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Taydon Sinopoli
Mr. C Chubb
Social Studies 11
February 7, 2017

Canadian Foreign Policy and the Cold War

Following Nazi Germanys invasion of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in June of

1941, the United States (U.S.) extended assistance to the USSR through its Lend-Lease Act. For a little

under four years, from 1941 to 1951, the USSR and the United States were allies, but the defeat of the

Axis powers left the two imperiums astride the continent of Europe and in proximity in Asia. With

Stalins takeover of Eastern Europe, the wartime alliance between the United States and the Soviet Union

ended, and in the countries that the Red Army liberated, communist-dominated governments took

power. Out of this grew a confrontation that quickly developed into the cold war. After the defection of

the Soviet embassy cipher officer Igor Gouzenko and revelation regarding major Soviet spys throughout

Canada, the nation was unexpectedly forced into the Cold War. Being geographically caught between the

two superpowers, Canada played an essential role in the major alliances. Although an ally of the U.S.,

Canada had concerted efforts to separate elements of their foreign policy to that of Americas. Still, in

incidents such as the Korean War and the North American Air Defence (NORAD) agreement, Canada

capitulated to the harsh requests of the United States. Moreover, caught between the U.S. and USSR

fighting for ultimate supremacy, Canada was abruptly thrust into the Cold War, where for the next 45

years they would be puppets of the United States.

Just three weeks after Japans surrender and World War Two coming to a close, a Soviet Assembly

member, Igor Gouzenko defected; revealing the Soviet Unions espionage operations within Canada,

unexpectedly thrusting them into the Cold War. Far from public notice, on September 5, 1945, Igor

Gouzenko, an obscure cipher officer, fled the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa with a hundred or so documents

incriminating the USSR in organizing a Canadian spy ring.1 At one point, Prime Minister Mackenzie

King contemplated using the information to bring pressure to bear on the Soviets to change

1
Reginald Whitaker, and Steve Hewitt. Canada and the Cold War. (Toronto: Lorimer, 2003), 16
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Taydon Sinopoli
Mr. C Chubb
Social Studies 11
February 7, 2017

their ways, but was persuaded not to peruse such a quixotic initiative.2 A diplomatic incident between

Canada and the USSR could upset the very negotiations that held the key to future peace between the

nations.3 In consultation with the Americans, a decision was made not to open legal charges, but rather

detain suspects and bring them secretly before a commission of inquiry.4 On February 15, 1946, the news

became public as in Washington, columnist Drew Pearson reported that Canadians had taken in a Soviet

agent who then broke down under questioning and revealed the names of 1700 agents operating in the

U.S. and Canada.5 With the news breaking international headlines, the scandal had demonstrated that

the wartime friendship between the soviets and the West was over, and that indeed Moscows war against

the capitalist democracies had not been put on hold during their struggle against Hitler. The Gouzenko

case had not only demonstrated that Canada was a key nation worth spying upon for nuclear and scientific

secrets, as well as for details on British and American policy, but the case had altered the attitudes of

Canadians and manipulated to point to a Communist and Soviet threat.6 Moreover, the Gouzenko case

was inextricably connected to Kings (and Canadas) participation in the failed diplomacy that marked the

beginning of the cold war.7

Subsequently, with Communist forces overrunning the pro-Western Republic of Korea in the

Korean War, the United States was struggling to stem the Communist tide and thus pushed hard for

military commitments for the Western allies, including reluctant nations such as Canada. In other words,

on June 25, 1950, the armed forces of North Korea advanced across the 38th parallel that divided the

Communist Peoples Republic to the north, and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the South, which

2
Whitake, Canada and the Cold War, 16
3
Reginald Whitaker, and Gary Marcuse. Cold War Canada: The Making of a National Insecurity State, 1945-1957
(Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994), 29
4
Whitake, Canada and the Cold War, 18
5
Whitaker, Marcuse. Cold War Canada, 31
6
Jack Granatstein, "Gouzenko to Gorbachev: Canadas Cold War," National Defence and the Canadian Forces,
http://www.journal.forces.gc.ca/vol12/no1/41-granatstein-eng.asp.
7
Whitaker, Marcuse. Cold War Canada, 33
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Taydon Sinopoli
Mr. C Chubb
Social Studies 11
February 7, 2017

consequently was overrun by the Communist forces.8 In response, the United Nations Security Council

voted for military assistance to the beleaguered South; where the American armed forces failed to defeat

the Communist armys while adhering to the basic structure of Western anti-communist praxis.9

At the same time, the conflict, by transforming the East-West clash from cold to hot war, served
to crystallize what had previously been relatively hazy understanding of the implications of
containment: before Korea, the confrontational anti-communist posture adopted by the United
States after the Second World War had not translated into an engagement with the communist
enemy on the battlefield: Canada, having refused to participate in the 1948-1949 Berlin airlift,
stood at even greater remove from any tangible proof of its commitment to American Cold War
strategy.10
Yet despite Canadas previous non-committal actions, in the face of this desperate situation, the American

government pushed for support from Western allies, including Canada.11 Stretched thin following post-

war demobilization, Canada was reluctant to commit troops to a faraway conflict in Asia, but came under

relentless U.S. pressure, abetted by the united Nations Secretary General.12 In less than a month, Canada

gave way the mounting tension supplied by the United Sates. Likewise, towards the end of the Korean

War, Communist prisoners were carrying out a violent uprising at a UN prisoner-of-war camp on the

island of Koje. The Americans, without seeking official Canadian consent, dispatched Canadian troops to

help quell the revolt.13 Angered at not being consulted regarding the matter, Prime Minister Lester

Pearson and Canadian officials made concerted efforts to separate elements of their foreign policy from

that of the United States and construct an image as both an international mediator and a partner.14

Nevertheless, this declaration would be trialed in the following years to come as the threat of a nuclear

attack from the USSR grew.

