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Canada has been a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) since its inception in 1949.^[1]

Ambassadors

History

Canada is a principal initiator (founding country) of the alliance.^[2] This Atlanticist outlook was a marked break with Canada's pre-war isolationism, and was the first peacetime alliance Canada had ever joined.

Canadian officials such as Hume Wrong and Lester B. Pearson and including Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent worked in favour of the alliance because they sought to contain the Soviet Union, as did other members, and because they hoped the treaty would help to eliminate any potential rivalries between the United States, the United Kingdom, and other European great powers (principally at the time France, but later including West Germany), where Canada had to choose sides.^[2] This had long been the overriding goal of Canadian foreign policy.

The main Canadian contribution to the North Atlantic Treaty was Article 2 which committed members to maintain a "free" political system and to promote economic cooperation, in addition to the more usual diplomatic and military matters.^[2] Trans-Atlantic unity in political and economic matters has not come to fruition, as European states have looked toward the European Union and its antecedents while North America had the North American Free Trade Agreement, later superseded by United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement.

Canada has stationed troops in Germany (at Kaiserslautern) since 1951.^[3] During the 1950s Canada was one of the largest military spenders in the alliance and one of the few not receiving direct aid from the United States.^[4]

The costs of maintaining forces in Europe combined with those defending its own vast territory and participation in the Korean War caused strain on the Canadian budget during the 1950s.^[5]

In 1969 then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau withdrew half of Canada's forces in Europe, even as many leftist intellectuals and peace activists called for a complete withdrawal from NATO.^[6]

With the success of the Canadian participation in the Suez Crisis, with the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus and on other UN peacekeeping missions like the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda, United Nations Operation in Somalia I and Unified Task Force United Nations Operation in Somalia II or the four-year commitment to United Nations Angola Verification Mission II, perception in the 1990s evolved into the feeling that the forces had shifted from conventional warfighting to peacekeeping missions.^[7]

The bulk of Canada's military was focused on the less-glamorous NATO mission in Germany, where there remained a brigade group and an air division. In all, over 5,000 soldiers at any given time were deployed until 1993, when the remaining Canadian troops were withdrawn from Europe by the government of Brian Mulroney following the end of the Cold War. The peace dividend was spent elsewhere than on the military.^[8]

Given the small size of Canada's military, most contributions to NATO were political but, during NATO's 1999 Kosovo War, Canadian CF-18 jets were involved in the bombing of Yugoslavia.

Since it began in 2001 Canadian troops were part of the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan, ISAF.

In March 2011, the Canadian Forces participated in NATO-led UN missions in Libya.

In 2019 it came to light that Canadian governments of the 21st century have been relative lightweights in the Alliance.^[9]

References

^ Marco Rimanelli (September 30, 2009). The A to Z of NATO and Other International Security Organizations. Scarecrow Press. pp. 144–. ISBN 978-0-8108-6899-1. Retrieved November 22, 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c NATO: When Canada Really Mattered by Norman Hillmer in The Canadian Encyclopedia
^ Isabel Campbell, Unlikely Diplomats: The Canadian Brigade in Germany, 1951-64 (2013).
^ Rand Dyck (March 2011). Canadian Politics. Cengage Learning. pp. 108–. ISBN 978-0-17-650343-7. Retrieved November 22, 2011.
^ John C. Milloy (March 22, 2006). The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 1948-1957: community or alliance?. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. pp. 192–. ISBN 978-0-7735-3043-0. Retrieved November 22, 2011.
^ Albert Legault; Michel Fortmann (1992). A diplomacy of hope: Canada and disarmament, 1945-1988. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. pp. 433–. ISBN 978-0-7735-0955-9. Retrieved November 22, 2011.
^ Robert Cameron Orr (2004). Winning the peace: an American strategy for post-conflict reconstruction. CSIS. pp. 49–. ISBN 978-0-89206-444-1. Retrieved November 22, 2011.
^ John R. Deni (2007). Alliance management and maintenance: restructuring NATO for the 21st century. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. pp. 33–. ISBN 978-0-7546-7039-1. Retrieved November 22, 2011.
^ Gay, Robert D. (2019). "NATO Partners: Are They Paying Their Fair Share or Not?". American Intelligence Journal. 36 (1): 150–155. JSTOR 27066347.

External links

[Rimanelli2009-1] Marco Rimanelli (September 30, 2009). The A to Z of NATO and Other International Security Organizations. Scarecrow Press. pp. 144–. ISBN 978-0-8108-6899-1. Retrieved November 22, 2011.

