Review: Canada: Canada the Canadian Way
| Author | Robert Bothwell |
| Published date | 01 March 1997 |
| Date | 01 March 1997 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/002070209705200108 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
Reviews
CANADA
THE
CANADIAN
WAY
Shaping
Canadian
foreign
policy
1968-
1984
Ivan
L.
Head
and
Pierre
Trudeau
Toronto:
McClelland
&
Stewart,
1995,
368pp,
$29.95
This
book
is
the
product
of
a
unique
collaboration
between
two
talented
individuals.
Pierre
Elliott
Trudeau and
Ivan
Head,
lawyers
and
profes-
sors
both,
began
working
together
when
Trudeau
was
minister
ofjustice
and
Head
a
temporary
senior
adviser
in
his
department.
When
Trudeau
became
prime
minister
in
1968,
he
took
Head
with
him
to
the
prime
minister's
office
where
in
a
series
of
lateral arabesques
he
became
Trudeau's
adviser
and personal
agent
in
matters of
foreign
policy,
remaining
in
that
function
until
1978
when
he
departed
to
head
an
offi-
cially
sponsored
foreign
affairs
think
tank
in
Ottawa. Between
1968
and
1978,
Head's
influence on Canadian
foreign
policy
was
thought
to
rival
that
of
the
several
ministers
of
external
affairs;
it
was
noted that
his
role
paralleled
that
of
the
American
national
security adviser,
Henry
Kissinger,
in the
service
of
Richard
Nixon.
Head
had
no
replacement
of
similar
rank
and
influence,
under
either
Trudeau
or
his
successors,
Joe
Clark,
Brian
Mulroney,
Kim
Campbell,
and
Jean
Chr~tien.
His
role
and
his
perspective
remain
unique.
Now,
many
years
later,
Head and Trudeau
have
met
again
to
pro-
duce
a
reminiscence
of their
contribution
to
Canadian
foreign
policy.
Arranged in
a
series
of
thematic chapters,
their
book
covers
maritime
sovereignty,
the
North
Atlantic
Treaty
Organization
and
nuclear
weapons,
the Commonwealth,
North-South
issues,
the
United
States,
and
the
East
bloc,
plus
a
miscellaneous
section
entitled
'Hits
or
Misses.'
Although
the
book
received
wide
publicity
on
publication,
appro-
priate
to
the
'personal'
revelations
of
one
of
Canada's most
colourful
prime
ministers,
The
Canadian
Way
is
in fact
rather
scholarly
in
tone
-
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