THE MALTON DOSSIER

A SECRET HISTORY OF THE CANADIAN CENTURY
FILE #: CAA-Omega-001 AUTH: CAA HISTORICAL DIVISION DATE OF COMPILATION: REDACTED DECLASSIFICATION: NEVER

PART I: THE COUP OF REALITY

February 20, 1959: Black Friday. The order comes down from the Prime Minister's Office. The Avro Arrow program is cancelled. The order to destroy all aircraft, tooling, and plans is given. In the main hangar at Malton, as torches are being readied to cut apart the first five completed Arrows, a desperate meeting is held.

February 21, 1959: The Treason of Diefenbaker. Crawford Gordon Jr., President of A.V. Roe Canada, along with James C. Floyd and the chief engineers of the Arrow project, refuse the order. Using evidence gathered by the RCMP of widespread KGB infiltration aimed at stealing Arrow technology, and presenting the classified flight telemetry from the final test flight of RL-206-which records a sustained altitude exceeding 80,000 feet and speeds approaching Mach 3-they go to Rideau Hall. They present Governor General Vincent Massey with a stark choice: allow the Prime Minister to destroy Canada's only hope for true sovereignty and leave it vulnerable to Soviet espionage, or dismiss his government.

February 22, 1959: The Diefenbaker Coup. In a move that shocks the nation and the world, the Governor General, using his reserve powers, dismisses the government of John Diefenbaker on grounds of gross incompetence and endangering national security. An emergency 'National Unity' coalition is formed, dominated by a new political entity: the Avro Progressive Party. Their first act is to cancel the cancellation. The Arrow program is not just reinstated; it is elevated to a matter of national survival, funded under a new, secret mandate known only as the 'Malton Doctrine.'