Historical Significance The Avro Arrow

Introduction United Nations membership- 1950- 1953 Korean War 1957 NORAD (North American Air Defence Agreement)- defend Canada and the USA from Soviet Attack Canada and USA relations- good (except for 1959 Cuba)

Introduction 1950’s- huge consumption of goods- growing population and growing demand Cars, houses, appliances, Economy boom with discovery of oil in Alberta, minerals in Ontario and Manitoba and potash in Saskatchewan 1950- Trans Canada highway construction 1954 St. Lawrence Seaway

The Avro Arrow 1950- Cold War (1945- 1991) Constant real and perceived threats to our way of life Nuclear Weapons- geographically speaking we were in the ‘middle’ Air Raid drills (Duck and Cover) Soviet Strength

The Avro Arrow By 1950 Canada’s development in military technology was playing catch-up- RCAF 1953 the RCAF decided a new type of Jet needed to be built (one that didn’t exist to protect against USSR- needed to go Mach 1.5 PM Louis St. Laurent supported the plan- signed an agreement with the A.V. Roe Company Original cost $27 million Plus $190 million in various prototypes Plus $70 million to build the engines in Canada

The Avro Arrow 1957 PM John Diefenbaker (conservative) 1958 Diefenbaker cancelled the project In 1960 Canada (and Britain as well) ended up buying F-101 Voodoo Jets from the USA (which were not anywhere as advanced as the Arrow) The most advanced air space technology in history was cancelled. Only one model still exists (we think)

Activity One of the great Canadian history “what if’s”- What if the Avro Arrow wasn’t cancelled? Regardless of this question, we can make a sound judgment on whether we would have done the same thing as the politicians in the past? See handouts- reasons for and against cancelling the Arrow. Is this a historically significant moment in Canadian History? Why/Why not?