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2. BY JUDY STEED The Globe and Mail IS REPUTATION precedes him: Ivan Wanderlust is in his blood. His Head was Canada's Kissinger, for eight mother, Birdie Larkin, came from years the "special assistant to the prime Prince Edward Island, descended minister," responsible for "foreign policy from a Maritimes family that in- and the conduct of international rela- cluded the captain of a clipper ship tions. " who was lost at sea. His Aunt Belle, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, once a globe- who at the turn of the century was trotting leftist, developed a passion for widowed young, moved to northern foreign affairs while occupying the highest office in the , ran her own busi- -id; under Mr. Head's tutelage, Prime Minister ness "and prospered to the extent . udeau pursued an activist foreign policy that gave that she could vacation in Europe - Canada a high profileon the global scene. this was before the First World War," says Mr. Head The Trudeau-Head duo mounted a sophisticated with proud emphasis. A more contemporary relative is campaign to defend Canada's Arctic sovereignty former Tory member of Parliament David MacDonald, against U.S. incursions, conducted controversial meet- now Canada's Ambassador to Ethiopia. ings with the likes of Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Two Heads listed in the Canadian Encyclopedia, he established diplomatic relations between Ottawa and observes, are no relation. "One (Sir Francis Bond Beijing in 1970, a move that was considered a brilliant Head) was the Governor of Upper Canada who caused breakthrough in Washington, which did not recognize the rebellion of 1837 and the other one (Sir Edmund China until 1979 under President Jimmy Carter. Walker Head) was the Governor-General of all of Can- Ivan Head had influence and access. A slender, fair- ada (then known as British North America, from 1854- haired lawyer and an expert on constitutional matters 61). " Their existence may explain the persistence of the and international law, this so-called "patrician mys- false rumor that Ivan Head has aristocratic connec- tery man" had a red phone in his Langevin block office tions. The encyclopedia describes Mr. Head simply as that was connected directly to the prime minister. But "combative, strong-willed and idealistic." in 1978, Mr. Head stepped out of the inner circle, into the Mr. Head was born in on July 28, 1930, the dark chasm that divides rich from poor. grandson of a Cockney plumber. His father, a civil problem is the single most servant during the Social Credit regime of William "The North-South Aberhart, was sometimes paid in "scrip," otherwise " he then, as he presssing issue facing us, said assumed known as "prosperity certificiates"or funny money. the presidency of the International Development Re- Centre, a Crown corporation that supports Ivan's upbringing was neither religious nor political. search He was not required to go to School, unusual in scientists in their own quest for devel- Sunday Third or that era, and politics was "not to be discussed." This opment. being the Depression, his mother's theme was: "At Ten years later, the IDRC still provides Mr. Head's least your father has a job. " Arthur Head hung onto it. links to the global village and his passion for Third Arthur's job with Government Telephones World development is unabated - as is his fear that if took him into management ranks (to the heights of the rich don't care, the problems of the poor are going to corporate comptrollef) and in 1944 he moved the family pull us all into the soup together. to Edmonton, where Ivan finished high school. "Our economies in the North are now dependent on "I wanted to become an airplane pilot," says Ivan. "I the economies of the South," says Mr. Head, seated in built model airplanes and hoped the war would contin- IDRC headquarters in Ottawa, surrounded by the ue until I was old enough to join up. But then I was 'otsam and jetsam and artistic treasures of a life lived shattered when a high school teacher said, 'Would you .n the international lane. "There's a net cash flow of want to be a taxi driver? That's what a pilot is, a high. $50-billion a year, South to North, and it's no longer for priced taxi driver in the sky.' " the purchase of goods - they can't afford them. Unsure what to do with his life, Ivan graduated from They're using their cash to pay the interest on loans. high school at 16. His father, a working-class Brit, My message to the Trilateral Commission (which met discouraged him from going to university "because no in Tokyo in April) was that a series of disequilibria is one in the family had gone to university." His mother, building up. It's uncontainable." fortunately for him, "knocked down all the rules - she He sketches: Out-of-control population growth - was an ardent feminist, she was a real get-up-and- monitored in IDRC's lobby, where a digital clock flips getter. "Ivan enrolled at the . He relentlessly, adding people at the rate of 25 born every was a top student, captain of the track team, ambitious 10 seconds; today, the total is (for 10 seconds) - for what, he wasn't sure, but he had drive. 