The Avro Arrow is a topic that has fascinated Canadians since its controversial cancellation in 1959. However, in the last ten years the narrative has changed dramatically from an American plot to ruin our aerospace industry to a decision made by the Canadian government based on very real calculations about the security threat to North America and the changing defence landscape of the late 1950s. In this episode we talk with Alan Barnes who has recently uncovered some incredible research that shows how important Canadian intelligent services were to the decision to cancel the Avro Arrow project. Alan has clearly uncovered that not only was the cancellation of the Arrow a highly calculated move by the Diefenbaker government but Canada’s newly established intelligence services played a key role in helping the Canadian government predict the future of defence issues which in turn spelled the end of the Arrow project.
Alan Barnes was an analyst and a manager of analysts in the Canadian intelligence community for over 25 years. He served as a military intelligence officer, and as the Middle East analyst in the Political Intelligence Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Mr. Barnes moved to the Intelligence Assessment Secretariat (IAS) of the Privy Council Office when that organization was formed in 1993 and was the Director of the IAS Middle East and Africa Division from 1995 until his retirement in 2011. Mr. Barnes played a key role in the IAS's efforts to improve analytical tradecraft and in the training of new analysts. Since his retirement Mr. Barnes has continued his work on issues related to intelligence assessment. He is currently researching the history of strategic intelligence in Canada since 1945 and is Project Co-Leader of the Canadian Foreign Intelligence History Project (CFIHP).
CFIHP is a collaborative effort to encourage the study of foreign intelligence in Canada and to facilitate access to archival records on this subject. By working together, researchers have a better chance of overcoming the many challenges associated with working in this field.
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S9E2 United the Salish! The Battle of Maple Bay
S9E1 Henri Le Caron - The Victorian Super Spy
S8E21 A Global Collision - The North Pacific Fur Trade
S8E20 Thayendenagay aka Joseph Brant – the warrior-diplomat
S8E19 - D-Day, 6 June, 1944
S8E18 - Gordon Lightfoot - A National Treasure
S8E17 HMCS Uganda - The Ship that Voted to Leave the War
S8E16 Seize Wismar, Stop the Soviets!
S8E15 Columbus Who? The Norse in Newfoundland
S8E14 Strange Tales from Toronto
S8E13 The Little Island That Could: PEI and Confederation
S8E12 Montreal's Black Renaissance
S8E11 Clara Ford and the Parkdale Murder that Excited a Nation
S8E10 - Our Man in Toronto: Sam Carr and a Soviet Spy Ring in Canada
S8E9 The Trent Affair and the Defence of British North America
S8E8 I've Seen it, I've Done It - the Life of Paul Anka
S8E7 The Last Duel....in Canada
S8E6 Henri Bourassa and the Conscription Crisis
S8E5 Stanley Thompson and Golf in Canada
S8E4 A 17th Century River of Change - The Innu and the Algonquin along the St. Lawrence River
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