[Hillmer-2] NATO: When Canada Really Mattered by Norman Hillmer in The Canadian Encyclopedia

[3] Isabel Campbell, Unlikely Diplomats: The Canadian Brigade in Germany, 1951-64 (2013).

[Dyck2011-4] Rand Dyck (March 2011). Canadian Politics. Cengage Learning. pp. 108–. ISBN 978-0-17-650343-7. Retrieved November 22, 2011.

[Milloy2006-5] John C. Milloy (March 22, 2006). The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 1948-1957: community or alliance?. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. pp. 192–. ISBN 978-0-7735-3043-0. Retrieved November 22, 2011.

[LegaultFortmann1992-6] Albert Legault; Michel Fortmann (1992). A diplomacy of hope: Canada and disarmament, 1945-1988. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. pp. 433–. ISBN 978-0-7735-0955-9. Retrieved November 22, 2011.

[Orr2004-7] Robert Cameron Orr (2004). Winning the peace: an American strategy for post-conflict reconstruction. CSIS. pp. 49–. ISBN 978-0-89206-444-1. Retrieved November 22, 2011.

[Deni2007-8] John R. Deni (2007). Alliance management and maintenance: restructuring NATO for the 21st century. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. pp. 33–. ISBN 978-0-7546-7039-1. Retrieved November 22, 2011.

