Canadian, French Leaders Have Disputes To Mend

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30342, 18 January 1964, Page 17

Canadian, French Leaders Have Disputes To Mend

[N.Z.P.A. Special Correspondent, MELVIN SUFRIN.} TORONTO, January 14. More than ordinary significance is attached to the Canadian Prime Minister’s visit to .Paris this week, chiefly because there is a longer than ordinary list of disagreements between Canada and France.

Although Mr Pearson is unlikely to get much beyond generalities in his talks with President de Gaulle and the Prime Minister (Mr Pompidou) there is some reason for hoping that irritations on both sides will at least be put in perspective.

Mr Pearson, whose years of diplomatic experience particularly equip him for this sort of personal discussion, will talk with President de Gaulle on Wednesday and give a dinner for Mr Pompidou on Thursday. The Canadian External Affairs Minister (Mr Paul Martin) will have discussions with his opposite number, Mr Couve de Murville. The Canadian leaders will attend a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation council meeting and visit the Royal Canadian Air Force station at Marville on Friday and place wreaths at the Vimy Ridge and Dieppe memorials on Saturday before leaving for heme. Mr Pearson’s visit to Marville touches on one of the reasons why Canada is rather unhappy with France these days. Because of President de Gaulle’s refusal to permit nuclear warheads to be stored on French soil, the eight Canadian Starfighter jet

squadrons may be forced into a costly move to West Germany.

Government appears to be following two policies on foreign investment, apparently encouraging it on the one hand and yet imposing taxation that discourages it on the other. French Car Firms Mr Pearson can expect to be questioned closely on where he stands and his answers may determine whether such French automobile firms as Renault and Peugeot set up operations in Canada. There is also a good chance that Mr Pearson will be confronted with evidence that Canada has placed orders in Britain or the United States for products that France believes it could have supplied competitively both on quality and price. This is causing concern in Paris since trade between the two countries appears to running in Canada’s favour after a period of relative equality. France bought 33,481,736 dollars’ worth of goods from Canada and sold only 24,711,942 dollars worth during the first six months of this year. Along with all these irritations, however, there are some fields of understanding. Under the impetus of the Government of French-speak-ing Quebec Province, there has been a revival of cultural exchanges between the two nations.

Canada has made no effort to hide its distaste for France’s insistence on having its own nuclear force. And it is also concerned about the effects of French agricultural policies, particularly the danger to Canada’s wheat markets from France's ambition to become the breadbasket of the European Economic Community. It is risky to try ascertaining the relative weight of annoyances on either side but an impartial view suggests France is perhaps more aggrieved than Canada. Caravelle Dispute Paris was deeply hurt when Mr Gordon McGregor, president of the Governmentowned Trans Canada Airlines, made derogatory remarks about the French Caravelle jet during an appearance before a House of Commons committee in Ottawa last month. Explaining why T.C.A. had chosen the American-designed DC9 as its new jet, Mr McGregor said the Caravelle was “no great shakes.” It had been involved in 10 crashes in recent years, he said, and although it turned out that most of these were minor incidents, Mr McGregor refused to back down in the face of criticism from General Andre Puget, president of the Sud-Aviatibn Company. Another thing that bothers France is that the Canadian

Nuclear Power A new plan for student exchanges is expected to be signed this week, and there may be new efforts to get together on commercial nuclear energy. French experts have been concentrating on enricheduranium reactors but Canadian success with heavy water has prompted them to take a second look. There would be some sort of deal, such as one recently signed with Britain, whereby the French will acquire Canadian information in this field. Still another possible benefit of Mr Pearson’s visit is that he may be able to promote further understanding between France and the United States. Efforts to arrange a meeting in the near future between President de Gaulle and President Johnson have stalled, but Mr Pearson may be able to inform the American leader on President de Gaulle’s thinking when he visits Washington next week.