A Seat at the Table

Canada's tenderest corn, her new realization of nationhood, was clumsily bumped by the deputies of the Council of Foreign Ministers. Currently meeting in London, the Big Four's men had given Canada ten days to submit her views in writing on the German and Austrian peace settlements. Canada, they said, could supplement them later with oral arguments.

In Ottawa last week, Minister of External Affairs Louis St. Laurent brusquely rejected the request. Snapped the Minister: "The Canadian Government does not regard the invitation in its present form as affording Canada an opportunity for participating in the peace settlement in the way which would be appropriate for a country which contributed substantially to the war against Germany."

What the beef meant was that Canada did not intend to send in a statement, get a polite "Thank you." Canada intended to have a voice in the peace settlements above the level of a mere memo-writer.

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