Keith William MacLellan
Encyclopedia
Keith William MacLellan was a soldier, scholar and Canadian diplomat who helped to shape Canada's post war multi-lateral foreign policy and championed the cause of a federal, united, Canada.
, the son of William David MacLellan and Edith Olmsted. He was a direct descendant of Philemon Wright
, the founder of Hull, Québec, now called Gatineau
.
He grew up in Montreal
and first studied at McGill University
where in 1942 he helped John Sutherland
and his sister found the First Statement
, a Canadian literary anthology.
He subsequently joined the army and served during World War II
as one of only two Canadians in the British Special Air Service (1st SAS)
, where he operated behind German lines. It was in this period that he first met and then married on September 11, 1946, his wife, Comtesse Marie Antoinette LeGrelle, daughter of Comte Adelin Le Grelle and Rosalie de Swert, from Antwerp, Belgium
; whose uncle, Comte Jacques Legrelle (aka «Jérôme»), helped to organise and run the Comet (or Comète) Line
, which was Europe’s largest and most successful underground escape line during World War II; and whose niece, Cécilia Ciganer-Albéniz
became First Lady of France in 2007.
Post war, he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at New College
, Oxford, obtaining his Masters in 1947. In this time, he both rowed for his college and was a contemporary with political and literary figures such as Tony Wedgewood Benn
and the organisers of the Oxford Manifesto
of 1947.
He subsequently returned to Canada, first working at Imperial Oil
and then joining Canada's Department of External Affairs as a diplomat in 1950. It was as a Canadian diplomat that he represented his country around the world and helped to shape Canada's foreign policy in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. He rose to the rank of ambassador before leaving in order to pursue a career in politics, first standing for parliament as a Conservative Candidate in the riding of Lasalle
in 1979 and then again in 1988 in Westmount St Henri.
Despite not being elected to Parliament, Keith MacLellan did not abandon his love of politics, but rather devoted his later years to the twin causes of Canadian/Quebec unity and Scottish/Clan MacLellan history. He was first elected as president of the St Andrew’s Society of Montreal and later President of the St Andrew’s Society of Ottawa. He was Director, Clan MacLellan of America and a convenor of the Franco-Scottish society of Québec. In each case, he was able to use his political skills not only to weld the often warring factions into a cohesive whole, but also to instil into proceedings the higher ideal of using Scottish history within Quebec as a force for Canadian unity.
He is survived by his four children, Dr Keith MacLellan, Dr Anne-Marie MacLellan, Janet MacLellan and Andrew MacLellan.
.
It was in the United Kingdom that he transferred to the 1st Special Air Service
(1st SAS), becoming one of only two Canadians serving in the 1st SAS during the war. In this time, he was part of small jeep mounted units that operated behind enemy lines in Belgium
, the Netherlands
, Germany
and Norway
.
While his precise involvement in operations is unknown, it is known that:
It is also known that he was part of the SAS detachment that first liberated the Bergen Belsen concentration camp, which his unit discovered while operating ahead of the allied armies after the Rhine crossing.
It was during the liberation of Antwerp in 1944, that he first met Comtesse Marie Antoinette LeGrelle who he married after the war as a student at Oxford.
This group, led by their political masters, shaped and represented a Canadian foreign policy and identity on the world stage that was neither American nor British, yet was, within the constraints of the Cold War
, both allied with, yet independent to, all. The group's ethos of "multilateralism" successfully defined Canada's separate identity while enabling it to exert its influence through multilateral institutions based on the rule of law such as the United Nations
and the World Health Orginisation.
Keith MacLellan's career covered a number of countries that were undergoing "interesting times", most notably Laos
in 1965–1966 when it was in some turmoil including Civil War and a Secret War , as a result of the conflict in neighbouring Vietnam
; Pakistan
in 1974–1977 when the then Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
was deposed and in Afghanistan
in the same period when a series of coups eventually led to the Soviet invasion. Finally he witnessed the beginning of the unravelling of Yugoslavia
in 1979 when President Josip Broz Tito
's illness and subsequent death in 1980 left a power vacuum that resulted in ethnic divisions and civil war.
