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Last week, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency released nearly one million declassified documents online. Spanning an era from the Second World War all the way to the 1990s, the release includes more than 12 million pages of briefings and top-secret cables giving a behind-the-scenes look at U.S. policy during the Cold War.

And every once in a while, the documents mention us. The National Post did a comprehensive search of all 2,000 documents mentioning “Canada.” The highlights are below, some of which are being published for the first time.

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All in all, they’re a pretty sobering inoculation against any notion that Canada is an influential power. According to the CIA, we’re really more of an easily offended younger brother who happens to own a lot of oil.

Please come to our trade show

This is easily the most sycophantic item in the collection. It’s a 1982 letter from the Canadian consulate in Philadelphia, and it’s practically begging the CIA to come to their electronics trade show to buy some “state-of-the-art capability from Canada.” The letter notes that the U.S.-Canadian exchange rate is favourable, Canadians are great to do business with, and that “the location is easy to reach, and ample free parking is available.”