Ebook: Sovereignty or Security: Government Policy in the Canadian North, 1936-1950

Sovereignty or Security? explores the numerous and diverse influences responsible for the dramatic change in northern policies during the 1940s and their subsequent impact on the Yukon and Northwest Territories. Apart from concern for the social, economic, and political development of the North, two major issues emerged which became central to the policy initiatives in the war and postwar years -- the question of maintaining optimum sovereign control and of providing adequate defence against possible enemy attack. As a result, Ottawa abandoned its former laissez-faire approach to northern affairs and adopted an active interventionist role, accompanied by unprecedented financial support.