Tolerant allies: The Joint Arctic Weather Stations, Canadianization, and Canada–United States relations in the Cold War Arctic

Abstract

From 1947–1972, the Joint Arctic Weather Stations (JAWS) program transformed Canada’s High Arctic. This article focuses on Canada’s aspirations to “Canadianize” the joint program from the late 1940s to the late 1960s. Both Canada and the United States questioned the extent and form of American involvement in the JAWS program intermittently over 25 years of joint operations. Was Canadianization of these remote weather stations necessary or practical? This article concludes that, in retrospect, the conventional, dominant narrative that emphasizes the ongoing American threat to Canada’s Arctic sovereignty seems misplaced with respect to the JAWS story.