On This Day in History:

February 4, 1963 – Defence Minister Douglas Harkness resigns after Prime Minister Diefenbaker refuses to arm Canada’s Bomarc missiles with U.S. nuclear warheads. The next day the government falls after two non confidence motions over nuclear weapons policy.


End of the Bomarc Missiles

Pierre Trudeau succeeded Lester Pearson as prime minister on April 20, 1968. The next year, his government announced that Canadian forces would no longer be supplied with nuclear weaponry; this was to be part of Canada’s new defence policy, as well as a show of Canada’s support for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. All American nuclear weapons stationed in Canada, including those specific to the Bomarc missiles, were returned to the US by 1972. The Bomarc missiles were decommissioned and used as target drones by the US Air Force. The bases and launch pads in Canada were disassembled and sold as scrap metal.






Presentation © 2024
Top image: Courtesy of and © Department of National Defence DND Canada
Second Image: Bomarc Missile on display at the Edmonton Aviation Museum, Alberta
© January 2009 Chris Sorrenti (Ottawa, Canada)
Information courtesy of and © The Canadian Encyclopedia

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02/05/2024

Posted on 02/05/2024
Copyright © 2024 Chris Sorrenti