It was perhaps in these countries and times that his character and military background came to the fore, as he often eschewed the closed confines of the diplomatic compound in favour of prolonged "fishing trips" in remote provinces where foreigners were rarely seen, but coincidentally, political unrest was simmering.
to sign up to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
and abandon its aim of manufacturing a nuclear bomb in response to India having exploded their own device, Smiling Buddha
, on May 18, 1974.
Canada had what was believed at the time to be a trump card in the international effort to curb Pakistan's ambitions; namely the supply of uranium and technical support to Pakistan's Canadian manufactured KANUPP
nuclear power plant. KANUPP was believed at the time to be Pakistan's only source of fissile material from which a bomb could be made. At the same time, matters were complicated by France agreeing to sell Pakistan a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant and technical expertise which would have the capability of turning the "spent fuel" from KANUPP into large quantities of weapons grade plutonium.
While inconceivable in this day and age of instant communications and "special envoy" shuttle diplomacy, the task of bringing Prime Minister Bhutto to the negotiating table and obtaining an agreement fell on Keith MacLellan as Canada's representative in Pakistan.
Unfortunately, both Canada and the West had seriously underestimated Bhutto's determination to develop Pakistan's own bomb and the sacrifices that it was prepared to pay in order to do so. In fact, unknown to them, Bhutto had formally launched Pakistan's nuclear programme within 3 months of being elected Prime Minister in 1972 and subsequently accelerated the programme in 1974 by launching Project-706
, which was later described by Time Magazine as "Pakistan's equivalent of the U.S.'s Manhattan Project" . Part of this project involved developing the technology and expertise to produce and refine uranium from other sources than Canada.
As a result, the threat of Canadian sanctions on the KANNUP reactor were less of an ultimate deterrent than was believed at the time. Consequently, negotiations between Keith MacLellan and Prime Minister Bhutto finally broke down in 1976 and despite a State Visit to Ottawa by Bhutto, Canada withdrew its support for the reactor. This action however only resulted in a delay rather than a cessation of Pakistan's nuclear programme.
While accounts vary as to the length of the delay before Canadian uranium and expertise were replaced by domestic product, with some sources stating that the impact as little as two years, it should be noted that prior to the sanction, Pakistan had initially projected having a working device by the early-mid 1980s, whereas it actually only detonated its first device in 1998 .
Responding to this challenge was, he felt, a "call of duty" that could not be ignored. As a result, despite holding the post of Canadian Ambassador to Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, he formally asked for "leave of absence" in 1979 from External Affairs in order to stand for Parliament and help with the 1980 Quebec Referendum
. When this permission was refused, he resigned from External Affairs, thus effectively ending his career. He returned to his native Montreal to stand as Conservative Party candidate in the riding of Lasalle, a Liberal Party stronghold, and also to help to mobilise the Federalist "No" vote in Quebec.
He was defeated in the election to Parliament by a sound margin, but the referendum on whether Quebec should pursue a path toward sovereignty and eventual secession from Canada was also defeated.
He subsequently reapplied to rejoin External Affairs, where after a time of wearing "sackcloth and ashes" in Ottawa, he was posted as Ambassador to first Jordan and then to Syria before formally retiring in 1985.
in 1979 and then again in 1988 in Westmount St Henri.
Life and family
Of Canadian pioneering stock, Keith MacLellan was born on November 30, 1920 in Aylmer, QuébecAylmer, Quebec
Aylmer is a former city in Quebec, Canada. It became a sector of the City of Gatineau on January 1, 2002. Located on the Ottawa River and Route 148 it is a part of the National Capital Region. The population in 2006 was 41 882 — approx. 16% of Gatineau...
, the son of William David MacLellan and Edith Olmsted. He was a direct descendant of Philemon Wright
Philemon Wright
Philemon Wright was a farmer and entrepreneur who founded Wrightstown, the first permanent settlement in the National Capital Region of Canada...
, the founder of Hull, Québec, now called Gatineau
Gatineau
Gatineau is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is the fourth largest city in the province. It is located on the northern banks of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario, and together they form Canada's National Capital Region. Ottawa and Gatineau comprise a single Census...
.