[gay19-9] Gay, Robert D. (2019). "NATO Partners: Are They Paying Their Fair Share or Not?". American Intelligence Journal. 36 (1): 150–155. JSTOR 27066347.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Use Canadian English|date=August 2023}}
-Canada has been a member of the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] ('''NATO''') since its inception in 1949.<ref name="Rimanelli2009">{{cite book|author=Marco Rimanelli|title=The A to Z of NATO and Other International Security Organizations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TLaUACsJpYcC&pg=PA144|accessdate=22 November 2011|date=30 September 2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-6899-1|pages=144–}}</ref> Data for engagements can be found in the [[Department of National Defence]] webpage entitled "Past operations".<ref name=dnddb>{{cite news |title=Past operations |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/military-history/history-heritage/past-operations.html |agency=Department of National Defence |publisher=Government of Canada |date=2021-11-25}}</ref>
+{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}{{Short description|A founding member of this international military organization}}
+{{Infobox bilateral relations|Canada-NATO|NATO|Canada|map=Canada NATO Locator Lambert.svg}}
-==Past NATO Ambassadors==
+Canada has been a member of the [[NATO|North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] ('''NATO''') since its inception in 1949.<ref name="Rimanelli2009">{{cite book|author=Marco Rimanelli|title=The A to Z of NATO and Other International Security Organizations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TLaUACsJpYcC&pg=PA144|accessdate=22 November 2011|date=30 September 2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-6899-1|pages=144–}}</ref>
+==Ambassadors==
 {{main|List of permanent representatives of Canada to NATO}}
 ==History==
-Canada is not only a member but one of the principal initiators (founding countries) of the alliance.<ref name="Hillmer">[http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/nato-when-canada-really-mattered-feature/ NATO: When Canada Really Mattered] by [[Norman Hillmer]] in [[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]</ref> This [[Atlanticist]] outlook was a marked break with Canada's pre-war [[isolationism]], and was the first peacetime alliance Canada had ever joined.
+Canada is a principal initiator (founding country) of the alliance.<ref name="Hillmer">[https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/nato-when-canada-really-mattered-feature NATO: When Canada Really Mattered] by [[Norman Hillmer]] in [[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]</ref> This [[Atlanticist]] outlook was a marked break with Canada's pre-war [[isolationism]], and was the first peacetime alliance Canada had ever joined.
+Canadian officials such as [[Hume Wrong]] and [[Lester B. Pearson]] and including Prime Minister [[Louis St. Laurent]] worked in favour of the alliance because they sought to contain the [[Soviet Union]], as did other members, and because they hoped the treaty would help to eliminate any potential rivalries between the [[United States]], the [[United Kingdom]], and other European [[great powers]] (principally at the time [[France]], but later including [[West Germany]]), where Canada had to choose sides.<ref name="Hillmer" /> This had long been the [[North Atlantic triangle|overriding goal of Canadian foreign policy]].
-Canadian officials such as [[Hume Wrong]] and [[Lester B. Pearson]] and including Prime Minister [[Louis St. Laurent]] worked in favour of the alliance not only because they sought to contain the [[Soviet Union]], as did other members, but because they hoped the treaty would help to eliminate any potential rivalries between the [[United States]], the [[United Kingdom]], and other European [[great powers]] (principally at the time [[France]], but later including [[West Germany]]), where Canada would be forced to choose sides.<ref name="Hillmer" /> This had long been the [[North Atlantic triangle|overriding goal of Canadian foreign policy]]. The main Canadian contribution to the [[North Atlantic Treaty]] was Article 2 which committed members to maintain a "free" political system and to promote [[economic cooperation]], in addition to the more usual diplomatic and military matters.<ref name="Hillmer" /> [[Atlanticism|Trans-Atlantic unity]] in political and economic matters has not come to fruition, as European states have looked toward the [[European Union]] and its antecedents while North America has the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]].
+The main Canadian contribution to the [[North Atlantic Treaty]] was Article 2 which committed members to maintain a "free" political system and to promote economic cooperation, in addition to the more usual diplomatic and military matters.<ref name="Hillmer" /> [[Atlanticism|Trans-Atlantic unity]] in political and economic matters has not come to fruition, as European states have looked toward the [[European Union]] and its antecedents while North America had the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]], later superseded by [[United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement]].
 Canada has stationed troops in [[Germany]] (at [[Kaiserslautern]]) since 1951.<ref>Isabel Campbell, ''Unlikely Diplomats: The Canadian Brigade in Germany, 1951-64'' (2013).</ref> During the 1950s Canada was one of the largest military spenders in the alliance and one of the few not receiving direct aid from the United States.<ref name="Dyck2011">{{cite book|author=Rand Dyck|title=Canadian Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BUOoN8e5Ps0C&pg=PA108|accessdate=22 November 2011|date=March 2011|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-0-17-650343-7|pages=108–}}</ref>
@@ Line 15: / Line 22: @@
 In 1969 then Prime Minister [[Pierre Trudeau]] withdrew half of Canada's forces in Europe, even as many leftist intellectuals and peace activists called for a complete withdrawal from NATO.<ref name="LegaultFortmann1992">{{cite book|author1=Albert Legault|author2=Michel Fortmann|title=A diplomacy of hope: Canada and disarmament, 1945-1988|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CkaV0twc93IC&pg=PA433|accessdate=22 November 2011|year=1992|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP|isbn=978-0-7735-0955-9|pages=433–}}</ref>
