SS11 Ch.

6: Canada and the Cold War

CANADA

AND

NORAD

The Dangers of Canadas Cold War Alliance

In 1957, in the midst of the Cold
War, Canada and the United States
united their air defences in an effort to
counter the threat of the Soviet Union.
The fear was that Soviet bomber
planes, armed with nuclear weapons,
might travel over the arctic and attack
Canada and the United States without
warning. NORAD involved a series of
jointly monitored radar systems that
would give warning of a Soviet attack.
But American nuclear policy was based on overwhelming superiority; that is, it only
worked if the US struck first and wiped out most of the Soviet planes on the ground. The
bigger problem, for Canadians, was the Soviet counterattack that would follow. Historian
Gwynne Dyer explains:
The secret of NORAD was that it just might have succeeded in protecting
the United States from Soviet nuclear weapons between about 1957
(when it went into operation) and 1963 (when enough Soviet ICBMs
became operational to make anti-bomber defences quite pointless). But
it would only have worked during that period if the United States had
struck first and destroyed most Soviet bombers on the ground. The
darker secret was that it would have been Canada that paid the price for
this success, which would be measured by how many of the surviving
Soviet bombers were shot down over Canada before they reached the
United States and the defending planes would use nuclear missiles to
destroy the attacking bombers (which would all be carrying nuclear
weapons
themselves).1

In this nightmare scenario, Canada would become an irradiated battleground, in which

American nuclear missiles shoot down Soviet nuclear bombers over Canadian territory. The
Bomarc missiles that Canada accepted from the US would have destroyed everything in a
1 Dyer, Gwynne. Canada in the Great Power Game 1914-2014 (339-340).

SS11 Ch. 6: Canada and the Cold War

240 km radius, and left lingering deadly radiation drifting across the country for decades. The
interceptor missiles fired from American bases and aircraft would have had a similar effect,
and their range was not much greater than the densely populated Canadian cities that rest
along the border.
PM Diefenbaker agreed to join NORAD without a full understanding of what the alliance
meant for Canada. When he slowly began to recognise the dangers of American nuclear
policy, he stalled acceptance of the nuclear-tipped Bomarcs, dragging his feet and angering
the Americans. By 1963 it was largely a moot point, since there was literally no defence
against the new Soviet ICBMs (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles). Canada, however,
remained a member of NORAD, which was geared towards the destruction of much of
Canada in the name of saving the Unites States. Indeed, later that year the US Secretary of
Defence, Robert McNamara, admitted publically that while the Bomarcs were of little value
against ICBMs, they at least forced the USSR to waste missiles (which would otherwise be
used against American targets) by targeting the Bomarc launch sites in Quebec and Ontario.
Canada was, in effect, nuclear missile bait.
The nuclear issue divided the ruling Conservative party, and in the 1963 election the
Liberals, running on a pro-US, pro-nuclear weapons platform, defeated Deifenbaker and the
Conservatives, who had pledged to reject nuclear weapons.
1. Should Canada have joined NORAD? Why or why not?

2. Do you think most Canadians would have supported NORAD if they knew the details
of US nuclear policy? Would they have a real choice? Why or why not?

SS11 Ch. 6: Canada and the Cold War

3. Considering the way the US viewed Canada during the Cold War, do you think
Canada should trust the US as an ally?

4. Do you think striking first in a nuclear war could ever be the right thing to do?