Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Canada's Vietnam



No, not the ISIS campaign, not yet anyway.

April will mark the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon.  And next week, Thursday, March 26, CBC's Doz Zone presents "Vietnam: Canada's Shadow War,"  a new film directed by Andy Blicq about "Canada’s role in the Vietnam conflict, and its relationship with the United States throughout this decade long war."  
At the onset of the Vietnam War, a cautious Canadian government led by Lester B. Pearson settled for what some have called a policy of “quiet complicity”. But over the course of the conflict, influenced by what they were seeing on television, the music of the era and the arrival of young people escaping military service, young Canadians demanded change.  During the Vietnam decade, Canada celebrated its Centennial, elected a sexy new Prime Minister, distanced itself from the British Empire and consolidated its independent identity. Faced with being either “servile or sovereign,” by the end of the war, Canada chose sovereignty. 
Update:  Chris Raible:
Has anyone ever studied the role of Canadian volunteers who fought for the US in that war?
I seem to recall hearing, some years back, that there were something like 30,000 -
a number somewhat comparable to the number of Americans who sought refuge in Canada.
You could start with this CBC Digital Archives piece on the subject  Scholarly study?...
 
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