Commissions High: Canada in London, 1870–1971

Graeme S. Mount is a professor of history at Laurentian University. He
is the author of Canada’s Enemies: Spies and Spying in the Peaceable
Kingdom, Chile and the Nazis, and The Diplomacy of War: The Case of
Korea.

Commissions High is a valuable contribution to Canadian history. Since
1945, the British role in Canada has diminished to the point where many
Canadians have forgotten that there once was one. Until then, however,
Canadians participated in British wars, lured British immigrants,
borrowed British money, and sold on the British market.

A High Commissioner is an ambassador posted from one Commonwealth
government to another. The High Commission is the embassy. Legally, an
ambassador is accredited from one head of state to another head of
state. Since Canada and the United Kingdom share the same head of state
(the monarch), High Commissioners are accredited from one government to
another government. Thus, this book deals with the de facto Canadian
embassy in London from 1870 until 1971, when the United Kingdom joined
the European Economic Community.

Given that High Commissioners represent governments rather than
sovereigns, many have been career politicians rather than professional
diplomats. Author Roy MacLaren has been both—a diplomat and a Liberal
Cabinet minister. He also has a track record as a historian. Commissions
High stops short of his own term in London (1996–2000), but he is
clearly well qualified to write on this subject.

Each High Commissioner has a chapter to himself, and there are no
general conclusions at the end of the book. After a brief biography,
MacLaren discusses the issues each High Commissioner faced. Sir John
Rose (1869–1880) represented Canada when Manitoba and British Columbia
entered Confederation. Sir Charles Tupper (1883–1896) resisted
pressures to have Barbados and Jamaica become Canadian provinces. Sir
George Perley (1914–1922) and Vincent Massey (1935–1946) coordinated
Anglo-Canadian co-operation during World Wars I and II. With the
admission of India, Pakistan, and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) during the
first term of the first career diplomat posted to London, Norman
Robertson (1946–1949), the Commonwealth changed. When Robertson
returned for a second tour of duty (1952–1957), he thought he would be
bored, but the 1956 Suez Crisis changed that perception. Dana Wilgress
(1949–1952) dealt with NATO-related issues, but apparently not
co-operation among the five dominions with combat forces in Korea.