1. Recently, Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy, while speaking at the OAS, highlighted the disruptive potential of this dynamic when he called for Cuba's reintegration into the body. Kathleen Kenna, “Canada Blasts U.S. on Cuba,”The Toronto Star(7 March 1998): A2; and Paul Koring, “Axworthy, Helms Aide Slug It Out on Cuba,”The Globe and Mail(7 March 1998): A1.
2. For a recent treatment of Canada and the crisis in Haiti, and the ensuing differences of opinion between the two countries, see Peter McKenna, “Canada and the Haitian Crisis,”Journal of Canadian Studies32 (1997): 77–97.
3. For a full treatment, see Peter McKenna,Canada and the OAS: From Dilettante to Full Partner(Ottawa: Carleton University Press, 1995).
4. There were also concerns about the lack of economic / commercial opportunities for Canada in Latin America, the fact that membership would garner few if any electoral votes, and the antidemocratic nature of many of its member states and their poor records with respect to fundamental human rights (especially the host of repressive military regimes in South America).
5. Critics of Canadian membership in the body had some of their concerns confirmed when then-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney—who had announced in October 1989 Canada's intention to seek full membership in the OAS—publicly indicated his support just two months later for the U.S. invasion of Panama. While Canada had not officially taken its seat at the OAS Council table until January of 1990, it reinforced a view of Ottawa's following the U.S. line and therefore marked an inauspicious beginning for Canada's admission.