British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was advised that Canadians’ sensitivity “is a fact of life” spurred on by the country’s “ham-fisted neighbour to the south,” in a set of confidential briefing notes prior to her Canadian visit in 1983.
Government files from 30 years ago, released this week by the British National Archives, included two telegrams dated Sept. 1 and Sept. 19, 1983 to No. 10 Downing Street to prepare Thatcher for her visit to Ottawa, Toronto and Edmonton. In them, Canada is described as a country that is “dominated commercially and culturally by the United States, but is inclined to resent this.”
The briefing notes from unnamed diplomatic staff also warn her of Pierre Elliott Trudeau‘s “complex personality,” and his “unsound personal views on east/west problems and strategic balance.” Thatcher was also told that then-prime minister Trudeau’s desire to accompany her on her Canadian tour would “affect the nature” of her stops in Toronto and Edmonton, two provincial capitals of particular interest to the British leader because their premiers were conservatives.
Canadian public opinion of the United Kingdom was not great, the notes explained. “The ordinary Canadian tends to think that Britain has turned her back on Canada and is now only interested in Europe,” but there would be opportunity for Thatcher to contradict this notion in her speeches and TV interviews.
The relationship between Canadian and British armed forces was described as “excellent,” although it had “soured somewhat in recent times through what the Canadians see as excessive charges for training courses and other related items,” wrote the diplomats.
“This may reduce the extent of Canadian training in the UK and thereby our influence but might also result in increased charges for the excellent training facilities that we enjoy in Canada – mostly in Alberta.”
The notes described westerners as “suspicious of everything coming from eastern Canada,” and noted then-premiers Bill Davis of Ontario and Peter Lougheed of Alberta were powerful politicians who could have led the federal Conservative party had they not “cancelled each other out.”
Giving a glimpse into the Brits’ views of Canadians, the first telegram pointed to the opportunity for Thatcher to influence Canadian defence and economic policy, but advised her not to be “too blunt.” Thatcher could be critical of the “inadequate Canadian defence effort, restrictions on British Banks … and Protectionist trade barriers” so long as she was gentle about it. “Canadians are inordinately sensitive,” the note said.
An updated telegram sent weeks later noted that a Korean Airlines flight that had been shot down by the Soviet Union on Sept. 1, 1983 – an attack that shocked many nations – had killed 10 Canadians. The attack on the passenger flight was a reminder of the threat of the USSR, the note said. “Those opponents of the cruise missile who like to represent the Soviets and the Americans as equal threats to peace are finding it harder to sell their message. And many Canadians who have grown used to a low level of defence spending may be readier to think again.”
Thatcher appeared to take this advice. In her speech to the Canadian House of Commons on Sept. 27, 1983, she alluded to the attack on the passenger plane, and said NATO allies need to position themselves against the Soviet Union with force.
“That system was founded and sustained by force. … We have to live with it not as we would wish it to be but as it is. ” she proclaimed. “There must never be an imbalance in any range of armament that leads to the conclusion that aggression against us might succeed,” she said.
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(Link to article on o.canada.com or nationalpost.com)
Fiona Buchanan 