-With the success of the Canadian participation in the [[Suez Crisis]], with the [[United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus]]  and on other UN peacekeeping missions like the [[United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda]], [[United Nations Operation in Somalia I]] and [[Unified Task Force]] [[United Nations Operation in Somalia II]] or the four-year commitment to [[United Nations Angola Verification Mission II]], perception in the 1990s evolved into the feeling that the forces had shifted from conventional warfighting to [[peacekeeping]] missions.<ref name="Orr2004">{{cite book|author=Robert Cameron Orr|title=Winning the peace: an American strategy for post-conflict reconstruction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kq2Dbt0X7I8C&pg=PA49|accessdate=22 November 2011|year=2004|publisher=CSIS|isbn=978-0-89206-444-1|pages=49–}}</ref>  Nevertheless, the bulk of Canada's military was focussed on the less-glamorous NATO mission in [[Germany]], where there remained a brigade group and the bulk of an air division.
+With the success of the Canadian participation in the [[Suez Crisis]], with the [[United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus]]  and on other UN peacekeeping missions like the [[United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda]], [[United Nations Operation in Somalia I]] and [[Unified Task Force]] [[United Nations Operation in Somalia II]] or the four-year commitment to [[United Nations Angola Verification Mission II]], perception in the 1990s evolved into the feeling that the forces had shifted from conventional warfighting to [[peacekeeping]] missions.<ref name="Orr2004">{{cite book|author=Robert Cameron Orr|title=Winning the peace: an American strategy for post-conflict reconstruction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kq2Dbt0X7I8C&pg=PA49|accessdate=22 November 2011|year=2004|publisher=CSIS|isbn=978-0-89206-444-1|pages=49–}}</ref>
-In all, there were over 5,000 soldiers at any given time deployed in Germany until 1993, when the remaining Canadian troops were withdrawn from Europe by the government of [[Brian Mulroney]] following the end of the [[Cold War]]. The [[peace dividend]] was spent elsewhere than on the military.<ref name="Deni2007">{{cite book|author=John R. Deni|title=Alliance management and maintenance: restructuring NATO for the 21st century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5LE3jdpyDBgC&pg=PA33|accessdate=22 November 2011|year=2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-7039-1|pages=33–}}</ref>
+The bulk of Canada's military was focused on the less-glamorous NATO mission in [[Germany]], where there remained a brigade group and an air division. In all, over 5,000 soldiers at any given time were deployed until 1993, when the remaining Canadian troops were withdrawn from Europe by the government of [[Brian Mulroney]] following the end of the [[Cold War]]. The [[peace dividend]] was spent elsewhere than on the military.<ref name="Deni2007">{{cite book|author=John R. Deni|title=Alliance management and maintenance: restructuring NATO for the 21st century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5LE3jdpyDBgC&pg=PA33|accessdate=22 November 2011|year=2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-7039-1|pages=33–}}</ref>
-Given the small size of Canada's military, the importance of Canada's contribution to NATO has primarily been political rather than military.  However during NATO's 1999 [[Kosovo War]], Canadian [[CF-18]] jets were actively involved in bombing what remained of [[Yugoslavia]].
+Given the small size of Canada's military, most contributions to NATO were political but, during NATO's 1999 [[Kosovo War]], Canadian [[CF-18]] jets were involved in the bombing of [[Yugoslavia]].
 Since it began in 2001 Canadian troops were part of the NATO-led mission in [[Afghanistan]], [[International Security Assistance Force|ISAF]].
@@ Line 34: / Line 41: @@
 *  Bercuson, David J. and J.L. Granatstein. ''Lessons Learned? What Canada Should Learn from Afghanistan'' (Calgary, 2011).
 * {{cite book |last1=Campbell |first1=Isabel |title=Unlikely Diplomats: The Canadian Brigade in Germany, 1951-64 |date=2013 |publisher=UBC Press |isbn=978-0-7748-2565-8 }} [https://networks.h-net.org/system/files/contributed-files/roundtable-xvii-11.pdf online review]
-* {{cite journal |last1=Cooper |first1=Andrew F. |last2=Momani |first2=Bessma |title=The Harper government's messaging in the build-up to the Libyan Intervention: was Canada different than its NATO allies? |journal=Canadian Foreign Policy Journal |date=4 May 2014 |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=176–188 |doi=10.1080/11926422.2014.934855 }}
+* {{cite journal |last1=Cooper |first1=Andrew F. |last2=Momani |first2=Bessma |title=The Harper government's messaging in the build-up to the Libyan Intervention: was Canada different than its NATO allies? |journal=Canadian Foreign Policy Journal |date=4 May 2014 |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=176–188 |doi=10.1080/11926422.2014.934855 |s2cid=154860882 }}
 * Granatstein, J. L. "Is NATO Still Necessary for Canada?." CDFAI policy paper, March (2013). [https://web.archive.org/web/20161013055225/http://www.cdfai.org.previewmysite.com/idevicepapers/IsNATONecessaryforCanada.htm online]
 * Granatstein, J. L. ''Canada's Army: Waging War and Keeping the Peace'' (University of Toronto Press, 2002)
@@ Line 43: / Line 50: @@
 ==External links==
-{{Portal|Canada|War}}
+{{Portal|Canada}}
-* [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/nato-when-canada-really-mattered-feature/ NATO: When Canada Really Mattered] by [[Norman Hillmer]] in [[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]
+* [https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/nato-when-canada-really-mattered-feature NATO: When Canada Really Mattered] by [[Norman Hillmer]] in [[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]
-* [http://webarchive.bac-lac.gc.ca:8080/wayback/20071125001521/http://www.international.gc.ca/foreign_policy/nato/canada_in_nato-en.asp Canada and NATO] by [[Foreign Affairs Canada]]
+* [https://www.canada.ca/en/news/archive/2014/05/canada-nato.html Canada and NATO]{{cbignore|bot=medic}} by [[Foreign Affairs Canada]]
 {{Foreign relations of Canada}}

v t e Diplomatic relations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Internal relations	Albanien Kanada Kroatien Finnland Frankreich Ungarn Montenegro North Macedonia Norwegen Rumänien Schweden Türkei
Multilateral relations	Atlantic Treaty Association Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council European Union Mediterranean Dialogue Individual Partnership Action Plan Istanbul Cooperation Initiative Partnership for Peace
Bilateral relations	Armenien Österreich Aserbaidschan Weißrussland Bosnien und Herzegowina Zypern Georgien Irland Kosovo Malta Moldawien Pakistan Russland Serbien Schweiz Ukraine
Related	Major non-NATO ally Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition

Latest revision as of 18:34, 18 March 2024

Ambassadors

History

References

Further reading

External links