Shutting Down the National Dream

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian studies at
Concordia University, and the author of Kurlek, Margaret Laurence: The
Long Journey Home, and As Though Life Mattered: Leo Kennedy’s Story.

From 1946 to 1959, A.V. Roe Canada and its subsidiaries Avro Aircraft
and Orenda Engines carried out a revolution in design. They had what
many believed to be the best team ever assembled in aircraft history. By
1958, they had built six test planes using the most sophisticated
aviation design and technology in the world. These were planes that
represented Canada’s national pride and technological progress. On
February 20, 1959, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker cancelled the Arrow
and ordered the planes to be destroyed (the legend persists that one
plane escaped).

Shutting Down the National Dream tells the dramatic story behind these
facts. As we saw in the mini-series inspired by the book, the
personalities are fascinating: they include the company’s president,
Crawford Gordon, and its chief designer, Jim Chamberlain. Stewart’s
well-researched account of a national dream gone sour is enhanced by a
generous selection of black-and-white photos.