Canada Foreign Policy
Sunday, April 18, 2004
  Canada Invades Norway


On 14 April 2004 Paul Martin said that Canada had invaded Norway, and in doing so contributed to safeguarding freedom and democracy. The Prime Minister made the claim not once, but at least twice. Of course what he meant to say, but didn’t, was that Canada had invaded NORMANDY, his comments honouring all those who participated in the D-Day landing on 6 June 1944.

Any conspiracy theorist, including the novice, must subscribe to at least two basic, immutable beliefs. First, there is the assumption that no political leader says or does anything by accident, no matter how seemingly absurd the actions or speeches may appear on the surface. Second, one must be of the opinion that ranking politicians come in one of three broad types: they may be geniuses, skilled at manipulation; buffoons, operating at all times as the objects of behind-the-scenes puppet masters; or, they may be survivalists, simply clinging to their tenures and luxuries afforded by public office because they are more than willing to take orders issued by more powerful individuals or shadowy secret societies.

Martin’s supporters explain that the leader of the Liberal Party and PM is more than merely one of the most knowledgeable public figures the country has ever had. They say his politics, including if not especially his foreign policy, will mark a departure from the way business as usual has been conducted. So far, what little fanfare there has been, points to nothing earthshaking. Yet if one were to sift through the shards, one might be left with the impression that indeed significant developments are in the offing.

It is through an examination of the historical record that a big picture starts to emerge. Go back to the early days of the post-Second World War era. To be more precise, it was on 9 September 1945 that a clerk, Igor Gouzenko, walked out of the Soviet embassy in Ottawa with over a hundred sensitive documents stuffed in his clothing and defected. This event, which came to be known as the Gouzenko Affair, not only provided proof that communist agents succeeded in infiltrating the Canadian armed forces and government, but stands as the moment to which one may pinpoint the start of the Cold War. It happened on Canadian soil.

Some years later, in 1973, then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau became the first Western leader to penetrate the Bamboo Curtain. Trudeau, his admirers say, was a visionary. He had long contended that China ought to be recognized as a major international player. And while a famous 1952 remark at a Moscow economic summit about being a communist may have just been a joke taken out of context, it proved the man who would be PM a decade and a half later was not paranoid and didn’t have Bolsheviks on the brain. While US President Richard Nixon may be the one most remembered for opening the West to relations with Beijing, it took a Canadian to prove to Washington the path to the Chinese capitol could be traveled without apprehension, or so goes the argument.

Fast forward to the present, and we just may be witnessing events unfolding that will become as profound as the Gouzenko Affair or Trudeau’s China trek. On 17 April 2004 the Dalai Lama arrived in Vancouver for a 19-day Canada-wide visit. Already Prime Minister Martin has gone on record saying he is looking forward to speaking with the spiritual leader. When they do meet, the encounter will mark a quiet but momentous departure from past practices. Previous PMs, notably Tory leader Brian Mulroney and Martin’s Liberal predecessor, Jean Chretien, have refused to even consider meetings while holding office, noting that to do so would run the risk of straining relations with Beijing, which regards the Dalai Lama as the leading representative of the Tibetan separatist movement.

Is Canada, through Prime Minister Martin’s leadership, once more setting itself up as the barometer of international public opinion? And so what was that about Norway?



Stan Markotich

Submit comments to stanmarkotich@yahoo.com
 


<< Home
A discussion of geopolitics and Canada's role in the world. A series of essays to examine the components of Canadian foreign policy making. Psychological, sociological, historical, and cultural variables impacting Canada's perceptions of the world.

ARCHIVES
03/01/2004 - 04/01/2004 / 04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004 / 05/01/2004 - 06/01/2004 / 06/01/2004 - 07/01/2004 / 07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004 / 08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004 / 09/01/2004 - 10/01/2004 / 10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004 / 11/01/2004 - 12/01/2004 / 12/01/2004 - 01/01/2005 / 01/01/2005 - 02/01/2005 / 02/01/2005 - 03/01/2005 / 03/01/2005 - 04/01/2005 / 04/01/2005 - 05/01/2005 / 05/01/2005 - 06/01/2005 / 06/01/2005 - 07/01/2005 / 07/01/2005 - 08/01/2005 / 08/01/2005 - 09/01/2005 / 09/01/2005 - 10/01/2005 / 10/01/2005 - 11/01/2005 / 11/01/2005 - 12/01/2005 / 12/01/2005 - 01/01/2006 / 01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006 / 02/01/2006 - 03/01/2006 / 03/01/2006 - 04/01/2006 / 04/01/2006 - 05/01/2006 / 05/01/2006 - 06/01/2006 / 06/01/2006 - 07/01/2006 / 07/01/2006 - 08/01/2006 / 08/01/2006 - 09/01/2006 / 09/01/2006 - 10/01/2006 / 10/01/2006 - 11/01/2006 / 11/01/2006 - 12/01/2006 / 12/01/2006 - 01/01/2007 / 01/01/2007 - 02/01/2007 / 02/01/2007 - 03/01/2007 / 03/01/2007 - 04/01/2007 / 04/01/2007 - 05/01/2007 / 05/01/2007 - 06/01/2007 / 06/01/2007 - 07/01/2007 / 07/01/2007 - 08/01/2007 / 08/01/2007 - 09/01/2007 / 09/01/2007 - 10/01/2007 / 10/01/2007 - 11/01/2007 /

Listed on BlogsCanada