Environmental nationalist: Andrew McNaughton and Canada–US relations in the Cold War

Date01 March 2021
Published date01 March 2021
DOI10.1177/0020702021994513
Subject MatterLessons of History
Lessons of History
Environmental
nationalist: Andrew
McNaughton and
Canada–US relations
in the Cold War
Daniel Macfarlane
Western Michigan University, US
Abstract
Prior to 1945, General Andrew George Latta McNaughton had already made a name
for himself as an army general, engineer, inventor, and cabinet minister. After 1945,
McNaughton occupied a number of key international roles for Canada: at the United
Nations, on the Permanent Joint Board on Defence, and on the International Joint
Commission. Even though he became one of Canada’s most important diplomatic
actors during the early Cold War period, this aspect of his career has been mostly
ignored by international historians. This article examines McNaughton’s key involve-
ment in the evolution of a number of Canada–US water megaprojects, arguing that his
nationalism underpinned his approach to bilateral relations, which combined deep
technical expertise with a willingness to publicly assert the Canadian national interest.
McNaughton’s approach should be studied not only to better understand North
American environmental diplomacy in the Cold War but also to draw from it several
lessons for contemporary times.
Keywords
Andrew McNaughton, Canada–US relations, Cold War, International Joint
Commission, border waters, nationalism, environmental diplomacy, St. Lawrence,
Columbia, Niagara
Corresponding author:
Daniel Macfarlane, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, Western Michigan University, 1903 W.
Michigan Avenue, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 49008-5331, US.
Email: danielwdmacfarlane@gmail.com
International Journal
2021, Vol. 76(1) 129–144
!The Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0020702021994513
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Few Canadians can boast a r
esum
e of public service activities as impressive and
varied as General Andrew George Latta McNaughton. After distinguished service
in the First World War, which included a leading role at Vimy Ridge, by 1929 A.G.
L. McNaughton had risen to commander of the Canadian Army. An engineer and
scientist trained at McGill who had co-invented the cathode ray tube, a forerunner
to radar, McNaughton then became, in 1935, head of the National Research
Council of Canada.
1
Re-joining the Canadian Army during the Second World
War, McNaughton was commander of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division,
where he made several noteworthy technical contributions.
However, McNaughton’s resistance to splitting up Canadian forces put him on
the outs with both the British and the Canadian minister of national defence. But
he was not on the outs with his troops, who adored him, nor the prime minister,
William Lyon Mackenzie King, who envisioned McNaughton as the first
Canadian to hold the office of governor general. That almost came to pass, but,
instead, the prime minister recruited Andy McNaughton to join his Cabinet as
minister of national defence in 1944. King’s main motivation for bringing
McNaughton into the Cabinet was to deal with the looming conscription crisis.
McNaughton remained a minister only for a year since he twice failed to win a seat
in Parliament—though he was successful at almost everything he tried he was not
much of a politician.
Even if McNaughton’s public service career had ended there, he still would have
been widely celebrated by many. J.L. Granatstein labelled him “the best-known
general in Canadian history.”
2
The Canadian association of the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers named a medal after him to recognize out-
standing engineers. But McNaughton transitioned to the role of diplomat. In the
half-decade after the end of the Second World War, McNaughton was appointed
to a suite of important positions: chairman of the Canadian section of the
Permanent Joint Board on Defence (PJBD) for 1945–1959; Canadian representa-
tive to the UN Atomic Energy Commission and president of the Atomic Energy
Control Board of Canada (1946–1948); head of Canada’s permanent delegation to
the United Nations and representative on the UN Security Council (1948–1949);
and in 1950 he was appointed to the International Joint Commission (IJC), later
that year becoming the chairman of the Canadian section, a position he would
hold for over a decade.
1. For a concise study of McNaughton’s exploits prior to 1945, see J.L. Granatstein, “McNaughton:
The god that failed,” in The Generals: The Canadian Army’s Senior Commanders in the Second
World War, 2nd ed. (Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2005), 53–82. Douglas LePan addresses
McNaughton in a chapter in Bright Glass of Memory (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1979). See
also Norman Hillmer, “Andrew George Latta McNaughton,” The Canadian Encyclopedia Online,
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/andrew-george-latta-mcnaughton (accessed
8 September 2020). Several books in the Studies in Canadian Military History series also look at
aspects of McNaughton’s military career. The author would like to thank Norman Hillmer, J.L.
Granatstein, and David Webster, for reading and commenting on an earlier draft of this article.
2. Granatstein, The Generals, 62.
130 International Journal 76(1)

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