113. Message From President Ford to French President Giscard 1
WH52077. I should like to acknowledge your message of today concerning the forthcoming summit meeting.2 I regret that you continue to oppose Canadian participation, the more so because it is supported by all our other colleagues. I remain convinced that the summit as it has evolved through the joint efforts and as a common enterprise of all the parties involved should as a matter of political and economic logic and fairness include Canada. No other country or international body could possibly have a similar claim. I must tell you in all candor that while I have agreed to come to this meeting and genuinely look forward to our forthcoming deliberations, it is difficult for me, in the circumstances that have arisen, to contemplate future gatherings of this kind.
Yours sincerely,
- Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, Kissinger–Scowcroft West Wing Office Files, Box 12, France—General (3) (10/5/75–11/3/75). Top Secret; Priority. Although sent on November 3, the response is dated November 1.↩
- In an October 31 message to President Ford, President Giscard objected to Canadian participation on several grounds: the importance of keeping the summit “as informal and restricted as possible”; the possibility that allowing Canadian participation would lead other countries and international organizations to lobby for inclusion; and the fact that Canada, as an exporter of energy and raw materials, had not been as “profoundly affected by the recent economic crisis” as had the summit participants, all importers of energy and raw materials. (Ibid., NSC International Economic Affairs Staff Files, Box 4, Presidential Subject File, Economic Summits—Rambouillet (4))↩