From 1867 to the First World War, Canada had no foreign policy or foreign ministry. By the Second World War we also had ministers in Washington, Paris and Tokyo, and a department of External Affairs was a section of the prime minister’s office. The U.S.S.R. disintegrated, the United States had an unprecedented pre-eminence in the world and Brian Mulroney had great and well-earned prestige outside Canada. It was sound policy but with nothing behind it to cause Canada to be taken seriously, and it wasn’t. But we are almost entirely dependent on the United States for our own defence.

Source: National Post April 14, 2017 09:56 UTC