Cold War Canada : The Making of a National Insecurity State, 1945-1957 / Gary Marcuse, Reginald Whitaker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Marcuse, Gary, author.

Whitaker, Reginald, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

National security--Canada.

National security.

Cold War.

Canada--Politics and government--1945-1980.

Canada.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (550 p.)

Place of Publication:

Toronto : University of Toronto Press, [2019]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Based on these examples Whitaker and Marcuse outline the creation of Canada's Cold War policy, the emergence of the new security state, and the alignment of Canada with the United States in the global Cold War. They demonstrate that Canada did take a different approach towards the threat of communism, but argue that the secret repression and silent purges used to stifle dissent and debate about Canada's own role in the Cold War had a chilling effect on the practice of liberal democracy and undermined Canadian political and economic sovereignty.

Cold War Canada digs past the official moderation and uncovers a systematic state-sponsored repression of communists and the Left, directed at civil servants, scientists, trade unionists, and political activists. Unlike the United States, Canada's purges were shrouded in secrecy imposed by the government and avidly supported by the RCMP security service. Whitaker and Marcuse manage to reconstruct several of the significant anti-communist campaigns. Using declassified documents, interviews, and extensive archival sources, the authors reconstruct the Gouzenko spy scandal, trace the growth of security screening of civil servants, and re-examine purges in the National Film Board and the trade unions, attacks on peace activist James G. Endicott, and the trials of Canadian diplomat Herbert Norman.

Canadians might expect that a history of Canada's participation in the Cold War would be a self-congratulatory exercise in documenting the liberality and moderation of Canada set against the rapacious purges of the McCarthy era in the United States. Though Reg Whitaker and Gary Marcuse agree that there is some evidence for Canadian moderation, they argue that the smug Canadian self-image is exaggerated.

Contents:

pt. 1. Introduction. 1. Never Again! From World War to Cold War

pt. 2. The Gouzenko Affair. 2. Gouzenko Concealed: Spies and Atomic Politics. 3. Gouzenko Revealed: Spy Chases and Witch-hunts. 4. Gouzenko

the Aftermath: Scientists under Surveillance

pt. 3. Canada in a Cold War World. 5. The Russians, the Americans, and Us: Cold War Foreign Policy. 6. Stand on Guard: In Defence of Canada

pt. 4. The Cold War in Ottawa. 7. Security Screening Civil Servants. 8. The Dog That Never Barked: Anti-Communist Legislation. 9. The Antagonists: Cops versus Commies. 10. 'Freda to the Professor through Grierson': The Persecution of a Film Maker. 11. 'A Communist Nest': Witch-hunt at the NFB

pt. 5. The Cold War in Canadian Society. 12. The Debate That Never Was: Selling the Cold War. 13. The Cold War in the Provinces. 14. Labour's Cold War (I): Communists and Unions, 1945-1949. 15. Labour's Cold War (II): Purging the Trades and Labour Congress, 1949-1955.

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references amd index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 28. Aug 2019)

ISBN:

9786611997601

9781281997609

1281997609

9781442673045

1442673044

OCLC:

1110708767