Canada as a Middle Power: Suez, Peacekeeping and Hard Choices

Not a superpower, but not powerless

After 1945, Canada had one of the largest navies and air forces in the world and an economy that had not been bombed. It was nowhere near as powerful as the United States or the Soviet Union, but it was not small either. Canadian leaders described Canada as a middle power: a country that could not get its way by force, but could have real influence through cooperation, diplomacy and international organizations.

The years from about 1945 to 1957 are sometimes called the "golden age" of Canadian diplomacy. Canadian diplomats helped create the United Nations (1945) and NATO, and they built a reputation as helpful, fair-minded problem-solvers. In this lesson you will judge whether that reputation was earned.

The Suez Crisis, 1956

The Suez Canal in Egypt links the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Britain and France had controlled the company that ran it. In July 1956, Egypt's president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, nationalized the canal (took it over for Egypt). In October and November 1956, Israel, Britain and France attacked Egypt. The Soviet Union threatened to get involved, and the U.S. was angry with its own allies. A small war could have grown into a much bigger one.

Canada's Secretary of State for External Affairs, Lester B. Pearson, proposed a solution at the UN: a United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) that would stand between the armies while the invaders withdrew. The UN agreed. UNEF was commanded by a Canadian, General E. L. M. Burns, and Canada sent troops. In 1957 Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize, the first Canadian to do so.

Two perspectives inside Canada: many Canadians were proud. Others, especially people with strong ties to Britain, were upset that Canada had not supported Britain. The Conservatives under John Diefenbaker criticized the government, and they won the 1957 election.

Peacekeeping becomes part of Canada's identity

After Suez, Canadians served in many UN missions, for example in the Congo (1960–1964) and in Cyprus, where Canadian peacekeepers served from 1964 to 1993. Peacekeeping meant monitoring ceasefires, patrolling buffer zones and building trust. It was dangerous work: Canadian peacekeepers have died on missions.

Peacekeeping became a source of national pride and part of how many Canadians saw their country. Historians also point out that Canada spent far more on its NATO forces in Europe than on peacekeeping, and that peacekeeping did not always succeed. Pride in a role and the evidence of that role are not always the same thing.

Harder tests: nuclear weapons, Cuba and Vietnam

• The Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962): the U.S. discovered Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. Prime Minister Diefenbaker hesitated for days before putting Canadian forces on full alert, partly because he resented not being consulted. Many Canadians and Americans were angry at the delay; others agreed that Canada should not simply follow the U.S.
• Nuclear warheads (1963): Canada had bought Bomarc missiles that were designed to carry nuclear warheads, but Diefenbaker's government could not decide whether to accept them. The issue helped bring down his government. Pearson, now Liberal leader, agreed to accept the warheads and won the 1963 election.
• Vietnam: Canada did not send combat troops to the Vietnam War. It served on international commissions that monitored ceasefires (the ICSC from 1954 and the ICCS in 1973). In a 1965 speech in the U.S., Pearson suggested a pause in the American bombing of North Vietnam, which angered President Lyndon Johnson. At the same time, Canadian companies sold materials used by the U.S. military, and tens of thousands of young Americans who opposed the war or the draft moved to Canada.

New directions in the 1960s and 1970s

• Foreign aid: the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) was created in 1968 to run Canada's aid to developing countries.
• La Francophonie: Canada joined French-speaking countries in founding the Agency for Cultural and Technical Co-operation in 1970, an early form of La Francophonie. This also showed Canada's bilingual identity abroad.
• China: in 1970, under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Canada recognized the communist People's Republic of China, before the U.S. did.
• Nuclear weapons: Canada signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1968. In 1974 India tested a nuclear device using plutonium produced in a research reactor Canada had supplied for peaceful use, which shocked Canadians and led to stricter rules.
• Humanitarian crises: during the war in Biafra (Nigeria, 1967–1970), Canadian church groups and citizens organized relief flights, while the government was slower to act.