Ch. 11.3

How did Canadians

promote world peace?Text p. 282-286

Nuclear Proliferation, The Race to Space, The Suez Crisis

Canada & Peace

The Nuclear Arms Race loomed over Canadian society and

life with the A-bomb changed life for some…

Images on p. 282-283 of your book illustrate the effects of the

Arms Race on the lives of ordinary people.

Civil Defense Some citizens

build „fall out‟

shelters in their

basements or

backyards

Protection

against a

nuclear attack

Peaceful Nuclear Power

Nuclear power stations were created

e.g. in Chalk River

e.g. at Darlington

Canada produced the CANDU Reactor

nuclear reactor research – based on

heavy-water reactor to produce plutonium

from uranium

„clean‟ energy

There were many pros and cons of nuclear

power

An agency was set up by the federal government

to monitor the research

AECL - Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.

The selling of this technology globally began

e.g. to India an China

Nuclear medicine and cancer treatments are a

benefit

The Race for Space

The Soviets successfully launched Sputnik

I, the world‟s first satellite into space

The U.S. started to feel that they were falling

behind the Soviets in technological

development

the big agency in the U.S. was NASA

President Kennedy put forward the challenge

in the early 60s that the U.S. must beat the

Soviets in sending a man to the moon (this

happened in 1969)

Still frame from the video

transmission of Neil

Armstrong stepping onto the

surface of the Moon at 02:56

UTC on 21 July 1969. An

estimated 500 million people

worldwide watched this

event, the largest television

audience for a live broadcast

at that time

Sputnik-1 (USSR)

Canadian satellites, used for telecommunications, began to be developed: e.g. Alouette I

Canada‟s success in telecommunications would lead to commercial success by companies such as Bell Canada and Nortel

Alouette 1 (Canada)

Nuclear ProliferationA big issue in the Cold War era, and even bigger after, is

that of nuclear proliferation

that is, the development of more and more weapons by

more and more countries

Many countries have signed treaties agreeing not to build

these weapons of mass destruction

e.g. Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Nuclear Test

Ban Treaty of 1963 which banned above ground testing

of nuclear weapons

Canadian physicist, Ursula Franklin, contributed to this

treaty

The Suez Crisis 1859, a French company (Suez Canal

Co.) financed the construction of a large

canal to connect the Mediterranean Sea

to the Red Sea

Egyptian labourers dug out the waterway

and 120 000 died during its construction

Britain bought company in 1875 and

Britain ruled Egypt into 20th century

Demand for oil grew in the 50s, Egyptians

wanted independence after WWII

Suez Canal was shipping 2/3rds of Middle

Eastern oil

The Suez Crisis

Britain leaves the canal zone in 1955

New Egyptian president seizes the canal and charge

fees, keep profits

Response: Britain with the help of Israel, France invaded the

canal

Soviet Union, US and UN said this was bullying and Britain

went bankrupt over this Suez canal war- but did not quit

Canada‟s role- persuasive diplomacy through minister of

external affairs, Lester B Pearson

Pearson brought in a peacekeeping force and received UN

support

He was awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for showing that

peace and soft power can prevent aggressive fighting

Review Questions:

1. Summarize Canada‟s role in promoting peace during the Cold

War

2. What other UN agencies did Canada participate in?

3. Read section “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights”

and describe its connection to Canada. Why is this declaration

significant to all human beings?

4. Provide the 6 key rights of the declaration.