Canada and the Cold War

Clint MacNeil teaches history, geography, and world religion at St.
Charles College in Sudbury, Ontario.

The Cold War permeated the lives of Canadians for four decades. Two
warring ideologies struggled for supremacy, whether it was on a
battlefield, on Parliament Hill, or in people’s living rooms. The Cold
War influenced governments, international relations, economics, and
public opinion. While older Canadians will have vivid recollections of
the Cold War, some of today’s youth may be blissfully unaware of a
time not so long ago when the world was divided into ideological blocks
as the threat of nuclear war lingered.

Reg Whitaker and Steve Hewitt have attempted to take this fascinating
historical episode and present it in a positive and refreshing manner.
They have assembled a number of key Cold War events at home and abroad,
arranged chronologically by decade with a short analysis for each. The
wide variety of material makes for a very interesting and credible
narrative.

The authors point out that Canada took a more moderate approach to the
situation during this tumultuous period. Instead of overreacting,
stockpiling weapons, and pressuring enemy countries, Canadians found a
balance between adopting American policies and maintaining sovereignty.
While it is true that the RCMP conducted surveillance of suspected
“subversives” and the government allowed cruise missile testing over
peaceful skies, most Canadians did not view the Cold War as a crusade.
In fact, Trudeau’s Liberal government recognized communist China in
1970 and Trudeau visited Castro’s Cuba in 1976, much to the dismay of
the United States, which, instead of suing for peace, encouraged and
supported conflicts in Nicaragua, and Afghanistan.

After the Cold War ended, countries once held in the grip of the
superpowers (most notably the former Yugoslavia and Afghanistan)
dissolved into chaos. Today, attention has shifted from communism to
terrorism as governments rally their citizens against a new invisible
enemy that threatens democracy. On completing this book, one cannot help
but reflect on the age old-adage: “the devil you know is never as bad
as the one you don’t know.”