Cultural Diplomacy and Nation-Building in Cold War Canada, 1945-1967 by Kailey Miller a Thesis Submitt
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'An Ancillary Weapon’: Cultural Diplomacy and Nation-building in Cold War Canada, 1945-1967 by Kailey Miller A thesis submitted to the Graduate Program in History in conformity with the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada September, 2015 Copyright ©Kailey Miller, 2015 Abstract This dissertation is a study of Canada’s cultural approaches toward the Communist world – particularly in the performing arts – and the ways in which the public and private sectors sought to develop Canada’s identity during the Cold War. The first chapter examines how the defection of Igor Gouzenko in 1945 framed the Canadian state’s approach to the security aspects of cultural exchanges with the Soviet Union. Chapters 2 to 4 analyse the socio-economic, political, and international context that shaped Canada's music, classical theatre, and ballet exchanges with communist countries. The final chapter explores Expo ’67’s World Festival of Arts and Entertainment as a significant moment in international and domestic cultural relations. I contend that although focused abroad, Canada’s cultural initiatives served a nation-building purpose at home. For practitioners of Canadian cultural diplomacy, domestic audiences were just as, if not more, important as foreign audiences. ii Acknowledgements My supervisor, Ian McKay, has been an unfailing source of guidance during this process. I could not have done this without him. Thank you, Ian, for teaching me how to be a better writer, editor, and researcher. I only hope I can be half the scholar you are one day. A big thank you to my committee, Karen Dubinsky, Jeffrey Brison, Lynda Jessup, and Robert Teigrob. I have learned so much from all of your work, and I am deeply grateful for the time and energy you have put into improving my project. To Casey Hurrell, thank you for being a great friend, colleague and (occasional) chauffer. I owe a great debt to the Hurrell family for providing me with a warm bed, delicious food, and wonderful company during many archival trips to Ottawa. A special thank you goes out to my extended family, Kendall Garton and Asa McKercher, for their love, humour, and daily encouragement. I am also deeply grateful to my mother, sister, and grandparents for the support and encouragement that they have shown throughout my entire undergraduate and graduate experience. I love you all. To my wonderful in-laws, Lars-Håkan and Lisbeth Hansson, thank you for always treating me like one of your own. My wife has been my source of strength throughout this entire process. I dedicate this project to her. Thank you, Malin, for your unwavering patience, support, and love. On to the next adventure! iii Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………....ii Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………iii Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………....iv List of Abbreviations………………………………………………………………….......v Chapter 1 – Introduction………………………………………………………………..…1 Chapter 2 – ‘The Projection of Canada Abroad:’ Cultural Policy and State Security, 1945-1959…………………………………………………………...31 Chapter 3 – Music to Their Ears: Music Diplomacy between Canada and the Soviet Union, 1956-1961…………………………………………….…………83 Chapter 4 – “‘All the World’s a Stage:’ Canada’s Classical Theatre Exchanges with the U.S.S.R. and People’s Republic of China, 1955-1960…………....125 Chapter 5 – Dancing Their Way into Hearts and Minds: Canadian Ballet Exchanges with the Communist World, 1956-1976…………………………………....179 Chapter 6 – “Showing Canada to the World and the World To Canada,” Expo 67 and the World Festival of Arts and Entertainment…………………………...218 Chapter 7 – Conclusion……….………………………………………………………...255 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………........264 iv List of Abbreviations AUCC Association of United Ukrainian Canadians CHINCOM China Committee [of western countries] CICR Committee on Cultural and Information Relations CPC Communist Party of Canada CPSU Communist Party of the Soviet Union CSFS Canadian Soviet Friendship Society DEA Department of External Affairs, Ottawa FAC Foreign Assets Control Regulations [of the United States] LAC Library and Archives Canada LPP Labor-Progressive Party MI6 Military Intelligence, Section 6 [UK Internal Security Agency] NAC North Atlantic Council of NATO NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NC-CSF National Council for Canadian-Soviet Friendship PCO Privy Council Office PRC People’s Republic of China RCMP Royal Canadian Mounted Police UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics VIF Vancouver International Festival VOKS "Vsesoiuznoe Obshchestvo Kul'turnoi Sviazi s zagranitsei,” All-Union Society for Friendship and Cultural Relations