5,063,057,626. Add the moss migrations into cities of He figures he got his enthusiasm from his mother; illiterate people "full of despair and anger, beyond the from his father he got "the stamina to stick to it, to run control of theirown governments." the marathon - without that element you can be a In this dangerous brew swim the dealers - the weap- butterfly." He describes Arthur Head as a cautious ons salesmen who are, in Mr. Head's opinion, more workaholic who ended up with gastric ulcers and pernicious than drug dealers; indeed, they are often emphysema, dead at 62. interlinked, as drugs are sold to buy weapons. The Birdie Larkin Head is still alive at 84. Typical of her dealers promote the spread of the arms race to poor exploits was an assault on the local ladies' committee countries, encouraging them to control their people that was selling UNICEF Christmas cards, usually militarily instead of educating them. The poor coun- distributed from a tiny closet in an inaccessible lo- tries buy weapons that in many instances they don't cation where most people would be sure not to find it. know how to use. But they learn, and the arms race Mrs. Head persuaded a department store to give her a escalates. The worst poison of all - violence - window on Jasper Avenue. spreads. "Holy cow," says her son, remembering the excite- ment. "The sales of "The future of the North on the South," says UNICEF Christmas cards explod- depends ed and it caused so Mr. Head. "I'm not losing optimism, but I'm losing much consternation that eventually confidence." It's the lethal combination of population growth, environmental degradation and the nuclear arms race that batters his confidence. But against the SUITE negative forces is the positive thrust of groups such as 'DR . A drop in the bucket, perhaps, but Mr. Head has CONTINUED chosen to act in the face of despair. He would say there Is no choice.

HIS MAN who loves the planet had seen only a very small part of it until he was an adult. Mr. Head is a child of Southern Alberta, a re- gion- he is still enor- mously attached to evenI--- after travelling to all the exotic places that still thrill him in a chil- dishly joyous way. 'year. But the following year, Mr. Trudeau became "The only way Canada could assert primeminister. s authority was through legal mech- anisms, "says John Honderich, author R. HEAD stayed 10 years with Mr. of Arctic Imperative: Is Canada Los- Trudeau, through the rise of Quebec ing The North? "The Arctic Pollution nationalism, the infamous War Mea- Prevention Act became the world's she was forced out by the little old ladies, who didn't for? "M Hea thought, at first: "Because it's myjob." sures Act of 1970 and the election of strongest anti-pollution law. It was approve. " But he pondered more deeply and "a spark lit in me Rene Levesque's Parti Quebecois, the lynchpin of Canada's strategy. Mr. Head graduated with a law degree in 1952 and about the developing countries, about the richness of events that dominated the nation's Since that time, the Law of the Sea was in on the beginnings of Alberta's mighty oil boom. their cultures, the wealth of history, global politics, the political agenda. But these were not convention has allowed Arctic states to pass He did not, however, take advantage of it. Many clients human race." the issues for which Mr . Head was similar anti-pollution taws." were fledgling oil company executives who offered him He fell in love with thoughts of the diversity of human responsible. The trio that occupied his attention: Arctic Thus Canada pioneered a new, non- a share of the action in return for his services; the experience and expression. He remembers flying from sovereignty, North-South relations, nuclear weapons. violent approach to national security: barter system helped cash-poor entreprenuers make it Singapore to Rangoon, looking out over the South China "The Trudeau years were years of high triumph in environmental protection. rich. He turned down the deals ("because I was so Sea and the Gulf of Siam: "Holy smokes! This was Canadian foreign policy," says University of Tbronto Mr. Head calls the strategy of pur- pure") and watched some of his classmates become romantic stuff; how fortunate I was. I never ever re- political scientist John Kirton, who has been research- suing national goals while taking. an multi -millionaires. gretted not being a lawyerin southern Alberta." ing the field for 11 years. In 1969, Mr. Trudeau toyed altruistic stance that benefits other Still, by the late fifties, he was upwardly mobile, But after three years, 