Sport and Canadian Anti-Apartheid Policy: a political and diplomatic history c.1968 - c.1980 A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD in History by Danielle Griffin July 2012 De Montfort University Leicester, England 1 Acknowledgments This thesis could not have been written without the support, patience, insight and guidance of Professor Richard Holt at De Montfort University - thank you! Thanks to Dr. Jean Williams for the feedback and encouragement, and Dr. Tony Collins for identifying the potential in my work. The staff at the Library and Archives Canada were a wonderful support, always willing to answer questions, provide additional information and leads, and work on Access to Information and Privacy requests in a prompt, professional manner. Dr. Bruce Kidd at the University of Toronto provided great assistance in helping me understand the history of the anti-apartheid movement in Canada - thank you for your openness and willingness to share information. Thank you to Fergal for the unwavering support and encouragement. Thanks must be made to all of my friends for their support, especially Leilanie for always making me laugh. Big thanks to my siblings: John, Paul, Marra and Brianne for cheering me on. And, finally, a heartfelt thanks to my parents, Rita, Michael, Heather and Jeff, for supporting me on this long journey, I could not have done it without you. 2 Abstract In the 1970s the Canadian government took a strong stand against apartheid sport policies. Despite Canada!s limited sporting links with South Africa, Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and his Liberal government took on a leading Commonwealth position in promoting the isolation of South African sport. The catalyst for this leadership was Canada as host of two "mega! sporting events during the 1970s - the 1976 Montréal Olympics and the 1978 Edmonton Commonwealth Games. This thesis focuses on the progression and adoption of new policies and initiatives which looked to strengthen Canada!s foreign policies dealing with apartheid sport while promoting these initiatives within the Commonwealth. Canada, a senior member of the association, had proved itself to be a key ally of newly independent Commonwealth nations throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s. These nations looked to Canada for guidance. Along with taking on a stronger Commonwealth position during the Trudeau era, Canada also looked to increase its international presence by focusing less on its traditional ties with the United States and more on forging relationships with a variety of newer nations. As Canada looked outside its borders to assert itself, within the country regionalism was on the rise with the advent of Québec separatism. All these factors played a major role in the development of Canadian foreign policy during the 1970s. This thesis focuses on the balance between internal and external pressures for change and how changes unfolded in light of Canada holding two mega sporting events in quick progression. From 1968 to 1980, Trudeau dominated Canadian politics. An engaging figure, he came to power promoting his notion of a "Just Society! and looking to expand Canada!s international prestige. Newly opened archives of the External Affairs Department at the Library and Archives Canada show that Trudeau played a key role in the development of Canada!s new policies, especially during the period of 1975 to 1978. The wide range of primary sources consulted, many recently opened through Access to Information and Privacy requests, alongside a variety of sources from voluntary associations, analysed in this thesis provide a fulsome, chronological narrative of how Canada moved to the forefront of the Commonwealth and the association!s movement to isolate South African apartheid sport. 3 Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction# # # # # # # 5 Chapter 2: The 1960s# # # # # # # 31 Chapter 3: Trudeau and Canada!s New Path# # # # 56 Chapter 4: Changes in Canadian Policies# # # # # 76 Chapter 5: Preparations for 1976# # # # # 103 Chapter 6: The Montréal Olympics# # # # # # 120 Chapter 7: The Making of the Gleneagles Agreement# # # 148 Chapter 8: The Edmonton Commonwealth Games## # # 182 Chapter 9: Conclusion# # # # # # # 209 Appendix A: Timeline of Key Events# # # # # # 216 Appendix B: OAU Resolution on Sporting Links with South Africa# # 219 Appendix C: African Nations! reasons for boycotting the 1976 Olympics# 220 Appendix D: The Sports Policy Announcement of 23 September 1976# 221 Appendix E: Minister of Sport, Campagnolo to Canadian sport bodies# 222 Appendix F: Gleneagles Agreement Agreement on Sporting Contact# 226 # with South Africa, 1977 Appendix G: Press Statement: Canada Defines Sport Policy for# # 228 # South African