Dear Mr. Massey,

On February 7, 1946, an agreement was signed between the United States of America and the British Commonwealth and Empire concerning radio distance indicators, of which I enclose a copy.† The agreement was signed by four officials on behalf of the United States and by Sir Robert Watson Watt on behalf of the British Commonwealth and Empire. We were not aware of the signature of this agreement until after it had taken place and discovered that no authority had ever been granted by the Canadian Government for such a signature. It is, of course, quite inconsistent with constitutional practice that any official should. sign for the British Commonwealth and Empire a title which, as you are aware, has not been authorized for use in official documents. The reason for the curious method of heading the document and signing it appears to have been the fact that the officials concerned were technical experts, and the title of the document was based upon the fact that there has been in existence a Commonwealth and Empire Radio for Civil Aviation series of conferences. Our Embassy in Washington informs us that the author of the text on the United States side was a member of the Telecommunications Division, who referred to the documents of the Second Common-wealth and Empire Radio for Civil Aviation as a precedent. The text of the document was not checked by legal and protocol experts in the State Department, while it did not come to our attention until some time after signature.

The State Department is apparently willing to consider the agreement operative, but is equally ready to have a new text drawn up and signed in any form acceptable to all concerned. Although this agreement is not an important one it does provide an embarrassing precedent for the future. It is certainly not one which we could table in Parliament as binding for Canada and for which we could seek the approval of Council. In view of the circumstances, I would appreciate if you could take up as soon as possible with the appropriate officials the problem created by the wording and signature of this document. We would like you to point out that we are strongly of the opinion that the document should be re drafted as soon as possible with provision for separate signatures on behalf of the various Governments, with the expression "British Commonwealth and Empire" deleted throughout. We suggest that agreement on the form of the document be reached in London through consultation with the various Governments affected. When this has been done, the revised text should be circulated for approval by the Governments and then submitted to the United States.

Yours sincerely,
N. A. ROBERTSON