The Secretary of State for External Affairs has the honour to report that the Third Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations will be giving consideration to a proposal by the Secretary-General that a United Nations Guard. Force be created to perform protective, control and administrative functions or. behalf of the Security Council and the General Assembly.

2. The assassination of Count Bernadotte and the killing of other United Nations officials in Palestine have given impetus to the Secretary-General's proposals. The Secretary-General has now recommended to the General Assembly an initial Guard. Force of eight hundred men of whom three hundred would be permanently mobilized, with five hundred in reserve living in their own countries but ready for service on short notice from the Secretary-General. This force, according to the Secretary-General's proposals, would be armed with light personal weapons only, (revolvers rifles, carbines or light automatic rifles). It would be recruited in accordance with the principles established in Chapter XV of the Charter for the appointment to the staff of the Secretariat.

3. It is not the intention that this Guard Force should be considered in any way a substitute for the Armed Forces which Member States of the United Nations are obliged to place at the disposal of the Security Council in accordance with Article 43 of the Charter. The duties of the proposed United Nations Guard Forces would be not combative, but protective and administrative. The essential duty of the Guard Force would be to provide protection to the personnel and property of missions of the United Nations established by the Security Council or by the General. Assembly. In the case of elections or plebiscites, supervised by the United Nations, the Force may act to supervise polling places and to prevent fraudulent voting. A. proportion of the Force would also include experts in transport and communication, who might be called upon to operate such technical services where these are not provided by national or local authorities.

4. The Chiefs of Staff Committee has estimated that the annual per capita cost on the basis of Canadian prices and Canadian rates of pay and allowances would be $5,000. The Secretary-General has provided an estimate of $4,000,000 to finance the initial force. If the above proposal for a Guard Force is approved in principle by the General Assembly, this estimate will be followed by the submission of detailed estimates to the General Assembly.

Recommendation

5. The Secretary of State for External Affairs therefore has the honour to recommend:

1) That the Canadian Delegation be authorized to support the proposal of the Secretary-General to recruit and to maintain a United Nations Guard Force, not exceeding 1,000 men in the first year, to perform protective, control and administrative functions on behalf of the Security Council and the General Assembly on the understanding that,

(a) the Guard Force is recruited and maintained under Articles 97-101 of the Charter, as personnel of the Secretariat and not in any sense as a combatant force under Articles 42 and 43 of the Charter,

(b) the Secretary-General will be fully responsible for such recruitment which may be facilitated by Member Governments in whatever way they may see fit, provided that recruitment should take into account the need for equitable geographic distribution, as well as the need for the efficient operation of the service,

(c) the Secretary-General, should make proper provision to meet financial obligations in regard to the force, including pay, allowances and pensions both to the individuals and their families.

2) That the Canadian Delegation be authorized to support a proposal to provide that the necessary funds be placed at the disposal of the Secretary-General through the United Nations budget for the current year to finance such a force, not exceeding 1,000 men in the first year⁷⁶

LB. PEARSON

⁷⁶ La note fut présentée au Cabinet le 20 octobre par le secrétaire d'État par intérim aux Affaires extérieures. Le Cabinet approuva les recommandations et des instructions furent envoyées h la délégation aux Nations Unies h Paris (Télégramme N° 168 du 23 Octobre). La question était placée assez bas h l'ordre du jour de l'Assemblée générale, si bien que son examen fut reporté h 1949.
The memorandum was presented to Cabinet on October 20 by the Acting Secretary of State for External Affairs. Cabinet approved the recommendations and instructions were sent to the Delegation to the United Nations, Paris (Telegram No. 168, October 23). The question was low on the agenda for the General Assembly, so consideration was postponed until 1949.