Dwight D. Eisenhower photo

Joint Statement Following Discussions With Prime Minister St. Laurent of Canada.

November 14, 1953

THE FOLLOWING joint communique was issued by President Eisenhower and Prime Minister St. Laurent at the conclusion of the meeting of the Canadian Cabinet.

1. During the course of President Eisenhower's state visit to Canada, the Prime Minister of Canada and members of the Canadian Cabinet had an opportunity of having informal discussions with him on matters of mutual interest to the United States and Canada. The President and the Prime Minister last reviewed some of these questions when the Prime Minister visited Washington last May.

2. Views were exchanged on recent developments in the world situation and on measures which might bring about a relaxation of current international tensions. It was agreed that all efforts for peace and improved world conditions being made by the United Nations or elsewhere should be supported and the necessity of maintaining the strength, unity and determination of the free world to resist aggression was fully recognized.

3. The President and the Prime Minister agreed on the importance to the free world of healthy national economies and of the expansion of world trade on a multilateral basis. Satisfaction was expressed at the recent establishment of a joint United States-Canadian Committee on Trade and Economic Affairs. The importance of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project was emphasized, and there was full agreement on the urgency of initiating the first phase--construction of the Power Project in accordance with arrangements which already have been made between the two governments.

4. In discussing the means of strengthening the security of the free world, the importance of collective arrangements under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was emphasized, including the special responsibility of the United States and Canada for building up the defenses of this continent. There was complete agreement on the vital importance of effective methods for joint defense, especially in the light of evidence of increasing technical capability of direct attack on both countries by weapons of great destructive power. Cooperation on joint defense matters had its origin in the Ogdensburg Agreement of 1940 which established the Permanent Joint Board on Defense. In 1947 the two countries issued a joint statement which set forth the principles and methods by which cooperation would be continued and strengthened. The -full respect of each country for the sovereignty of the other is inherent in these principles. These principles are equally valid today when Canada and the United States, recognizing that the defense of North America must be considered as a whole, are undertaking further efforts for their joint security. The arrangements for collaboration which have proved satisfactory over the years provide a firm basis on which to carry forward the close relationship between Canada and the United States in matters of common defense.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, Joint Statement Following Discussions With Prime Minister St. Laurent of Canada. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/232418

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