840.20/7–1949
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Chief of the Division of British Commonwealth Affairs (Snow)
| Participants: | The Canadian Ambassador, Mr. Hume Wrong |
| EUR—Mr. Achilles | |
| BC—Mr. Snow |
Subject: Canada’s Position in Regard to Military Assistance and Mutual Aid under Article III of the Atlantic Pact
The Canadian Ambassador came to the Department at his request to discuss the foregoing matter with Mr. Achilles and Mr. Snow. He said that on July 12 Mr. Snow had informally approached him again with regard to Canada’s possible contribution and with particular regard to what might be said in congressional testimony in support of the Military Assistance Program. The Ambassador had agreed to refer the question to Ottawa. This had been done and he was now under instruction to reply essentially as follows:
Canada fully recognized its obligation under Article III of the Atlantic Pact. In fact, it did not agree with some of the proponents of the Pact who had been testifying in the Senate debate to the effect that the Pact and the Military Assistance Program were fully separate and distinct. The Canadian feeling was that, while one did not automatically [Page 312] follow from the other, they were rather obviously related. In spite of this interpretation, however, the Canadian Government did not propose to announce any parallel program of interim aid at this time. It did not feel in a position to make commitments of this nature, at least until the Atlantic Pact had been ratified, the machinery under it set up, some form of over-all military plan put in shape and an allocation of responsibilities arrived at under such a plan. It was not seen by the Canadians how military aid could be intelligently distributed until that stage in the process had been reached.
Another point was that the U.S. program was at least in some measure based upon wider commitments than those embodied in the Atlantic Pact concept, as evidenced by public announcements of this Government over the past several years. In other words, the U.S. interim aid program would probably have had to be brought forward in consequence of these commitments without regard to the Pact. Canada had assumed no such commitments.
A further point was that the United States had relatively large stocks and supplies of military equipment upon which to draw in providing aid. Canada, on the other hand, had scarcely any such stocks.
In summary, the Canadian Government did not feel that it could come forward with any parallel program of military aid at this time and would not be in a position to agree to any testimony before the U.S. Congress which would do other than refer to Canada’s acknowledgement in general of its obligation under Article III, its past record and its general reputation among nations. Mr. Snow pointed out that while it was true that the United States was planning aid for areas outside of the Atlantic Pact community, it was not doing so solely for its own benefit and that not only did Canada stand to gain by the implementation of such obligations but had shown a full comprehension of the necessity of bolstering up various areas in the world against Soviet Communist pressure. It could likewise be said that, although Canada might not have as large a reservoir of military materiel as the United States, certain other western countries who were in a somewhat similar position as Canada were willing to consider the contribution of raw materials and other non-finished products to the common endeavor. The Ambassador was apparently not in a position to comment upon these remarks. He had said at the beginning of the conversation that his instructions were derived from a conference between the Under Secretary for External Affairs and the Secretary for External Affairs, which is to say that they came from the Cabinet level, although not as a result of a full Cabinet meeting.
[Page 313]One other consideration mentioned by the Ambassador was the statement given in his Embassy’s Aide-Mémoire of June 3, 1949,1 to the effect that the policy of the Canadian Government was to pay for the military equipment and supplies it obtained from the United States. He emphasized this in making the point that, while Canada was not at present willing to make a direct contribution parallel to the MAP, it should be recognized that Canada was not seeking any grants-in-aid, as virtually all other countries were.
- Not printed.↩