It’s nearly impossible to review John Diefenbaker’s legacy without talking about the Avro Arrow. In fact, it should be impossible to mention the Deif without talking about it, as his decision to cancel the program ultimately cost him his job as prime minister, and cancelled one of the best aviation programs in the world at that time.

The Avro Arrow was a plane, made by the Avro company, the third largest company in Canada during the 1950's. Out of it’s factory in Malton, Ontario, they developed a twin-engined, supersonic interceptor for the Royal Canadian Air Force. This plane was the creme de la creme at the time, with the Avro team credited with making the most sophisticated aircraft in the world. The Arrow flew at three times the speed of sound, travelling at an altitude of 60,000 feet.

The Avro Arrow debuted on October 4, 1957, the same day the USSR launched their Sputnik rocket.

Avro had big plans for the future of technical aviation. Its team of engineers was known for their “out of the box” designing, and had drawn up ideas for moon rovers, spaceships and other advanced aircrafts. The company was on the cutting edge of the industry - until the program was axed by Diefenbaker in 1959.

At the same time that Arvo was designing its game-changing planes, the Cold War was at it’s heights, and the US and Canada were in talks about protecting themselves against possible attacks from the USSR. In fact, the Avro Arrow was developed as a response to the threat the USSR posed and was debuted on Oct. 4 1957, the same day the Soviet Union launched Sputnik. But on February 20, 1959, the Dief walked into the House of Commons and announced the termination of the Arrow and Iroquois programs.

The reasoning behind the Dief’s decision is simple: the cost. The total bill for the program was creeping upwards of $3 billion. But that reasoning is easily disputed, as critics say the cost for cancelling the program equaled the cost of keeping it running. Add in the cost of outsourcing fighter planes and buying used jet planes from the US, and that excuse does seem rather feeble. Between 1982 and 1988 alone, the Canadian government paid $5.2 billion to the US for fighter jets.

Some say that there was a huge difference in temperance between the Dief and Avro President Crawford Gordon Jr. The Deif was known to be a slightly uptight teetotaler, never smoking or drinking, while Gordon had more of a suave disposition, enjoying whiskey, cigars and more casual conversation. And then there is also the Dief’s leadership style. During most of St. Laurent’s - the Dief’s predecessor - time in office, the US and Canada were in talks about the North American Defence Command or NORAD. The two countries were in constant negotiations about who was responsible for what if an attach occurred on North American soil. But after St. Laurent lost the 1957 election, the Dief looked at the most recent negotiation from the US and gave it no pushback. According to an article by Global News, “Diefenbaker just looked at it, said ‘looks good’ and signed it. Even Americans were shocked, because they expected some pushback.”

While the cancellation of the Arrow program may have saved some money in the short run, it costs were bountiful, including the loss 15,000 direct jobs and thousands more indirect jobs. It also caused one of the biggest brain drains of Canadian talent, with the majority of the Avro engineers relocating to the United States to work on their space and aviation programs. If Canada had kept the program running, it could have made the country leaders in aerospace and aviation engineering and technology, but now we will never know what could have been.

Cartoon satirizing JFK’s and the Dief’s mutual dislike for each other, even though the Dief never pushed back too hard on the United States during negotiations.

For me, as the nerd that I am, the biggest question this highlights in the Dief’s leadership capabilities and styles. From the time he was a boy, he wanted to be in politics, telling his mom when he was a child that he was going to be prime minister one day. But when he gets to lead the country, he seems to only want to appease the bigger power, not using any advice that was given to him at the time. It makes me wonder if he wanted the job because he wanted to do the best for his country or if he wanted it for bragging rights? But that’e me bring critical.