DEFENCE PACT

Grey River Argus, 24 February 1947, Page 2

DEFENCE PACT

U.S. AND CANADA

The Details

OTTAWA, Feb. 15..

The Prime Minister made the following statement in the House of Commons:—

I wish to make a statement which is also being made to-day by the Government of the United States regarding results of discussions which have taken place in Permanent Joint Beard on Defence on the extent to which wartime co-operation between the armed forces of Canada and the United States should be maintained in this post-war period. In the interest of efficiency and economy each Government has decided that its national defence establishment, shall, to (he extent authorised by law, continue to collaborate for peace-time joint security purposes. Collaboration will necessarily be limited and will be based on the following principles:— (1) The inter-change of selected individuals so as to increase familiarity of each country’s defence establishment with that of the other country.

(.2) General co-operation and exchange of observers in connection with exercises and with the development and tests of material of common interest.

(3) The encouragement of common designs and standards in arms, equipment, organisation, methods of training and new developments. (4) Mutual and reciprocal availability of military, naval and air facilities in each country; this principle is to be applied'as may be agreed upon in specific instances. Reciprocally each country will continue to provide with a miiiimum of formality for transit through its territory and its territorial waters of military aircraft and public vessels of the other country.

(5) As an underlying principle all co-operative arrangements will be without impairment of the control of either country over all activities in its territory. While in this as in many other matters of mutual concern there is an identity of view and interest between the" two countries the decision of each has been taken independently in continuation of the practice developed since the establishment of the Permanent Joint Board on Defence in 1940.

“No treaty, executive agreement, or contractual obligation has been entered into. Each country will determine the extent of its practical collaboration in respect of each and all of foregoing principles. Either country may at any time discontinue collaboration on any or all of them. Neither country will take any action inconsistent with the Charter of the United Nations. The Charter remains the corner-stone of the foreign policy of each.

“An important element in the decision of each Government to authorise continued collaboration was the conviction on the part of each that in this way their obligations under the Charter of the United Nations for the maintenance of international peace and security could be fulfilled more effectively. 'Both Governments believe that this decision is a contribution to the stability of the world and to establishment through the United Nations of an effective system of world-wide security. With this in mind each Government has sent a copy of this statement to the Secre-tary-General of the United Nations for circulation to all its members. In August, 1940, when the creation of the board was jointly announced by the late President Roosevelt and Prime Minister King, it was stated that, the board “shall commence immediate studies relating to sea, land and air problems, including personnel and material. It will consider in the broad sense the defence of the northern half of the Western hemisphere.” In discharging this continuing responsibility the board’s work led to the building up of a pattern of close defence co-operation. It has been the task of the Governments to assure that the close security relationship between Canada and the United States in-North Amerjca will in no way impair, but on the contrary will strengthen the co-operation of each country within the broader framework of the United Nations.

There is a persistent rumour for example that the United State Government has asked for bases in the Canadian north. This is a rumour which I should like to deny emphatically. There has been talk of Maginot "lines of large scale defence pro,u ts, all of which is unwarranted and much of it fantastic. What we are trying to do is to view the situation soberly and realistically and undramatically. “It is apparent to anyone who has reflected even casually on the technological advances of recent years that new 'geographic factors have been brought into play. The polar regions assume new importance as shortest routes between North America and the principal centres of populations of the world. In consequence we must think and learn more about these regions. When we think of the defence of Canada we must in addition to looking east and west, as in the past, take the north into consideration as well. Our defence forces must, of course, have experience of conditions in these regions, but it is clear that most of

the things that should be done are required apart from consideration of defence. We must know more about such fundamental facts as topo'graphy and weather. We must improve facilities for flying. We must develop better means of communication. The general economic development of the north will be greatly aided by tests and projects carried out by both civilian and defence services. As the Government views it, our primary objective should "be to expand our knowledge of the north and of conditions necessary fo? life and work there, with the object of developing its resources. "Canada’s northern programme is thus primarily a civilian one to which contributions are made by the armed forces. This has been the pattern for many years, thus the army, years ago, installed and has continued to maintain communication systems in the north-west territories. It is now responsible for administering the Alaska highway, now known as North-west Highway System, extending from Dawson

Creek to the Alaska boundary. The R.C.A.F. has been responsible for taking the aerial photographs to be used in the production of maps and charts. It has also been given the responsibility of administering the airfields of the north-west, staging the route from Edmonton north, which are used for civil aviation. More recently a small winter experimental establishment was set up at Churchill where various tests on clothing, equipment, transport* and so on are being conducted which will be of general benefit to all who live in the north. Since the United States, as well as Canada, recognises the need for greater familiarity with northern conditions we have arranged for its government to participate in the work of this establishment. It may be that other tests and projects will require to be undertaken on a joint basis in order to extend with a maximum of economy and effectiveness our knowledge of the north. Through such extension we will acquire the basis data that is needed to make more accessible the economic resources of the region and which will be valuable for defence purposes as well.