1960 to 1963, he was lured back with the idea of taking Canada's forces out of Europe nations "enlightened self-interest. ensconced in a prosperous practice, married to Barba- to the University of Alberta to teach law. "I know I must and withdrawing from the North Atlantic Treaty Orga- Who else would look after the Canadi- ra Spence Eagle, with three children and looking to sound like an stick-in-the-mud," Mr. Head nization; he subsequently challenged the United States an Arctic if we didn't? If the Arctic move into a bigger house in a better neighborhood. laughs, "but Alberta was then an exciting place." He overcontrol of the Northwest Passage. environment were damaged by a ma- Suddenly, he realized that his life stretched out be- was attracted to the burgeoning business of teaching Despite the setbacks he encountered, "Trudeau and jor oil spill, it would have a mammoth fore him in a predictable vista. "I wanted to know more law in Canada, delighted to have the opportunity to Head modernized Canadian foreign policy and re- detrimental impact on the global about the world than southern Alberta," is all he can introduce international law courses into the curric- oriented it to cope successfully with serious external environment." But no international say by way of explaining what happened next. He ulum. As well, he had an academic streak that now, challenges, " says Mr. Kirton. law supported the Canadian position. packed up the family and went to Harvard to study more than 25 years later, is sublimated into his devel- Says Mr. Head: "We denuclearized our forces-in The challenge was to create new Iiw international law in 1959, having won a prestigious opment work. "It's the ham in me," he says. "I love Euro p e - th ere i s no military use for nuclear weapons. and "eyeball the United States and the scholarship. He did his thesis on Canadian Claims to teaching." He still leaps at invitations to go back to They are political objects that threaten the human race ts, and Territorial Sovereignty in the Arctic Regions. Then - universities to lead seminars and talk. wit h extinction. There is no scenario in which nuclear Britain - that the Ameri ans mobilized ago nst us.-It to him this leap seems natural he became a foreign- One thing led to another and in 1967 he received a weapons can be used. " was great fun." - Pierre service officer in the Department of External Affairs, phone call from the new minister of justice, On international issues, !jr. Hea had an eagerpart- earning less than he had paid in income tax as a Cal- Trudeau. They'd met at conferences, knew each other ner. "Never had a Canadian prime minister come-to T WAS ALSO tough sledding. "Their dreams gary lawyer. "I was accredited to Singapore, Burma, slightly, and Mr. Trudeau wanted r. Head to come to office with so much personal knowledge of the Third were greater than what they were able to Thailand,and I went. "He met An aide worker in South- Ottawa to advise on constitutional matters. Then in his World. In every statement he made at international achieve," says Mr. Honderich. "They tried to east Asia who asked him: "What are we doing this mid-thirties, Mr. Head accepted the invitation for one conferences, to the U.S. Congress, I made sure this design a new defence policy, but they ran into consciousness of North-South issues came through," very stiff opposition." From whom? "The On NATO, Mr. He has not changed his position. Americans." "For us, the issue was to make NATO more responsiye Prof. Kirton expands: "They were dealing to a b road range of activities - which was one of th e reasons NATO was created in the first place. It could U.S. collapse in V etnam began the sustained declineof have been a marvellous forum for North-South action. America as a dominant power and the America' s But it's become an increasingly ossified, defensive, wanted unimpeded access for global shipping. They securitygirdle. We've lost opportunities." alsowanted access toCanadian energy supplies. " In the Arctic, the two men designed and executed a It was after an oil embargo that resulted from the policy that not only protected Canadian sovereignty In Arab-Israeli wars, says Prof. Kirton, that the United the face of an increasing challenge from the United States began to pursue a continental energy policy that States but enhanced Canada's powers. was foiled by Mr. Trudeau's introduction, in 1980, of the In 1969, the U.S oil tanker Manhattan made its first National Energy Program. Prof. Kirton says the U.S. voyage from Alaska through the Northwest Passage to goal has, at last, been achieved in the proposed Brian prove the feasibility of commercial shipping via that Mulroney-Ronald Reagan trade deal. route - and to demonstrate that the passage was just Looking back at the Trudeau-Head period, one is another international body of water. Canada, however, struck by "Canada's ability to play hardball," saps claimed jurisdiction. In response, Mr. Heed drew up Prof. Kirton. the Arctic Wafers 0o 11 ution' Prevention Act and shifted world opinion, says Prof. Kirton, toward greater re- w spect for environmental issues, maintaining that Cap- SUB'. ada had to control the Northwest Passage to protect the CONTINUED oceans of the world. THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SATURDAY,.MAY ,28,. 