1 20 1 https://declassified.library.utoronto.ca/files/original/91f85df235db0a36a8ff5c0004d68b85.pdf aea9bb18fc31bf3c96fe36bbe711d530 PDF Text Text Document disclosed underthe Access to Information Act F FB-2931956avdede—ekoureents d ^in^ormatlon f o 1. ?.* * J Excerpt from the Journal of the 105th Meeting of the Permanent Joint Board on Defence, held at San Diego, California, February 4-8, 1963. 5. PHASE OUT OF CERTAIN REFUELLING FACILITIES (SECRET) The USAF Member recalled an exchange of notes, dated June 20, 1958, whereby Canada and the U.S. agreed to the establishment,-maintenance, and operation by the USAF of aerial refuelling facilities at Fort Churchill, Cold Lake, Namao, and Frobisher Bay. The notes provided that the U.S. might operate the facilities for a period of 10 years, or for a shorter period as might be agreed by the two governments. They also provided for PJBD review of the question of continuing need after the 10 year period. The accelerated introduction into the USAF inventory of more sophisticated weapons had caused a more rapid phase out of the B-47 force using the four Canadian refuelling bases. Accordingly, the USAF could no longer justify continuing the peacetime use of the refuelling bases after 1 July 1963, in the case of Fort Churchill and Frobisher, and after 1 July 1964, in the case of Cold Lake and Namao. The new phase out schedule was transmitted to the RCAF on 11 December 1962 by the USAF and action was underway to discuss this subject at the diplomatic level. The USAF Member assured the Canadian Section that no public release would be made until there had been agreement between the two Governments. in this connection the Canadian Army Member pointed out that local residents at Churchill were already aware of the proposed phase out at Churchill and that there was therefore imminent danger of a press "leak" The State Department Member inquired whether there would be any local impact arising out of the U.S. proposal, which, incidentally, was expected to be forwarded to the Canadian Government in the near future. The Canadian Chairman said that the precise nature of the USA’s intention had not been known to Canadian authorities until the previous week. In the first instance, it had been thought that SAG would wish to arrange & SECRET (Unless otherwise indicated) ■ f 12 000772 �L Document disclosed underthe Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de la Loisur l'acces a /'information SECRET . (Unless otherwise indicated) continuing POL facilities for use in wartime. the case. This appeared not to be The Canadian Section was not in a position to give any formal indication of the effect that the proposal to discontinue refuelling facilities at the four bases would have locally. Considered comments of the Canadian authorities could only be forthcoming following study of the precise USA proposal. Nevertheless, to assist the USA Section in assessing the possible ramifications of the U.S. proposal, the Canadian Section was prepared to make some preliminary comments. It was noted that some departments of the Canadian Government, such as Northern Affairs and Transport, which were intimately concerned had only just been informed of the U.S. proposal in general terms and were not present to comment on the proposal. It was evident that the greatest local impact would be in Frobisher and Churchill and that these two facilities were scheduled to be phased out first. To give one example of the impact, the DOT Representa- tive stated that his Department alone employed some 200 persons at Frobisher solely because of the SAC operation. USAF was responsible for termination costs and it was obviously important that action be taken to stop the stocking of supplies which were being purchased by the DOT and its sube contractors. He mentioned that the contracts with commercial agencies called for 90 days notice for cancellation. At Churchill, the Canadian Army was responsible for administering the base and any changes affecting supplies and personnel, such as those implicit in discontinuation of SAC refuelling facilities, likewise would require careful attention The U.S. Chairman recalled that the construction of the air strip and other facilities at Frobisher had involved the overcoming at great cost of very substantial natural barriers in the way of hard rock removal, etc. It was recognized that the USAF no longer had need for the facility for the purpose for which it was constructed. It was pointed out that this base on tidewater might well have substantial strategic advantages in wartime. SECRET (Unless otherwise indicated) 13 000773 �Document disclosed underthe Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de la Loisur l'acces a Tinformation s S E C R E T (Unless otherwise indicated) It was suggested that the Navies of-the two countries and the overall strategic planners give careful consideration to possible future military uses for this installation before dismantling was commenced. The Board noted the U.S. Chairman's statement with approval and agreed that the abandonment of geographically remote bases such as Frobisher could have significant military implications if left in an undefended but usable state. Considering the need to study carefully the implications of withdrawal of refuelling facilities and alternative uses for these facilities, and, further, that the impact at both Frobisher and Churchill was likely to be greater than at Namao and Cold Lake, it was thought that more notice would be desirable. Slowing down the proposed timetable or revising the order of base phase out so that Namao and Cold Lake would be the first bases to be phased out would be possible solutions to the difficulties posed Regarding the latter suggestion, the USAF Member pointed out that SAC's actual requirement for Frobisher and Churchill would terminate before that for Cold Lake and Namao The USAF Member pointed put that the proposed FY 1964 U.S. defence budget did not include funds for the continuation of the refuell- ing mission at Frobisher nor at Churchill, after June 30, 1963. However, he would inform his Department of the Board's discussion of this question. The Board concluded that it was important that the military and other domestic implications for Canada, including impact on employment and logistics, and possible alternative uses for the facilities, through maintaining them on a standby basis, be thoroughly explored. It was agreed that the Board's discussion had been useful although, perforce, preliminary. Furthermore, as mentioned above, all affected authorities had not had an opportunity to express their views. 000774 � Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CDAC02695 Title A name given to the resource Excerpt from 105th Meeting of the Permanent Joint Defence Board Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2/4/1963 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived RG25-A-3-b, Volume number: 5911, File number: 50195-40, pt 6-2 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource LAC Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Canadian Crown Subject The topic of the resource SAC Refuelling Facilities Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Canada Declassified Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource en