Canada's External Assistance Programme

Abstract

Douglas G. Anglin* loading of supplies under Canada's wartime Mutual Aid programme ceased promptly with the official termination of hostilities at midnight on September 1, 1945. Yet the problems created by the war continued, and so did the demand for supplies which only Canada could provide. Canada did recognize a certain responsibility to help rehabilitate the wardevastated world during the transitional stage from war to peace, but such relief was conceived as the completion of the wartime programme rather than the initiation of a new era of external assistance. The objective was the restoration at the earliest possible moment of the pre-war situation in which goods were exchanged on a commercial basis. This hope soon proved illusory. Within a short time, it became apparent that the early estimates of the length of the reconstruction period were excessively optimistic. Conflict in Palestine, Korea and elsewhere, the renewed threat of aggression in Europe and the demands of under-developed areas for assistance necessitated further reassessments of the situation. The result is the present programme of external assistance which, however inadequate and uneven, is not inconsiderable, particularly in terms of what was anticipated in the early post-war years. In this article, the first of two on the subject, we will discuss the forms and underlying motives of Canadian external aid since 1945.