12 September 1991
(1) Wenon the 15th Fau
11713/9
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
[Shahid And for adder -]
London SW1A 2AH
in Ottawa
(2) M-Stance 187
M- Immer 10
Mr
3) PA
The idea 2
Launched
Dear Colleague,
2.
13
FORMATION OF A WHITEHALL CANADA GROUP
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As agreed with Ministers, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has been pursuing a policy of re-energising relations with Canada. These had slackened as Canada developed closer 174 links with the United States and we with Europe; continental drift.
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We have made headway. There has been a ready response to the Foreign Secretary's request to colleagues that they include Canada in their visiting plans for North America (his minute to the Lord President of 5 March). At senior official level we have increased contact across the spectrum of FCO activity. At the political and official level, we pressed the Canadians hard to maintain forces in Europe. We have made some useful advances in cultural and academic contacts. Meanwhile, notwithstanding the recession on both sides of the Atlantic, trade and investment remain at respectable levels.
Although our relations are in much better shape, I believe that we should now consider what more could be done to exploit the Anglo-Canadian relationship to the general UK advantage. The recent changes in the world scene, and the likelihood that both economies are beginning to recover, make this an opportune time.
The success of the Whitehall Australia Group suggests that it would be worth having a closer look at relations with Canada in the round. Canada differs from Australia in the sense that there are already strong links through NATO and the G7. But, as with the Australians, there is a need for better identification of areas of work where it would be in the interests of both countries to develop closer links.
PO8AEG
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