1. Historical Significance
The Avro Arrow

3. 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)

5. 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

7. 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

8. 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

11. 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)

12. 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?