Excellency,

I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your note No. 3189, dated October 21st, 1946,t in which you inform me that your Government desires to appoint a Commercial Officer in Canada, who would be entrusted with various duties of a commercial nature, and who would be subordinate to the Commercial Secretary at your Legation and would have rank of "Second Commercial Secretary".

There would be no objection, of course, on the part of the Canadian Government to such an officer being attached officially to your Legation, although, with respect to his title, I might point out that the designation of "Assistant Commercial Secretary" appears to be more usually applied to foreign officials holding positions such as you describe.

You also indicate that your Government is considering the possibility of stationing the official mentioned above in the City of Montreal, where he would discharge his duties from the office of the Netherlands Consulate General. In this respect, I may say that, though such arrangements have been accepted by the Canadian Government in the past with respect to some foreign diplomatic missions established in Canada, the Canadian authorities do not approve, in principle, the establishment in cities other than the federal capital of branch offices or subordinate officers attached officially to the diplomatic mission of their country. The Canadian authorities prefer that foreign governments should endeavour to maintain all their diplomatic establishments in Canada at Ottawa, where the Federal Government has its seat; it is, therefore, only exceptionally that we have allowed diplomatic missions to maintain an office in other cities of Canada.

I realize that in the United States, as you say, some diplomatic missions maintain a financial officer in New York City, but I understand that this arrangement has been authorized by the State Department with respect to financial officers only, and that to retain the principle that all diplomatic missions should be in Washington, these officers are shown in the United States Diplomatic List as being stationed in Washington.

The appointment of the official whom you have in mind in a consular capacity as a member of the Netherlands Consulate General in Montreal, would be agreeable to the Canadian authorities. However, I should be grateful if you would inform your Government that the Canadian Government would not consider favourably the establishment of diplomatic offices or officials attached to a diplomatic mission outside the City of Ottawa.

Accept etc.
[L. B. PEARSON]
for the Secretary of State for External Affairs