bout de papier, Vol. 26, No. 1 (2011) — Summer/Fall 2011 // Été/Automne 2011, pp. 22–23
The Conference of Commonwealth Foreign Ministers which took place in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) was the first such gathering to take place in Asia and it undoubtedly was a new and interesting experience for the members of the Canadian Delegation, which was headed by the Secretary of State for External Affairs, Lester B. (“Mike”) Pearson. Of course, it was also a novel journey for some of the Canadian reporters who accompanied the Delegation. That exotic quality was much in evidence in the reports which reached Canada from South Asia, particularly one in the Ottawa Journal which attracted the attention of many in the headquarters of the Department of External Affairs, notably those left behind in the minister’s office. R. G. “Jerry” Riddell was never one to miss an opportunity to lampoon his colleagues and his superiors, as the letter below indicates. At the time of its composition, the author was working as an adviser and speech-writer for the minister, prior to his posting as Canada’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. Unfortunately, the article which inspired Riddell’s missive was not filed with this copy of the letter, which was found in the Riddell Papers at the Archives of the University of Toronto.
Of course, there was also serious work undertaken at the conference, as evident from the programme for development assistance which is still known as the Colombo Plan. One of Pearson’s challenges when he returned to Ottawa was to persuade his parsimonious Cabinet colleagues to contribute to the fund that initiated the Colombo Plan. Though Pearson’s commitment to this endeavour is recalled as far-sighted diplomacy, the Canadian government was initially preoccupied with its impact on the national budget. Neither for the first nor for the last time was an overseas expenditure, however justifiable, questioned as a priority.
R. G. Riddell [Office of the Secretary of State for External Affairs] to Hume Wright [Canadian Delegation to Commonwealth Conference c/o Canadian High Commissioner, New Delhi], 17 January 1950.
Ottawa, January 17, 1950
H. H. Wright, Esquire, Canadian Delegation to Commonwealth Conference, c/o Canadian High Commissioner, New Delhi.
Dear Hume,
IT enclose in its entirety a clipping concerning the activities of the Delegation to the Commonwealth Conference as it appeared in The Journal on Friday last. As you can well imagine, we were fascinated by the information which it contained. In view of his many comments before he left Ottawa on the subject of the egs surplus, we had expected the Minister to deal with the problem of the Canadian egg in a vigorous and forthright manner. Indeed, I understand that before the party left the plane had been christened by Herb Moran [Assistant Under Secretary of State for External Affairs] “The Flying Omelet”. None of us, however, had expected the Delegation would light upon the brilliant device of finding a magician who could make the eggs disappear. I hope that you have made a careful record of the appropriate incantation. Better still, of course, would be to bring the performer himself. I am sure that the Department of Agriculture would be glad to provide him with suitable working quarters, even ifit proved necessary to build a reproduction of a Ceylonese Temple on the grounds of the Experimental Farm. There is only one point that puzzles us. The newspaper account says that yourselves, we should not
“Pearson assisted the magician by holding an egg in a bag”. When the performance was over, who was left holding the bag?
We were equally delighted by the account of the Delegation all eating that well-known native Ceylonese dish, cold turkey. This opportunity to enjoy exotic and little-known food is certainly an example of the advantages of world travel. Perhaps you will bring us back a little cold turkey so that we may know what it tastes like. We have been wondering also about the performance of the dancers. The description of lighted torches being placed in mouths and flaming sticks placed against bodies is not entirely explicit. Whose mouths and whose bodies? I suppose that if you and some of your more high spirited colleagues feel like building a fire under yourselves, we should not worry. We cannot help feeling concerned, however, about Miss McIntosh. We should be distressed if she came home marked for life with the sears of your celebrations. We should be equally distressed, of course, if she came home with a passion for holding lighted torches in her mouth, and insisted on giving. demonstrations in the Minister’s office every hour on the hour.
Finally, we are full of curiosity to know who was the member of the Canadian Delegation who put the Delegation on record as being proud of its “Panditji”. I am sure that a wave of emotion must have swept over the whole Indian populace when this announcement was made, accompanied by the appropriate explanation of the meaning of the word. I wonder if by chance there was some arrangement between the Canadian and Indian Delegations for a joint press release in these terms. We shall search the Indian Press when it arrives to find out whether, when a member of the Canadian Delegation was saying “We are are proud of our Panditji” and explaining that Nehru is affectionately know as Panditji, a corresponding member of the Indian Delegation was announcing “We adore our Lesterkin” and explaining that Lesterkin (not to be confused with gremlin or leprechaun) is a Canadian diminutive for the formal Canadian “Mike”.
You can see from all this that I have been following your activities in Ceylon with the most profound interest, and in the quiet seclusion which these days characterizes the Minister’s office, have been reflecting deeply on the problems which have been pre-occupying you.
All good wishes.
Yours sincerely, RGR
Enclosed: “Pearson Watches Ceylonese Dancers,”
Ottawa Journal, 13 January 1950.9
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 26, No. 1 (2011) — Summer/Fall 2011 // Été/Automne 2011, pp. 22–23. Read the rest of this issue →
