Home · On This Day · Feb. 20, 1959
Diefenbaker cancels Avro Arrow project
Broadcast Date: Feb. 20, 1959
It's a day that would soon become known as "Black Friday." At 11:00 a.m. on Feb. 20, 1959, Prime Minister Diefenbaker stands before the House of Commons and makes the unexpected announcement that the Arrow and Iroquois engine programs are terminated immediately. Members of Parliament greet the announcement with stunned silence. CBC Radio reporters Norman DePoe and Tom Earle are on hand to witness the announcement and get a first-hand explanation from Prime Minister Diefenbaker.Diefenbaker cancels Avro Arrow project
• A key reason for cancelling the Arrow was the mounting cost of the program. Though the Arrow was an expensive plane, critics of the cancellation later argued that development could have been completed for the cost of the cancellation fees alone. The Arrow program was cheaper than purchasing the Bomarc, SAGE and replacement interceptors from the United States. It was cancelled a month before the end of the six month review period Diefenbaker gave the program.• Canada still needed jet interceptors. Two years later the RCAF took possession of 66 used McDonnell F-101 Voodoo jet fighters from the United States, a plane they had rejected as inadequate before commissioning the Arrow. The planes were eventually given to Canada in exchange for Canadians staffing radar bases on the Arctic's Pinetree Line, the first of three Cold War lines of air defence that included the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line and the Mid-Canada Line.
• The Voodoos were eventually replaced by the MacDonnell-Douglas CF-18 Hornets used today. Between 1982 and 1988 the Canadian government purchased 138 Hornets from the United States at a cost of $5.2 billion.
• Defence Production Sharing was supposed to allow Canadian firms to compete on an equal footing with their American counterparts. But Canadian bids on defence contracts suffered from built-in delays and price penalties that usually favoured U.S. competitors.
• Other nations were also under the impression that manned fighters would become obsolete in the age of missiles. In April 1957, British minister of defence Duncan Sandys published a white paper arguing that all British fighter projects should be cancelled in favour of ground-launched missiles. The paper spelled the end of many British aircraft manufacturers. The United States Air Force cancelled similar interceptor plans.
• Canada and the United States were hotly debating deployment of atomic weapons in Canada. U.S. President John F. Kennedy demanded Canada accept the atomic warheads that the Bomarc was designed to carry. Diefenbaker said he was against it, which prompted the resignation of his Minister of National Defence Douglas Harkness. That forced a no-confidence vote in the House of Commons, leading to the collapse of Diefenbaker's minority government and the subsequent Liberal minority of Lester B. Pearson.
• The nuclear warheads were eventually delivered on Dec. 31, 1963 and remained in the Canadian armoury until 1969.
• The Bomarc and SAGE were ineffective systems, and were soon phased out in both Canada and the United States. Both of Canada's Bomarc squadrons formally disbanded on April 7, 1972, and the missiles were returned to the United States.
Diefenbaker cancels Avro Arrow project
Medium: Radio
Program: CBC Radio News
Broadcast Date: Feb. 20, 1959
Guest(s): John Diefenbaker
Reporter: Norman DePoe, Tom Earle
Duration: 5:48
Last updated:
Oct. 28, 2008
Topic
With superpowers in the east and west testing powerful new weapons, the Canadian race for self-preservation took off in the early 1950s. The rising of the Iron Curtain intensified the threat of mass...
Topic
Dr. Gerald Bull was like a figure in a spy novel, designing arms for some of the world's harshest regimes. With no shortage of possible enemies, he died at the hands of an unknown assassin. But the...
The most fool hardy mistake any Canadian Politican has ever made. Every Country in the G8 design & build their own aircraft.
Submitted by: Maxwell1956@cogeco.ca
When people complain about Mr. Harper & his merry band, they should remember the biggest idiot, John Diefenbaker! My Harper is very innocuous compared to the earlier conservative fool!
Submitted by: Harnic.