The moment when Canada moved from Britain's orbit into America's can be dated precisely to Aug. 17, 1940. That was the day when Canadian Prime Minister William Mackenzie King and U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Ogdensburg Agreement, defining the principle of joint defence of North America. The agreement, drafted in pencil and without consultation with either cabinet, established the Permanent Joint Board of Defence (PJBD) that has been in place ever since.
Or at least it was in place until Monday, when U.S. Under-Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby announced the Trump administration has decided to 'pause' its involvement and 'reassess' its value because 'Canada has failed to make credible progress on its defence commitments.' This move has been described as 'dangerous politics' by former Canadian chair of the board, John McKay.
Historical Context of the Joint Defence Board
The board was conceived by Mackenzie King and Roosevelt as a real joint defence commitment. President Roosevelt said he thought 30,000 American troops could be moved to Nova Scotia within three hours of a German invasion, at a time when the Battle of Britain was being waged and the mother country's independence was in peril. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill reacted with displeasure, suggesting to King that Roosevelt was taking advantage of Britain's distress to split the Commonwealth. But King thought it was a crucial step toward securing American help and winning the war.
'Canada now had the security to risk more for Britain. The measure also drew the United States deeper into the war, while drawing Canada more into its orbit,' said historian Neville Thompson in his book The Third Man.
Impact of the Suspension
Former Liberal MP John McKay was the Canadian chair of the board for seven years from 2016. He said there were two aspects to the board's annual or semi-annual discussions: firstly, whether the two sides viewed the world the same way, and if not, what was to be done. 'That was mostly congenial and there was not that much asked of us,' McKay said. Secondly, there was a 'to-do' list of North American issues, centred around the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD).
'We were always doing a tap-dance around two per cent (NATO's defence spending benchmark). But on a military-to-military basis, we still got a lot done. They realized they couldn't defend the Arctic without involving Canada,' said McKay.
He said he is surprised it took Trump so long to use the joint defence board as leverage. 'The military rupture is just following the political rupture. NORAD will be next on the chopping block. And there is no question that will undermine Canada's security. It's dangerous politics.'
The suspension of the PJBD marks a significant shift in US-Canada defence relations, raising questions about the future of NORAD and broader North American security cooperation.
