with Cuba
would continue.
Canadian exports to Cuba
not only continued but
grew, from $13 million in
1960 to $31.1 million in
1961; but they dropped off
sharply last year when.
Cuba ran out of foreign ex
change. President Kennedy was pop
ular in Canada immediately
following his election, and his
goodwill visit to Ottawa in
May, 1961, was just that. This
was So even though Canada
never took up the invitation
he extended to join the Or
ganization of American States.
But by the time Diefen
baker ran for reelection last
spring, he was convinced Ken
nedy wanted to see him de
feated. Canada also was head
ing into the economic crisis
that resulted in devaluation
of the Canadian dollar, emer
gency tariff surcharges, and
the need for SI. 05 billion in
loans and credit arrangements
with the United States, Brit
ain and the International
Monetary Fund.
Downward Relalioni
Relations between the two
countries had begun another
downturn. They hit bottom
Jan. 30.
The Stale Department that
night broke a yearlong
silence and issued a nuclear
policy statement that: (1) flat
ly contradicted statements
Diefenbaker had made in the
House of Commons the week
before, and (2) said U.S. nu
clear, warheads were neces
sary for Canadian missiles
and planes under the NORAD
and NATO pacts.
Nuclear weapons already
were the hottest political issue
in Canada. Pearson had called
on Diefenbaker to fulfill Can
ada's commitments and ac
cept them. Diefenbaker had
coined the phrase "madc-in-Canaria"
policies, and observ
ers expected him to make it
the theme of a new election
soon.
The Slate Department's
policy statement landed in the
center of an already unstable
situation. Dicfcnbakcr's gov
ernment fell six days later.
By issuing its nuclear
policy statement, the United
States completely reversed
its stance toward Canada.
In the past, the Unilcd
States had been silent in
public and politely cautious
in private about disputes
between the two countries.
The United States last
August hinted it would like
to have Canada limit its
sales of softwood lumber
in American markets. Can
ada said no. The United
States demurred.
The United States last
December drew up a new
oil quota program that left
Canada's exemption un
touched, but that hinted the
United States would appre
ciate it if Canada voluntar
ily kept its oil exports with
in a set figure (higher than
ever before). U.S. officials
flew to Ottawa to explain
the program. Whether Can
ada would slay within the
figure was unknown.
Releases Details
Prime Minister Diefen
baker, who was present on
the final day of the Nassau
conference between Presi
dent Kennedy and British
Prime Minister Harold Mac
millan. prematurely releas
ed details of a U.S.-British-Canadian
military aid pro
gram for India. The United
States said not a word.
Even on the nuclear
weapons issue, the United
States was silent until Dief
enbaker revealed that U.S.- '
Canadian nuclear talks had
been going on, and present
ed a defense analysis sug
gesting that the nuclear
warheads were no longer
needed.
U.S. officials felt he had
misrepresented U.S. defense
policy. They felt they had to
get U.S. policy on record. Ap
parently believing a new Can
adian election was coming in
any case, and knowing that
once an election began they
would have to hold silent,
they decided to state the U.S.
views regardless of the in
evitable political reaction In
Canada.
Secretary of State Dean
Rusk, trying to take some of
the bitterness out of the I! S.
Canadian breach Feb. 1, said
the United States regretted
"if our tone was wrong."
Sttod By Facts
But he stood by "the facts
as we understand them"-that
nuclear warheads for Can
ada's BomarcB missiles,
North American defense jet
fighters and NATO forces
were essential to joint de
fense. In an issue less Important
than defense, the United
States might well have kept
silent. But the Cuban crisis
gave continental defense plans
a deadly serious test that was
not passed by all elements.
U.S. officials apparently de
cided that Diefenbaker was
endangering U.S. security by
evading a decision and con
fusing the issues.
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