No middle way
CANADA MORAG ALEXANDER
Ontario—Mr Trudeau's decision not to pull Canada out of NATO, but merely to bring some Canadian troops home from Europe instead, is another sign that his early hopes of a `middle power' status for Canada are fading. The Defence and External Affairs Committee had in fact recommended that Canada should remain in NATO and maintain her military commitment in Europe. Mr Trudeau felt able to do no more than water down the lesser of these two propositions.
The news will have been welcome in Wash- ington. The decision follows not long after Mr Trudeau's visit there for his first meeting with President Nixon—a meeting which took place in a difficult atmosphere but which has ended with Canadian-us relations established on a more cordial basis than they have been for years. At the time it seemed that the two leaders could not have arranged more strained circum- stances for their talks if they had tried. The previous week the us had announced the decision to establish the new 'Safeguard' ABM system with bases at Grand Forks in North Dakota and the Malstrom air force base in Montana—both close to the Canadian border. The Canadian government was informed about the us decision before the official announce- ment was made, but there was no consultation.
us Defence Secretary Melvin Laird, in answer to Senator Fulbright's remark that Canada was being told to 'like it or lump it,' claimed that Canada had no right to expect consultation. Canada had been completely briefed on the 'Sentinel' system, he said (though Trudeau denies this), which would have put ABMS round fifteen us cities; and Laird feels that moving the ABMS from the cities to the air force bases will not change the system greatly. The Nixon administration claims that "there would be no fall-out over Canadian soil and no other dam- age to people or property. The us Senate Foreign Relations Committee is highly sceptical about this claim, as they have every right to be since similar claims by previous administrations have proved false in the past. The committee is also far from convinced about the military need for the new system, especially since the only expert advice the administration sought was from the Pentagon.
Against this background, then, the two leaders met in Washington. Mr Trudeau's initial reac- tion to the announcement . by the us was cautious : obviously, no Canadian Prime Minis- ter is in any position to do much to change a Washington decision. He did say, however, that the Canadian government was prepared to sacrifice additional proteCtion for Canadian cities in the interest of a policy designed to prevent a global nuclear conflict; he did not say whether he thought the us policy was such a policy. Canada would be forced to condemn any course of action which would be likely to lead to an escalation of the arms race, he said, but his government would need to examine the implications of the Safeguard system more fully before coming to any decision.
In Washington, Trudeau was given the Nixon treatment: at the first Nixon White House dinner, there was everything from lowbrow conversation to lowbrow entertainment. Yet although the two leaders are poles apart in
terms of interests and intellect, they got along very well together. Nixon was sympathetic to Canada's representations regarding wheat sales and a continental oil policy. No one in the us seems to be very disturbed about Canada's attempt to .establish diplomatic relations with Peking, least of all Mr Nixon, so there was no conflict on this point. Trudeau said again that Canada would like to join the OAS if she feels she can play a worthwhile role in that organisa- tion. But there is concern in Canada about the implications of the Safeguard system, and, when Trudeau made this clear to the President, he was treated to a full series of briefings.
So relations with the us are now closer than for a long time. John Diefenbaker and President Kennedy couldn't even get on the same wavelength, and LW was enraged over Lester Pearson's condemnation of the bombing of North Vietnam. Trudeau made a real impact on the American press, who were impressed by his candour and sense of humour. It may be difficult to see how Canada will be able to accept, with easy conscience, what must be seen as an escalation of the arms race. But though the old Trudeau promised he would condemn the escalation, I somehow don't see the new Trudeau doing go.
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