On to Civvy Street

On to Civvy Street
Author: Peter Neary
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Total Pages: 383
Release: 2011-08-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 0773586598

Detailing the ways in which the Canadian government built on existing programs for veterans, Peter Neary identifies the key figures and events responsible for developing the orders and statutes that came to be known as the Veterans Charter, creating the Department of Veterans Affairs, and establishing sweeping new benefits for servicemen and women. Comparing rehabilitation programs after the Second World War with those after the First World War, Neary reveals the lasting importance of the country's new way of expressing its obligations to veterans. He shows that the measures developed to reintegrate them into civilian society became essential building blocks for the Canadian welfare state and helped pave the way for the unprecedented prosperity of the 1950s. A comprehensive study of a fundamental change in the relationship between government and citizens, On to Civvy Street is also a timely reminder of the debt the country owes its veterans.

Lock, Stock, and Icebergs

Lock, Stock, and Icebergs
Author: Adam Lajeunesse
Publisher: UBC Press
Total Pages: 421
Release: 2016-01-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 0774831111

In 1988, after years of failed negotiations over the status of the Northwest Passage, Brian Mulroney gave Ronald Reagan a globe, pointed to the Arctic, and said “Ron that’s ours. We own it lock, stock, and icebergs.” A simple statement, it summed up a hundred years of official policy. Since the nineteenth century, Canadian governments have claimed ownership of the land and the icy passageways that make up the Arctic Archipelago. Unfortunately for Ottawa, many countries – including the United States – still do not recognize these as internal Canadian waters. Crucial to understanding the complex nature of Canadian Arctic sovereignty is an understanding of its history. Lock, Stock, and Icebergs draws on recently declassified Canadian and American archival material to chart the origins and development of Canadian Arctic maritime policy. Uncovering decades of internal policy debates, secret negotiations with the United States, and long-classified joint-defence projects, Adam Lajeunesse traces the circuitous history of Canada’s Arctic maritime sovereignty.

Objects of Concern

Objects of Concern
Author: Jonathan F. Vance
Publisher: UBC Press
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2011-11-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0774842792

Fifteen thousand Canadians were captured during Canada's twientieth-century wars. They experienced the bewilderment that accompanied the moment of capture, the humiliation of being completely in the captor's power, and the sense of stagnating in a backwater while the rest of the world moved forward. Jonathan Vance provides the first comprehensive account of how the Canadian government and non-governmental organizations have dealt with the problems of prisoners of war, examining Canada's role in the formation of aspects of international law, the growth and activities of national and local philanthropic agencies, and the efforts of ex-prisoners to secure compensation for the long-term effects of captivity.

Canada and Ballistic Missile Defence, 1954-2009

Canada and Ballistic Missile Defence, 1954-2009
Author: James G. Fergusson
Publisher: UBC Press
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2011-01-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0774817526

Since the mid-1950s, successive Canadian governments have responded to US ballistic missile defence initiatives with fear and uncertainty. Officials have endlessly debated the implications – at home and abroad – of participation. Drawing on previously classified government documents and interviews with senior officials, James Fergusson offers the first full account of Canada’s unsure response to US initiatives. He reveals that factors such as weak leadership and a tendency to place uncertain and ill-defined notions of international peace and security before national defence have resulted in indecision. In the end, policy-makers have failed to transform the ballistic missile defence issue into an opportunity to define Canada’s strategic interests at home and on the world stage.