DCER v21, doc. 168. 25 January 1955. Letter to Canadian High Commissioner in London from Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs

This letter from Jules Leger, Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs, to Norman Robertson, the Canadian High Commissioner in London examined the issues surrounding NATO alerts procedures and devoted a significant section to “The Problem of ‘Indicator Intelligence.’” Quoting from the minutes of an earlier discussion, Leger told the High Commissioner, “Mr. [Patrick] Dean said that it was clear from the discussions which had taken place in Paris that it would be necessary at the earliest possible stage to examine the machinery whereby an agreed U.S./U.K./Canadian evaluation of urgent indicator intelligence could be reached and passed to the highest political levels in all three countries.” Leger concurred, adding that any British or American information which might lead to an "alert" ought to be made available to Ottawa JIC “by the most rapid means possible” so that the intelligence could be evaluated in Canada. He warned, “If arrangements of this kind cannot be made we shall, of course, be at the mercy of the operational commands both in the United Kingdom and the United States.”