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John Ivison: 'Dangerous politics': Trump suspends joint defence board with Canada

'This is politically motivated and fits perfectly into the ongoing tactics of the current administration to undermine Canada in as many ways as possible'

The moment when Canada moved from Britain’s orbit into America’s can be dated precisely to Aug. 17, 1940.

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That was the day when Canadian prime minister William Mackenzie King and U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Ogdensburg Agreement that defined the principle of the joint defence of North America.

The agreement, drafted in pencil and without consultation with either cabinet, established the Permanent Joint Board of Defence that has been in place ever since.

Or at least it was in place until Monday, when the U.S. Under-secretary of War, Elbridge Colby, announced the Trump administration has decided to “pause” its involvement and “reassess” its value because “Canada has failed to make credible progress on its defence commitments.”

The board was conceived by Mackenzie King and Roosevelt as a real joint defence commitment. The president said he thought 30,000 American troops could be moved to Nova Scotia within three hours of a German invasion, at a time when the Battle of Britain was being waged in the skies over southern England and the mother country’s independence was in peril.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill reacted with displeasure to the agreement, suggesting to King that Roosevelt was taking advantage of Britain’s distress to split the Commonwealth.

But King thought it was a crucial step toward securing American help and winning the war.

“Canada now had the security to risk more for Britain. The measure also drew the United States deeper into the war, while drawing Canada more into........

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