He grew up in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and first studied at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
where in 1942 he helped John Sutherland
John Sutherland (Canadian writer)
John Sutherland was a Canadian poet, literary critic, and magazine editor based in Montreal, Quebec. Although he published numerous poems of his own, he was perhaps better known as the founder and editor of two important Canadian literary magazines, First Statement and Northern Review...
and his sister found the First Statement
First Statement
First Statement was a Canadian literary magazine published in Montreal, Quebec from 1942 to 1945. During its short life the magazine, along with its rival publication Preview with which it often shared contributors, provided one of the few publication avenues for modernist Canadian poetry at a time...
, a Canadian literary anthology.
He subsequently joined the army and served during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
as one of only two Canadians in the British Special Air Service (1st SAS)
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
, where he operated behind German lines. It was in this period that he first met and then married on September 11, 1946, his wife, Comtesse Marie Antoinette LeGrelle, daughter of Comte Adelin Le Grelle and Rosalie de Swert, from Antwerp, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
; whose uncle, Comte Jacques Legrelle (aka «Jérôme»), helped to organise and run the Comet (or Comète) Line
Comet line
The Comet line was a World War II resistance group in Belgium/France which helped Allied soldiers and airmen return to Britain. The line started in Brussels, where the men were fed, clothed and given false identity papers before being hidden in attics and cellars of houses...
, which was Europe’s largest and most successful underground escape line during World War II; and whose niece, Cécilia Ciganer-Albéniz
Cécilia Ciganer-Albéniz
Cécilia María Sara Isabel Attias was the second wife of French president Nicolas Sarkozy until October 2007....
became First Lady of France in 2007.
Post war, he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at New College
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
, Oxford, obtaining his Masters in 1947. In this time, he both rowed for his college and was a contemporary with political and literary figures such as Tony Wedgewood Benn
Tony Benn
Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963...
and the organisers of the Oxford Manifesto
Oxford Manifesto
The Oxford Manifesto, drawn up in April 1947 by representatives from nineteen Liberal political parties at Wadham College in Oxford, led by Salvador de Madariaga, is a document which describes the basic political principles of the Liberal International...
of 1947.
He subsequently returned to Canada, first working at Imperial Oil
Imperial Oil
Imperial Oil Limited is Canada's largest petroleum company. The company is engaged in the exploration, production and sale of crude oil and natural gas. It is controlled by US based ExxonMobil, which owns 69.6% of its stock...
and then joining Canada's Department of External Affairs as a diplomat in 1950. It was as a Canadian diplomat that he represented his country around the world and helped to shape Canada's foreign policy in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. He rose to the rank of ambassador before leaving in order to pursue a career in politics, first standing for parliament as a Conservative Candidate in the riding of Lasalle
Lasalle (electoral district)
Lasalle was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1988....
in 1979 and then again in 1988 in Westmount St Henri.
Despite not being elected to Parliament, Keith MacLellan did not abandon his love of politics, but rather devoted his later years to the twin causes of Canadian/Quebec unity and Scottish/Clan MacLellan history. He was first elected as president of the St Andrew’s Society of Montreal and later President of the St Andrew’s Society of Ottawa. He was Director, Clan MacLellan of America and a convenor of the Franco-Scottish society of Québec. In each case, he was able to use his political skills not only to weld the often warring factions into a cohesive whole, but also to instil into proceedings the higher ideal of using Scottish history within Quebec as a force for Canadian unity.
He is survived by his four children, Dr Keith MacLellan, Dr Anne-Marie MacLellan, Janet MacLellan and Andrew MacLellan.
War years
Like many of his generation, his studies were interrupted by the war and he joined the Royal Montreal Regiment,with whom he trained, was commissioned as an officer and was sent to the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
It was in the United Kingdom that he transferred to the 1st Special Air Service
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
(1st SAS), becoming one of only two Canadians serving in the 1st SAS during the war. In this time, he was part of small jeep mounted units that operated behind enemy lines in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
.
While his precise involvement in operations is unknown, it is known that:
- he joined "A Sqn" 1st SAS in 1944.
- he was detached for a short period (Dec 1944-Jan 1945) for either or both Operation Franklin and Operation Regent during the Battle of the BulgeBattle of the BulgeThe Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
where he was part of a group sent to hunt the SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto SkorzenyOtto SkorzenyOtto Skorzeny was an SS-Obersturmbannführer in the German Waffen-SS during World War II. After fighting on the Eastern Front, he was chosen as the field commander to carry out the rescue mission that freed the deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from captivity...