Abroad v Chapter 1 – Introduction “Making the art of one country known to the people of another is of tremendous importance in overcoming the barriers of ignorance and misunderstanding and fear which complicate so dangerously the differences of interest between nations.” –Canadian Ambassador to Moscow, Arnold Smith, 19631 Beginning in the early 1950s, politicians, cultural elites, and diplomats were fascinated by the possibility that culture could be used both as a tool of diplomacy and a means of promoting the Canadian image on the international stage. What role did Canada’s public and private sector play in harnessing culture for domestic and political ends? How did this relate to Canada’s efforts to rebrand itself as distinct from the United States? How did issues of bilingualism, multiculturalism, and Britishness reflect the contested nature of any attempt to think of Canada as a singular cultural identity? My dissertation is a study of Canada’s cultural approaches toward the Communist world – particularly in the performing arts – and the ways in which the public and private sectors sought to develop Canada’s identity during the Cold War. Identity formation was Janus-faced. Although focused abroad, Canada’s cultural initiatives served a nation-building purpose at home. For practitioners of Canadian cultural diplomacy, domestic audiences were just as, if not more, important as foreign audiences. Canada’s postwar cultural diplomacy has received little scholarly attention. Although the collection of studies on kindred programs in the United States is substantial, there is only a small smattering of studies on Canada’s cultural diplomacy initiatives. Much of the existing historiography has focused solely on the 1970s, when Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau revived interest in cultural diplomacy as part of his efforts to reconfigure and reorient Canadian foreign 1 Arnold Smith, “Position of Creative Artists in the Soviet Union – Address,” 13 November 1963, LAC, MG31-E47, Vol. 82, File no. 27. 1 policy.2 The period from 1953-1967, however, has received little attention from historians and policy analysts alike. Donald Macintosh and Michael Hawes have examined sport diplomacy in Cold War Canada, while political scientist Evan Potter has done important work on the Canadian “brand” and soft power in a globalized world.3 However, a study of the connections between Canada’s cultural diplomacy initiatives and its efforts to develop its identity in the Cold War world has yet to be written. My study will seek to fill this void. A theme of particular importance in this dissertation, and one underplayed in the existing literature, is the socio-economic context within which decision-makers shaped diplomacy. Many Canadians saw in cultural diplomacy not just a way of prosecuting the Cold War by non-military means, but also a strategy for the development of a national identity. And in a world with two competing ideological blocs in which Canada was firmly, if uncomfortably, tied to the United States – a military, economic, and cultural giant – these twin factors were important to officials in Ottawa and to cultural elites throughout the country. As I argue, efforts by the liberal intelligentsia to create a uniquely Canadian sensibility were closely tied to cultural diplomacy programs. In the absence of unifying symbols, government officials worried that Canada would be all the more vulnerable to dangerous and subversive Communist propaganda. Liberal politicians and bureaucrats believed that new symbols and signifiers had to be created, both to safeguard the future unity of Canada as a liberal 2 Some of these works include John Graham, “Third Pillar or Fifth Wheel? International-Cultural Education and Cultural Foreign Policy,” in Fen Osler Hampson, Martin Rudner and Michael Hart, eds., Canada among Nations 1999: A Big League Player? (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1998), 139-54; Sean Rushton, “The Origins and Development of Canada’s Public Diplomacy,” Chapter Three in Branding Canada: Projecting Canada’s Soft Power Through Public Diplomacy, Evan H. Potter, ed. (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2009); Allana Lindgren, “Trudeau’s ‘Third Option’: Cultural Diplomacy and the National Ballet of Canada, 1972-1973,” ASCUS Biennial Conference (Unpublished conference paper, 2011). 3 Evan H. Potter, ed., Branding Canada: projecting Canada’s soft power through public diplomacy (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2009). 2 order and to serve as a bulwark against communism. 4 Role models were therefore needed so that the general public could see – and conform to – an image of a modern, proud “Canada.” Ballet dancers, actors, and musicians, among various other cultural performers, were looked to by the Canadian state to foster a love of country