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In the process of creating the policies and structures that led to the formal organization of Canada's Defence Research Board after the end of the Second World War, senior military and defence officials in Ottawa conceptualized and established a scientific intelligence bureau within the defence department. Recognizing the heightened military significance of science during the war, defence officials believed that scientific intelligence—the practice of analyzing scientific information for forecasting the weapons and warfare potential of enemy countries—could support and improve Canada's military preparedness efforts in the immediate postwar period. Using recently opened government and military records, this article explores the origins and history of Canadian scientific intelligence during the early Cold War, framing the topic as useful for understanding Canada's military past and Ottawa's approach to some of the country's top security and defence issues of the late 1940s through the mid-1960s.

"Canada is often seen as a peaceful country with a modest military and a small defence industrial base, but its military-industrial complex is deeply embedded in the fabric of the country. Silent Partners reveals its origins and influence. During the Cold War, Canada's military, industrial, and political partnerships developed in silent ways, behind the scenes and without much public scrutiny. Silent Partners explores this complicated history of leveraging military and defence expenditures to fund domestic industries, bolster employment, and support science and technology. Military and defence spending have affected Canada in myriad ways and in uneven patterns of prosperity and decline. The contributions in this volume explore the environmental impact of military activities and munitions production, the ethical issues of human experimentation and military testing, and the economic and political implications of procurement and arms exports. Using a vast array of archival sources--some only recently declassified or discovered--Silent Partners is an illuminating examination of Canada's military-industrial complex from a historical perspective."--

"Dr. George Lindsey (1920-2011), a leading Canadian defence scientist, gained widespread recognition in the western alliance during a government career that spanned nearly the whole of the Cold War. Trained as a scientist in nuclear physics, he became an operational researcher during the Second World War and a strategic analyst for the Canadian defence establishment in the postwar period. He played a key role in development modern capacities in both fields while defending Canadian interests on the front lines on Cold War military planning and preparations. He worked towards the cause of a more effective western alliance, influencing policy in such important areas as North American air defence, anti-submarine warfare and the militarization of space. In an active retirement, he then addressed the circumstances of the post-Cold War world. This book provides first access to a selection of unpublished and small-circulation documents that Lindsey produced during his long and interesting career. He left behind a collection of rich records that offer insight into his personal predilections and professional dispositions. A significant amount of his government work remains classified, but what information is open provides unique insights into postwar defence and policy formation in Canada. The writings provided here describe the work of an influential and largely unknown Canadian while also opening a window to the importance of governmental defence research to Canada's Cold War. Lindsey's records thus not only chronicle the noteworthy experiences of a pragmatic defence scientist, but also elucidate the priorities of the Canadian defence establishment during a significant period in world affairs."--