8
Whitake, Canada and the Cold War, 68
9
Robert Teigrob, Warming up to the Cold War: Canada and the United States,' Coalition of the Willing, from
Hiroshima to Korea. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009), 169
10
Teigrob, Warming up to the Cold War, 169
11
Whitake, Canada and the Cold War, 69
12
Whitake, Canada and the Cold War, 69
13
Whitake, Canada and the Cold War, 71
14
Teigrob, Warming up to the Cold War, 170
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Taydon Sinopoli
Mr. C Chubb
Social Studies 11
February 7, 2017

Furthermore, the disintegration of alliances between the western and eastern nations, in addition to

the unprincipled use of the veto [which] paralyzed the United Nations, was just the beginning of the

changing international relations of the world, as Canadas own foreign policy was beginning to evolve.15

With the threat of the USSR attacking from the northern arctic, the new Progressive Conservative Prime

Minster John Diefenbaker; a militantly anti-Communist, announced on Augu` st 1, 1957, that for the

first time Canada and the United States had formed a new integrated operational control of air

defence forces,16 setting the stage for a relationship with a deeper subtext. Traditionally, Canada

tended to be isolationistic in their approach to external relations, described as containing a lingering

colonial mentality.17

Canada's foreign policy of the time was heavily influenced by close allies, such as Britain and
more importantly the United States. As international events transpired and the Cold War
continued to divide nations, it became apparent Canada must consider her relations with the U.S.,
and the outcomes if a war were to ever become a reality. Canada's geographical proximity to the
U.S. also motivated the signing of the Ogdensburg Agreement 6, and later the North American
Air Defence (NORAD) Command agreement; due to the idea that if a war were to ever be fought
between the Soviet Union and the United States, Canada would be devastated.18

In other words in 1957-1958, Canada and the U.S. created the NORAD to combine and coordinate their

air defences against Soviet bombers with nuclear payloads. Although never publicly debated, the

agreement marked the beginning of a much closer relationship between the two countries.

There was a much deeper subtext, however, to the new relationship. It had been initiated at the
request of the United States, and in their meeting, Roosevelt had pressed King to allow American
bases in Canada. As such, the summit represented the shape of things to come in the new Cold
War. Thus the United States, now viewing Canada as a potential battleground or at least a transit
route for Soviet bombers on their way to drop their payload on American cities, began to clamour
for an even tighter defence arrangement.19

15
Brian J. Bow, and Patrick Lennox. An Independent Foreign Policy for Canada?: Challenges and Choices for the
Future, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008), 63
16
Whitake, Canada and the Cold War, 129
17
Bow, Lennox. An Independent Foreign Policy for Canada?, 63
18
Curtis Matwychuk-Goodman,"The Shaping of Canadian Foreign Policy: 1945-1957, Lethbridge Undergraduate
Research Journal, https://lurj.org/issues/volume-4-number-1/foreign
19
Whitake, Canada and the Cold War, 130
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Taydon Sinopoli
Mr. C Chubb
Social Studies 11
February 7, 2017

Within a short amount of time, Diefenbakers government gave permission for the U.S. to utilize nuclear-

equipped missiles to shoot down Soviet planes over Canada. 20 But for the U.S. Airforce, this joint

planning was not enough since it still provided Canada, at least in theory, with the freedom to say no.21

With the United States encroaching on Canada, Canadian officials had expressed concern about

infringements on sovereignty, but none the less the U.S. was gaining continual military authority in

Canada and turning the nation into its pawn.

With the defection of Soviet Igor Gouzenko and the revelation of Soviet espionage, Canada was

thrust into the position of a pivotal nation in the Cold War. Being geographically centered between the

United States and the USSR; the two superpowers fighting for ultimate supremacy, Canada was faced

with not just a war abroad, but rather one on its homeland territory. Influenced by the United States,

through the Korean War and the North American Air Defence agreement, Canada attempted to separate

its foreign policy from that of Americas, while trying to construct an image as an international mediator.

But rather, for the 45-year span of the Cold War, Canada was a puppet of the preeminent United States; a

nation fighting for ultimate sovereignty.

20
Whitake, Canada and the Cold War, 130
21
Whitake, Canada and the Cold War, 131
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Taydon Sinopoli
Mr. C Chubb
Social Studies 11
February 7, 2017

Bibliography

Bow, Brian J., and Patrick Lennox. An Independent Foreign Policy for Canada?: Challenges and
Choices for the Future. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008.

Granatstein, Jack. "Gouzenko to Gorbachev: Canadas Cold War." National Defence and the Canadian
Forces. Accessed February 3, 2017. http://www.journal.forces.gc.ca/vol12/no1/41-granatstein-
eng.asp.

Matwychuk-Goodman, Curtis. "The Shaping of Canadian Foreign Policy: 1945-1957." Lethbridge

Undergraduate Research Journal. https://lurj.org/issues/volume-4-number-1/foreign.

Teigrob, Robert. Warming up to the Cold War: Canada and the United States' Coalition of the Willing,
from Hiroshima to Korea. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009.

Whitaker, Reginald, and Steve Hewitt. Canada and the Cold War. Toronto: Lorimer, 2003.

Whitaker, Reginald, and Gary Marcuse. Cold War Canada: The Making of a National Insecurity State,
1945-1957. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994.