1. AGAINST: Prime Minister Diefenbaker wanted a fact-finding mission sent to Cuba, and implied he did not believe the USA photos. Prime Minister Diefenbaker was reluctant to have Canada drawn into a major conflict that mostly concerned the USA. The Canadian government did not put its NORAD forces on alert and did not let US planes with atomic weapons land at Canadian bases, as it did not want to get involved. Prime Minister Diefenbaker believed that he was protecting Canadian interests and independence by not getting involved.
2. FOR: A poll showed that 80% of Canadians believed that Canada should have done everything it could to aid the USA in the Cuban Missile Crisis. Troops were eventually put on alert; however, only after the damage on Canada-USA relations was done. As Canada was allied with the USA in NORAD, Canada should have placed its NORAD forces on immediately. The world was on the brink of war, Canada should have been on alert even more, instead of refusing to get involved.
3. AGAINST: The Avro Arrow could have given Canada the opportunity to establish the country as a technology leader. It would have served as a primary interceptor in the 1960s and beyond, in order to counter the threat of Soviet bombers. With the proper engine, the Avro Arrow would have been the world’s fastest and most advanced interceptor. By destroying the Avro Arrow, the entire Avro company was destroyed. Many Canadian aerospace experts believed that the Avro company had the potential to create many extraordinary projects.
4. Canada's Role in the Cuban Missile Crisis
5. The Scrapping of the Avro Arrow
6. AGAINST: Allowing nuclear weapons on Canadian soil would increase the levels of tension between Canada and the USSR. Nuclear war leads to global suicide; many Candains joined the anti=nuclear movement to help prevent nuclear annihilation. It was hypocritical to urge the United Nations to work for disarmament while accepting nuclear weapons. Nuclear power and weapons are huge safety risks: if something were to go wrong, thousands of people would be negatively impacted (like the Chernobyl crisis in 1986).
7. FOR: Many believed that nuclear weapons were extremely important to help protect Canada against communist aggression. Many business leaders believed that Diefenbaker’s anti-Americanism would hurt trade and investment from the USA. In order to be a fully effective partner in NORAD and NATO, Canada would have to accept nuclear weapons. In 1959, the Conservative government bout Bomarc missiles from the USA, to replace the Avro Arrow. In order for them to be effective, they needed to carry nuclear warheads.
8. FOR: The Avro Arrow was very expensive, “Not even the Canadian Air Force, wanted to buy it” - A.Finkle, History of the Canadian Peoples There were very few orders from the new government, under the leadership of P.M. John Diefenbaker, as he did not support the idea. Many believed that the Soviet bomber, which the Avro Arrow was built to intercept, was on its way out. Missiles were going to be the future of nuclear weapons. Prototype test flights proved to be very dangerous; for example, countless times the landing gear failed.
