Understanding the Core Policy Drivers of Canada–Cuba Relations: Plus ça Change …

Abstract

This article chronicles and examines the decades-long Canadian–Cuban relationship – albeit with a greater focus on the federal Liberal governments of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 1968–1984, and his son, Justin Trudeau, 2015–present. For analytical purposes, it poses a number of interesting and insightful questions about the “what” and “why” of Canada–Cuba relations. The overarching aim of this narrative, then, is twofold: (1) to outline the nature and extent of Canada’s Cuba policy since the beginning of the Cuban revolution in 1959 and (2) to identify what the central policy drivers are, from both the Canadian and Cuban perspectives, and how they still mould the bilateral relationship today. Lastly, it concludes with some general thoughts on the overall contours of Canadian–Cuban relations since the early 1960s.