English-Canadian Social Science, Humanities, and Law Academic Secondments during the Second World War and Their Contributions to Canadian External Affairs

Abstract

In this article, I examine how a select group of English-Canadian social science, humanities, and law academics made significant contributions to Canadian foreign policy and diplomacy during the Second World War. Leaving the confines of their universities to work in wartime Ottawa through a formal secondment process, an influential and yet heretofore unrecognized group of seconded academics became key administrators and diplomats working on behalf of the Canadian state in the sphere of external affairs. Aiding a federal civil service short on administrative talent, seconded academics staffed crucially important posts in the Department of External Affairs, Department of Finance, Wartime Prices and Trade Board, and Wartime Information Board. Although permanent officials handled most issues regarded as first rank, the academics analyzed in this article did the heavy lifting in the committees and preparatory deskwork, making strong contributions to those issues of second rank, including the formulation and refinement of Canadian foreign policy. Academics also became both official and unofficial diplomats representing the nation in diverse international fora. During the Second World War, the federal civil service did not have enough personnel to handle all the representational duties, and academics stepped in to fill an important void. Through their work in the international sphere, academics actively sought to forge a new Canadian identity and facilitate a process whereby Canada became less overtly British and more sovereign and independent.