ernment. The debate was again dominated by dis-
cussion of British prime minister Margaret Thatch-
er’s refusal to engage in further trade sanctions
against South Africa. Despite Mulroney’s pleas for
unity at his opening address, Kaunda and Robert
Mugabe bitterly attacked Thatcher.
Following a suggestion first made by Trudeau,
CHOGMs began to include weekend retreats. In
1987, Mulroney brought the Vancouver conference
participants to Lake Okanagan, Kelowna, British
Columbia, where they managed to hammer out a
communique noting the United Kingdom’s disagree-
ment with the proposed sanctions against South Af-
rica. One of the accusations that the British made
against Canada was that Canadian trade with South
Africa had increased 25 percent from 1985 to 1986,
whereas British trade had not.
Educational Links In addition to the CHOGMs,
Commonwealth education ministers met every four
years to coordinate educational links between their
nations. Many Commonwealth students studied in
Canadian universities. However, in the 1980’s, it was
becoming increasingly expensive to fund the num-
ber of students, especially from developing nations,
wishing to study in Canada, Britain, and Australia.
A Commonwealth committee under Lord Briggs
had investigated the possibility of distance learning.
On the basis of this report, the 1987 CHOGM ap-
proved the establishment of the Commonwealth of
Learning Institute to promote distance learning and
to package educational programs using the latest
technology and methods. Canada offered a site in
Vancouver and was one of the six nations to offer
funding on a voluntary basis, giving it a permanent
seat on the Board of Governors. The institute was es-
tablished in 1988, and it was running by 1989, with
Lewis Perinbam, a former vice president of the Ca-
nadian International Development Agency, serving
as chairman of the Board of Governors.Sporting Links Over the last few decades of the
twentieth century, sporting links became increas-
ingly important as a vehicle of foreign relations.
Although much of Canadian sport has been tradi-
tionally linked to that of the United States, Canada
has retained strong links with the Commonwealth
in athletics and various minor sports, especially
through the Commonwealth Games, held every
four years, in even-numbered years in which there
are no Olympic Games.
During the 1980’s, there were two such games, in
1982 in Brisbane, Australia, and in 1986 in Edin-
burgh, Scotland. The Brisbane Games were seen as
some of the most successful, with forty-five nations
participating. Canadian athletes did not equal their
leading position of the previous games at Edmon-
ton, however. Instead, they stood third in the medals
table, behind Australia and England. Neverthe-
less, there were many excellent performances by Ca-
nadian athletes. Canadian 1982 gold medalists in-
cluded high jumpers Milt Ottey and Debbie Brill;
Angela Taylor, who won for the 100-meter dash; and
the women’s 4 × 400-meter relay team.
Although the 1986 Edinburgh Games was marked
by a large boycott by the African members, who were
protesting Britain’s sympathetic stance toward South
Africa, the games themselves were conducted in aThe Eighties in America Canada and the British Commonwealth 177
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was one of the longest-serving
heads of state in the British Commonwealth.(Library of Con-
gress)