's commandos. - he returned to his squadron and took part in Operation ArchwayOperation ArchwayOperation Archway was the codename for one of the largest and most diverse operations carried out by the Special Air Service during the Second World War....
(March–May 1945) where his unit operated behind the German lines first in support of the Rhine CrossingOperation VarsityOperation Varsity was a successful joint American–British airborne operation that took place toward the end of World War II...
, and subsequently in advance of the Allied armies, finally reaching Keil in May 1945. - he took part in Operation Apostle, (May–August 1945) in Norway, where the SAS were deployed to disarm some 300,000 German soldiers at the end of the war.
It is also known that he was part of the SAS detachment that first liberated the Bergen Belsen concentration camp, which his unit discovered while operating ahead of the allied armies after the Rhine crossing.
It was during the liberation of Antwerp in 1944, that he first met Comtesse Marie Antoinette LeGrelle who he married after the war as a student at Oxford.
External Affairs
Keith MacLellan joined External Affairs in 1950 and was part of the small group of Canadian Foreign Service officers who helped to shape Canada's post war diplomatic efforts and policy in a critical time in Canada's history.This group, led by their political masters, shaped and represented a Canadian foreign policy and identity on the world stage that was neither American nor British, yet was, within the constraints of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, both allied with, yet independent to, all. The group's ethos of "multilateralism" successfully defined Canada's separate identity while enabling it to exert its influence through multilateral institutions based on the rule of law such as the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
and the World Health Orginisation.
Keith MacLellan's career covered a number of countries that were undergoing "interesting times", most notably Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
in 1965–1966 when it was in some turmoil including Civil War and a Secret War , as a result of the conflict in neighbouring Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
; Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
in 1974–1977 when the then Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was 9th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1973 to 1977, and prior to that, 4th President of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973. Bhutto was the founder of the Pakistan Peoples Party — the largest and most influential political party in Pakistan— and served as its chairman until his...
was deposed and in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
in the same period when a series of coups eventually led to the Soviet invasion. Finally he witnessed the beginning of the unravelling of Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
in 1979 when President Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
's illness and subsequent death in 1980 left a power vacuum that resulted in ethnic divisions and civil war.
It was perhaps in these countries and times that his character and military background came to the fore, as he often eschewed the closed confines of the diplomatic compound in favour of prolonged "fishing trips" in remote provinces where foreigners were rarely seen, but coincidentally, political unrest was simmering.
Negotiating A Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty with Pakistan
It was however in Pakistan that Keith MacLellan faced his greatest diplomatic challenge, namely to try to get Pakistan and its then Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali BhuttoZulfikar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was 9th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1973 to 1977, and prior to that, 4th President of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973. Bhutto was the founder of the Pakistan Peoples Party — the largest and most influential political party in Pakistan— and served as its chairman until his...
to sign up to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to...
and abandon its aim of manufacturing a nuclear bomb in response to India having exploded their own device, Smiling Buddha
Smiling Buddha
The Smiling Buddha, formally designated as Pokhran-I, was the codename given to Republic of India's first nuclear test explosion that took place at the long-constructed Indian Army base, Pokhran Test Range at Pokhran municipality, Rajasthan state on 18 May 1974 at 8:05 a.m....
, on May 18, 1974.
Canada had what was believed at the time to be a trump card in the international effort to curb Pakistan's ambitions; namely the supply of uranium and technical support to Pakistan's Canadian manufactured KANUPP
KANUPP
The Karachi Nuclear Power Plant, widely known as KANUPP-I, is a commercial nuclear power plant, located at Karachi, Sindh Province of Pakistan. In terms of Nuclear industry, the KANUPP-I is Pakistan's first nuclear power plant and is the first nuclear power plant in the Muslim world to be constructed...
nuclear power plant. KANUPP was believed at the time to be Pakistan's only source of fissile material from which a bomb could be made. At the same time, matters were complicated by France agreeing to sell Pakistan a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant and technical expertise which would have the capability of turning the "spent fuel" from KANUPP into large quantities of weapons grade plutonium.
