Fascinating! Makes me think back to the age of 4 when I learned that we needed to be grateful to Americans because, as Canadian military families living in impoverished French villages in the early ‘50s during the Cold War, they provided our fresh milk and other basic needs. There’s always a price, isn’t there, for aligning with others’ interests… the cancellation of the Avro Arrow, for example.
A fascinating read. It appears to explain, in part, Carney's clever strategy in managing the fraught relationship with an unpredictable and unstable neighbour who is ten times our size! Thank you!
I am certain this informs PM Carney’s strategic thinking. ( And if 10:1 was the balance of power in Pearson’s time , consider now the complication of mad kings ! )
This is a remarkably grounded piece—measured, archival, and quietly unsettling. The idea that Canada’s foreign-policy “toolkit” was recalibrated so early, and then effectively hidden from public memory, really lands.
I also appreciate how this avoids nostalgia or easy moralizing. It treats discretion not as weakness, but as a hard-earned survival skill—one that still shapes our choices today.
Excellent work. This feels like the kind of history that explains the present without announcing itself.
Fascinating! Makes me think back to the age of 4 when I learned that we needed to be grateful to Americans because, as Canadian military families living in impoverished French villages in the early ‘50s during the Cold War, they provided our fresh milk and other basic needs. There’s always a price, isn’t there, for aligning with others’ interests… the cancellation of the Avro Arrow, for example.
This is a great read. Thanks for posting.
It appears PM Carney understands this delicate balance
A fascinating read. It appears to explain, in part, Carney's clever strategy in managing the fraught relationship with an unpredictable and unstable neighbour who is ten times our size! Thank you!
I have downloaded
https://publications.gc.ca/Collection/E2-241-2001.pdf
for an insomnia-filled bedtime read!
I am certain this informs PM Carney’s strategic thinking. ( And if 10:1 was the balance of power in Pearson’s time , consider now the complication of mad kings ! )
This is a remarkably grounded piece—measured, archival, and quietly unsettling. The idea that Canada’s foreign-policy “toolkit” was recalibrated so early, and then effectively hidden from public memory, really lands.
I also appreciate how this avoids nostalgia or easy moralizing. It treats discretion not as weakness, but as a hard-earned survival skill—one that still shapes our choices today.
Excellent work. This feels like the kind of history that explains the present without announcing itself.
Love this. Wish my friend Greg Donaghy were still alive. Do you have a link to the grad student conference, or just the location?
This is a link to the paper: https://publications.gc.ca/Collection/E2-241-2001.pdf