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The Ambassador in Canada (Woodward) to the Secretary of State

restricted
air priority
No. 1325

Subject: “Canadian Foreign Policy in a Two-Power World.”

A major policy address was given by External Affairs Minister L. B. Pearson1 to a joint meeting of the Canadian and Empire Clubs [Page 883] in Toronto on April 10. The full text of an advance copy of the speech is herewith enclosed.2

The speech should be read in entirety as it is a rather disjointed exposition of present Canadian foreign policy with particular emphasis on United States—Canada relations. It is expected that this aspect of the speech will receive the greatest attention in the press and radio and it is probably true that such attention will concentrate on direct statements rather than on qualifying phrases or on those sections which praise United States leadership.

A local newspaper, the Ottawa Journal, headlines its article: “Free and Easy U.S-Canadian Day is Done—Pearson lays down Ottawa’s ‘Declaration of Independence’ “. The headline is based on the following statement in the address: “The days of relatively easy and automatic political relations with our neighbor are, I think over.” This may be taken as indicative of the manner in which press and radio will handle the speech.

That section of the address pertaining to U.S.-Canada relations is not critical of the United States Government but of attitudes which Mr. Pearson senses as current in some quarters in the United States. He feels that Americans are too quick to criticize Canada, and he seeks to refute the grounds on which these charges are laid.

For the Ambassador:
L. Dean Brown

Second Secretary of Embassy
  1. Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs Lester B. Pearson.
  2. Not printed.