Canada The Unknown Country

“…At the beginning of the campaign, Pearson stood twenty points ahead in the polls, and a majority Liberal government seemed certain. But by election night, Diefenbaker had "snatched a moral victory from the gaping jaws of defeat"; only 250,000 voters had abandoned the Conservatives." It was, nevertheless, sufficient to give the Liberals a minority win. "So Diefenbaker went down, and the nuclear warheads went in." The nuclear weapons remained until Trudeau's government phased them out, the last one in 1984. In the White House Situation Room, officials were jubilant.

“McGeorge Bundy, national security advisor to Kennedy, exuberantly wrote that he had "knocked over the Diefenbaker government." Meeting Pearson after Kennedy's assassination, the new president, Lyndon Johnson, called the Canadian prime minister "my best friend." Before very long, "the best friends" would run into problems over a place called Vietnam.”

“Diefenbaker's resistance to the U.S. military plans for Cuba made the demise of his government a major goal of the Kennedy administration. In January 1963, the U.S. government demanded that Canada equip its recently purchased Bomarc missiles with U.S. nuclear warheads. Diefenbaker hesitated, and on January 30 the U.S. government issued a press release that "brutally assaulted the prime minister for his indecision." Diefenbaker took the unprecedented step of recalling the Canadian ambassador from Washington. Speaking carefully, the prime minister said: "This action on the part of the department of state of the United States is unprecedented, and I weigh my words when I say that it constitutes unjustified interference in Canadian affairs." Washington responded by repeating its demand that Canada acquire nuclear arms.

“…Six of Diefenbaker's Cabinet ministers deserted him, including his defence minister, Douglas Harkness. From south of the border, Newsweek magazine opened the election campaign with a cover story that featured a front-page photo of a demonic-looking Diefenbaker and ridiculed him as a "sick and maniacal" character, guilty of uttering "shrill cries of anti-Americanism."…

“A spellbinding orator, Diefenbaker, the "old lion," barnstormed across the country, virtually alone. The late George Grant, noted conservative nationalist, said afterwards: "The full power of the Canadian ruling class, the American government and the military were brought against him." And Diefenbaker himself would say: "It's me against the Americans... Everybody is against me, everybody but the people." And: "We are a power, not a puppet... I want Canada to be in control of Canadian soil. Now if that's an offence I want the people of Canada to say so.”

“As this campaign closes…the solemn duty confronts us of deciding, very probably for all times, the most momentous question ever submitted to the Canadian electorate... Throughout this Dominion the electorate now understand that they are called upon to determine not a mere question of markets, but the future destiny of Canada…Even upon the economic side the reciprocity compact is but a step in a greater process. On each side of the boundary line its advocates realize perfectly that in its final outcome this treaty undoubtedly means the commercial and fiscal union of Canada with the United States...

“Above all, do not forget that the momentous choice which you must make is for all time. If the tariffs of the two countries are interlocked by this treaty be assured that the stronger party will always carry the key. I believe that we are in truth standing today at the parting of the ways. This compact made in secret and without mandate, points indeed to a new path. We must decide whether the spirit of Canadianism or of Continentalism shall prevail on the northern half of this continent.”

“In the House of Commons, Sifton gave his reasons. First, he said, the government had no mandate from the people for such a radical change of policy. Next, some industries would be destroyed. What reason could there be for selecting certain industries which have not committed any crime and wiping them out of existence? The United States would control the grain and livestock trade of western Canada. "The best years of my life," Sifton said, "were given to the settlement of that country, and I cannot tell you how I feel about that great country being made a backyard to the city of Chicago."

Instead of binding the scattered provinces together, free trade would bind each province to the states south of it. Sifton could see "no possible answer" to George Foster's argument. To him it was perfectly clear that every day Canadians adapt to U.S. markets, and "adapt all our arrangements to catering to those markets strengthens the grip of the United States upon Canada." If the treaty went into effect, there would never again be a revision of Canadian tariffs "in which United States interests, United States lobbyists, and United States pressure will not be brought to bear on this parliament."

"If ever a government got it wrong on a subject from first to last," Sifton insisted, "my honourable friends have got it wrong on this subject. Sir, I would not break away from the political party with which I have acted for 23 years, practically all my life, if I were not in earnest about it."

Sifton asserted that the one thing Canadians must do is be independent of the Americans; reciprocity was the opposite of that policy. It turns Canada "towards the path that leads to Washington. I say, so far as I am concerned: Not for me."

“It may surprise some members of this House to see that I am so much in earnest about the future of Canada in connection with the railway question…Well, it is not my habit to conceal my sentiments. I am as strongly opposed to American annexation as I am to British Imperialism. I am as strongly opposed to seeing the interests of this country merged in the interests of the American Republic, as I am opposed to seeing our interests merged in the Pan-Britannic scheme. Canada is big enough for me; Canada is good enough for me, and I want Canada for the Canadian people. Whatever may be our opinion otherwise, that is the policy that must predominate in this country if we do our duty to the Canadian people.

“The time has come when the whole people of Canada should give their attention to this problem. What is the solution? I do not know. Surely it is worth while studying the problem. Surely it is worth while finding if there be a solution. All the European countries have given their attention to this same problem…”