1988 For v Head, the tenor of the times was very much a product of Mr. Trudeau's leadership. tyrto be associated with a guy of such extraordindry SUITE vision, intellect and discipline was incredible.' 4. The prime minister gave Mr. Head enormous ce- CONTINM sponsiblity. "He would employ meas his personal emi- ssary to negotiate with other heads of government On his behalf. One doesn't have that opportunity very often. Tb look back and think, 'We really did those

things,' " he grins. " Wow l " + ' They also fought between themselves, experiencing what Mr. Head refers to as "legendary tussles." Is-it true that Mr. Trudeau could be an "arrogant son-of-a- bitch," as numerous critics have described him? "Yes, but his was'an intellectual arrogance. He simply had no patience whatever for inadequate preparation. If you weren't well-founded in your arguments, he could be.- and often was - devastating. He would use his attack to look for intellectual weaknesses, frailties, holes in your argument. You had to stand up to him, you had to be ready to defend your positions. " Mr. Head was comfortable enough in the Trudeau pressure cooker, but in 1978 he made the sudden move to IDR Again, the move seemed like the natural thii g to do." You can be a policy adviser only for so long. You have to get honest. I saw the dimension of the North- South problem; we can't sit back and say we control technology and just pull up the drawbridge and shut it out. What Mr. Head refuses to shut out is "the crushing burden of poverty in the Third World. Social and politi- cal instability flow out of it. Never before have entire societies been at such risk. No matter how good we are in the North, our progress is only marginal unless our governments make major changes in relations with countries of the South. " So far, he says, "governments of the North aren't ready to do more than pay lip service." But like it'or not, the world is changing and those who resist, he says, "are the losers. There's no such thing as the status quo." Those who see themselves as defenders of the status quo" are left in the rump of history." What drives Ivan Head now is an urgent sense that unprecedented tragedy lurks around the corner. In the meantime, he is busy arm-twisting captains of indus- try and ordinary people to change their vision of the world."We're all in this together," he says, smiling, preparing for yet another of an unending series of missions that have turned his life into a patchwork quilt of multiple hues. :b NEXT WEEK: Overseas with-the IDRC. New military front: the Arctic

IERRE TRUDEAU's and Ivan Head's increasingly drawing the world's attention ... On concern about Canadian sovereigntyis the security front, the Arctic Ocean has been jolted as relevant today as two decades ago. into becoming the world's newest military frontier as Then, the threat was represented by the the two superpowers confront each other, submarine provocative voyage of a U.S. ship to submarine. Meanwhile, research and testing con- through Canadian waters. Now, the tinue on futuristic lasers and particle-beam weapons prospects are overwhelming: the awe- for the controversial Star Wars plan, which envi- some power of military technology as sages explosive-missile interception in Arctic air- envisioned by U.S. President Ronald Reagan in his space." pet project, Star Wars. The president's Strategic For Ivan Head, these developments are downright Defence Initiative will be what he imagines as an depressing. invisible, magical umbrella to protect the United "Every single escalation into new and more exotic States from Soviet attack. technologies takes resources away from more hu- Star Wars critics - among them Canadian Nobel manly important projects, " he says. Prize-winning scientist John Polanyi - warn that "Every escalation is harder to verify and harder to SDI is just another, ever more deadly escalation of control, making the world an ever more dangerous the arms race into outer space - and into the hinter- place. And each time the arms race moves forward, land. we only encourage developing countries to believe "The age of the Arctic is coming," writes journalist their future is in military technology. History shows, John Honderich in his new book, Arctic Imperative. after all, that anyone who believes military advances "After centuries of benign neglect, the once-forbid- are only for defensive purposes ends up being de- ding Arctic is now the scene of developments that are stroyed."