While inconceivable in this day and age of instant communications and "special envoy" shuttle diplomacy, the task of bringing Prime Minister Bhutto to the negotiating table and obtaining an agreement fell on Keith MacLellan as Canada's representative in Pakistan.
Unfortunately, both Canada and the West had seriously underestimated Bhutto's determination to develop Pakistan's own bomb and the sacrifices that it was prepared to pay in order to do so. In fact, unknown to them, Bhutto had formally launched Pakistan's nuclear programme within 3 months of being elected Prime Minister in 1972 and subsequently accelerated the programme in 1974 by launching Project-706
Project-706
Project-706, also known as Project-726 or as the Kahuta Project, was a science effort codename of a project conducted during the Cold War and Russo-Afghan War whose objective was to develop Pakistan' first atomic weapon. The mainstream goal of the project was the development of an atomic bomb using...
, which was later described by Time Magazine as "Pakistan's equivalent of the U.S.'s Manhattan Project" . Part of this project involved developing the technology and expertise to produce and refine uranium from other sources than Canada.
As a result, the threat of Canadian sanctions on the KANNUP reactor were less of an ultimate deterrent than was believed at the time. Consequently, negotiations between Keith MacLellan and Prime Minister Bhutto finally broke down in 1976 and despite a State Visit to Ottawa by Bhutto, Canada withdrew its support for the reactor. This action however only resulted in a delay rather than a cessation of Pakistan's nuclear programme.
While accounts vary as to the length of the delay before Canadian uranium and expertise were replaced by domestic product, with some sources stating that the impact as little as two years, it should be noted that prior to the sanction, Pakistan had initially projected having a working device by the early-mid 1980s, whereas it actually only detonated its first device in 1998 .
Postings Abroad
Keith MacLellan represented his country in the following locations:| 1953–1957 | Berne, Switzerland | 3rd Secretary | ||||
| 1958 | Los Angeles, USA | Counsellor | ||||
| 1959–1963 | Rome, Italy | First Secretary | ||||
| 1965–1966 | Vientiane, Laos | Canadian Commissioner at the International Supervision and Control Commission | ||||
| 1966–1967 | London, England | 1st Secretary / Interim High Commissioner | ||||
| 1967-1971? | Brussels, Belgium | 1st Secretary/Charge D'Affaires | ||||
| 1974–1977 | Pakistan and Afghanistan | Ambassador | ||||
| 1977–1979 | Yugoslavia and Bulgaria | Ambassador | ||||
| 1982–1985 | Jordan | Ambassador | ||||
| 1984–1985 | Syria | Ambassador |
Political Interlude
As a career diplomat who had spent most of his life serving Canadian interests in countries torn apart by sectarian divides, Keith MacLellan viewed the proposed separation of Quebec from the rest of Canada as being the most important challenge that Canada had faced in its history.Responding to this challenge was, he felt, a "call of duty" that could not be ignored. As a result, despite holding the post of Canadian Ambassador to Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, he formally asked for "leave of absence" in 1979 from External Affairs in order to stand for Parliament and help with the 1980 Quebec Referendum
1980 Quebec referendum
The 1980 Quebec referendum was the first referendum in Quebec on the place of Quebec within Canada and whether Quebec should pursue a path toward sovereignty. The referendum was called by Quebec's Parti Québécois government, which strongly favoured secession from Canada...
. When this permission was refused, he resigned from External Affairs, thus effectively ending his career. He returned to his native Montreal to stand as Conservative Party candidate in the riding of Lasalle, a Liberal Party stronghold, and also to help to mobilise the Federalist "No" vote in Quebec.
He was defeated in the election to Parliament by a sound margin, but the referendum on whether Quebec should pursue a path toward sovereignty and eventual secession from Canada was also defeated.
He subsequently reapplied to rejoin External Affairs, where after a time of wearing "sackcloth and ashes" in Ottawa, he was posted as Ambassador to first Jordan and then to Syria before formally retiring in 1985.
Post External Affairs
Keith MacLellan left external affairs in order to pursue a career in politics, first standing for parliament as a Conservative Candidate in the riding of LasalleLasalle (electoral district)
Lasalle was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1988....
in 1979 and then again in 1988 in Westmount St Henri.