Canada and the OAS: From Dilettante to Full Partner

287 Pages·1995·13.658 MB·English

by  Peter McKenna

Canada and the OAS
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Canada and the OAS:
From Dilettante to Full Partner
Peter McKenna
Carleton University Press
Copyright © Peter McKenna and Carleton University Press, 1995
Printed and bound in Canada
Canadian Cataloguing in Publications Data
McKenna, Peter, 1961-
Canada and the OAS : from dilettante to full
partner
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-88629-258-1
1. Canada — Foreign relations — Latin America.
2. Latin America — Foreign Relations — Canada
3. Organization of American States I. Title
FC244.07M35 1995 327.7108 C95-900037-2
F1029.M35 1995
Carleton University Press Distributed in Canada by
Carleton University Oxford University Press Canada,
1125 Colonel By Drive 70 Wynford Drive,
Ottawa, Ontario Don Mills, Ontario
K1S 5B6 M3C 1J9
[phone] [phone]
Cover paintings by Annalee Davis. "When Cane Was King" series:
Gold Fingers #1, Cane Arrow #2, Fire #3, At Sea #4. Acrylic, 1993.
Collection of Glenn and Barbara Mclnnes. The Press is grateful to
Dennis Tourbin for helping to locate the work.
Cover concept/execution: Carleton University Press
Interior: Cover to Cover, Ottawa
Carleton University Press gratefully acknowledges the support extended
to its publishing program by the Canada Council and the financial
assistance of the Ontario Arts Council.
The Press would also like to thank the Department of Canadian
Heritage, Government of Canada, and the Government of Ontario
through the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Recreation, for their
assistance.
This book is dedicated to the memory of Mrs. Helen Heron,
unquestionably a woman of incredible strength and courage. While
the road from outline to manuscript has been long, and occasionally
bumpy and dark, memories of her have been an indispensable and
unfailing source of inspiration and light. Even though she endured
tremendous pain and suffering, she still managed to touch those
around her in a very special way. Her heartfelt kindness and genuine
interest in me, even when she was facing the most difficult challenge
of her own life, is something I can never forget. Throughout, my fre-
quent thoughts of her have provided me with a seemingly unending
reservoir of encouragement, determination and comfort. I know in
my heart that she has made the most important contribution to the
completion of this study.
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Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Introduction 1
Canadian Linkages with the Inter-
American Community 4
I The Evolution of Inter-American Institutions 13
The Evolution of Pan-Americanism 14
The Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal
Assistance 23
The Charter of the Organization of
American States 26
The American Treaty on Pacific Settlement 32
Summary 33
II The OAS in Action: A Mixed Record 37
OAS Success Stories 38
OAS Failures 47
Summary 61
III Canada and the Inter-American System, 1890-1968 65
Historical Background: Canada and
the Pan-American Union 66
Canada and the Organization
of American States (OAS) 75
Summary 81
IV Canada-OAS Relations: The Trudeau Years 85
OAS Membership Revisited, 1968 to 1972 86
Canada Remains Aloof from the OAS,
1973 to 1978 92
The OAS File Remains Closed, 1978 to 1984 93
Canada and the OAS: Explaining the Trudeau
Government's Aloofness 95
Summary 101
V OAS Membership: The Actors and the Debates 103
Canada's Political Leadership and the
Issue of OAS Membership 104
OAS Membership: A Sceptical Bureaucracy 109
Canada and the OAS: Viewpoints from
the Sidelines 112
Summary 127
VI Canada Joins the OAS 131
The Political Leadership 133
The Foreign Policy Bureaucracy 136
Major Developments in the Region 142
Summary 143
VII Canada and the OAS: The Early Years 147
Summary 159
Conclusion 163
Postscript 171
Canada-OAS Relations for 1993-1994 172
Explaining Canada's Behaviour
within the OAS 181
Conclusion 187
References 191
Bibliography 257
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book, without question, represents a collaborative and com-
munity effort. It would take several pages to include everyone who
contributed, in some form or another, to the completion of this
manuscript. My family, friends, and colleagues all made valuable
contributions — for which I am most grateful. Through their sup-
port, comments and suggestions, Dan Middlemiss, Bob Boardman,
David Murray, Richard Gorham, Edgar Dosman, Jack Ogelsby, and
David Black have strengthened the intellectual content of the work.
Special thanks are in order for John Kirk, my mentor and good
friend, for believing in me, and this project, from the very begin-
ning. John, saying thank you hardly seems sufficient. May our won-
derful friendship, which I so much value, continue!
Ted Kelly, at the Academic Relations Division within Foreign
Affairs, was instrumental in my archival research—along with
Paulette Dozois at the National Archives in Ottawa. The flow of
information from OAS Affairs in Ottawa and Canada's OAS mission
in Washington should not go unnoticed. In this regard, special
thanks should go to Harold Hickman, John Graham, Karen
MacDonald, and Sarah Fountain. I was also blessed with the sup-
port of Dr. John Flood, and his staff, at Carleton University Press
and the wonderful copy-editing of Ms. Maggie Keith, who certainly
deserves credit for smoothing out many of the rough edges. Lastly, I
would like to express my gratitude to those who supported this pro-
ject financially, especially the Senate Research Committee at Saint
Marys University.