What was Diefenbakers position on nuclear warheads?
Diefenbaker made what some believe to have been one of the most controversial policy decisions of the last century in Canada when his government cancelled the development and manufacture of the Avro CF-105 Arrow. The Arrow was a Mach 2 supersonic jet interceptor built by A.V. Roe Canada (Avro Canada), in Malton, Ontario to defend Canada in the event of a Soviet nuclear bomber attack from the north. During its production, the Canadian government purchased American-made Bomarc missiles as a means of bomber defence, leading to the cabinet decision to cancel the Avro Arrow and its Orenda Iroquois engine on 20 February 1959, forever known as “Black Friday” in Canadian industry. After canceling the technologically advanced interceptor project, he obtained CF-101 Voodoo interceptors in 1961 from the United States. Diefenbaker’s decision to oppose nuclear warheads on the Bomarc missiles was supported by a young journalist Pierre Trudeau. When Trudeau succeeded Lester B. Pearson as prime minist
