Abstract

This study seeks to explain which factors played a functional role in the formulation and evolution of Canada's foreign policy in the United Nations (UN) on the colonial issue from the mid-1940s to the early 1960s. The decolonisation of colonial empires was an intrinsic part of this major and contentious issue in the United Nations. Newly released classified documents of the Department of External Affairs and official manuscripts from the National Archives of Canada reveal to what extent Canada's decision makers seemed to be constrained by the international operational context and the policies of its allies--the USA, France and the United Kingdom. It is argued that Canada's 'colonial' position in the attempt by UN Members to set a new "standard of permissible action" in the colonial world and that Canada's preferences as to how the decolonisation of empires ought to proceed were in keeping with a Canadian mind set