Sportspeople# # Bibliography # # # # # # # # # 230# 4 Chapter 1: Introduction Scope and argument This thesis is a critical analysis of the Canadian government!s anti-apartheid sport policies in the 1970s. It focuses on the progression of these policies through the first incarnation of the Liberal Party government of Pierre Elliott Trudeau from 1968 to 1979 - a decade which witnessed a marked international strengthening of anti-apartheid sentiment, especially amongst newly independent African states. Unlike in Britain, Australia or New Zealand, South Africa!s two main white sports - rugby union and cricket - were not popular in Canada. Consequently, Canada!s direct sporting contact with South Africa was relatively limited and primarily in the field of athletics and other more marginal sports. Canada, however, was a leading member of the Commonwealth and necessarily implicated in the wider post-colonial politics of the former British empire. Moreover, under Trudeau, Canada increasingly aspired to play a distinctive and progressive role in world affairs. It was against this background that Canada acted as host to two of the world!s largest sporting events: the Montréal Olympic Games of 1976 and the Edmonton Commonwealth Games of 1978. This tension is central to the thesis, the argument of which is reciprocal: that Canada!s international interests impacted upon its holding of "mega! sporting events and that these events also directly influenced the conduct of foreign policy. Hence, in its broadest sense this is a case study of the role of politics in sport and of sport in politics. In addressing the evolution of Canada!s anti-apartheid sports policies in the 1970s, this thesis examines the balance between internal and external pressures for change. What was the role of moral pressure exerted by Churches, trade unions and other progressive bodies and individuals in the formulation of an anti-apartheid sports policy? Did Canadian economic and trading interests effect this? What role did Canadian regionalism, notably the growing "problem! of Québec separatism, play? Or was it rather external factors - Canada!s desire to increase its "middle-power! status or the relations with emergent African nations, for example - which were the crucial catalysts for changes to Canada!s sports policy in relation to South Africa? The hosting of major international sporting events is often seen as an honour. But the Canadian government soon discovered it could be a burden. The staging of these 5 events, especially the modern Olympic Games, of course, had frequently been subject to political intrigue and international diplomacy. In the year Trudeau came to power, this kind of politicisation of sport was apparent to all. The 1968 Mexico City Olympics was preceded by a massacre of protesters 10 days before the start of the Games whilst the Black Power salute by American 200-meter medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner was a hugely controversial political gesture. As Montréal began to prepare for the 1976 Olympics, the Trudeau government had to come to terms with the new phenomenon of political terrorism. During the Munich Olympics of 1972, 11 members of the Israeli Olympic contingent were killed by members of the Palestinian terrorist group Black September. Despite the aspirations and efforts of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to keep international political conflict out of the Games, clashes of Cold War ideology and new forms of extremism were never far away. Heading off or containing such conflicts could not be managed at the level of the host city, which did not hold political power. Reluctantly or otherwise, the host state was drawn in. In the Canadian case the key factor was the coincidence of a leading Commonwealth nation hosting the Olympics at the same time as an international movement for cutting all sporting links with South Africa gathered momentum. The African Commonwealth nations had, on several previous occasions, including 1970 and 1974, threatened to boycott the Commonwealth Games because of continuing sporting ties between white Commonwealth nations and South Africa. This campaign was backed by powerful protest movements, especially in Britain and in New Zealand, designed to stop tours of white South African rugby or cricket teams selected on a racial basis. This in turn raised the political stakes and temperature across the Commonwealth. The coincidence of the 1976 Olympic Games and the 1978 Commonwealth Games, being held in a leading Commonwealth country, which proclaimed itself as progressive and multicultural, provided African Commonwealth nations with the opportunity to isolate South Africa even further. Central to the thesis is the period 1975 - 1978, during which the threat of boycott,