In recognition of the fact that communications commonly are considered to be essential to effective disaster preparedness and response, the present study addresses several related themes concerning the role of communications infrastructures--i.e., equipment facilities on the one hand, and established patterns of interpersonal relationships among government decision-makers and industry representatives on the other--in peacetime emergency communications planning and response processes. Its investigative tasks include the choice to apply the implicit guiding model in North American emergency management, namely, the "command-and-control" theoretical model, to a specific single-country peacetime disaster context: the Canadian case. That choice rests upon a recognition of the methodological difficulties and challenges in dealing with an emerging and highly dynamic configuration of multiple institutional players, new technologies and residual government policies respecting the telecommunications sector. / The study's findings suggest an appreciation of the complexity and nuanced context within which multiorganizational and especially multijurisdictional peacetime crisis management occurs, sometimes understood as the emergence of other frameworks. This investigation contributes to the disaster literature by providing the first exhaustive study of Canada's national emergency communications structure and capabilities. It therefore can perhaps best be seen as a prologue or preliminary discourse to a broader international comparative effort of addressing questions related to communications preparedness in regard to peacetime disasters.

Military Preparedness in a New Security Environment: The Canadian Army Reserve's Contribution to Public Safety and Domestic Security addresses the Reserve's response to Canada's domestic security needs in the current security environment. The security environment is evolving, which has led to increasing constraints and the search for evolving security solutions for Western national governments, including a greater use of the Reserve. However, certain tensions inhibit the twin-track contributions of the Reserve to both domestic and international operations, arising from issues such as role definition, buy-in, and resource commitment. The "Canadian solution" o f having the Reserve "muddle through" these issues and follow both roles will inevitably need to change if the Reserve is to effectively serve Canadians in the future, be that internationally or domestically. The methods employed include the analysis of existing literature addressing the evolving security environment, concepts of civil-military relations, and recent Canadian national security policies, combined with a presentation of the Army Reserve, and a comparative study with key Commonwealth counterparts. Thus, at a conceptual level, at the Canadian level, and at the level of Canada's international partners, it became apparent that there are tensions between a domestic and international role for the Reserve which could create problems for the Reserve's future. In practice, the methodology consisted of the analysis of academic and government primary and secondary sources as well as drawing upon the author's interviews with individuals of relevant expertise or experience. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

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Canadians faced an unprecedented threat after the Second World War. Located between two competing superpowers Canada could become the battlefield of a third world war. How did Canadians respond to the nuclear threat? The government of John Diefenbaker warned that millions of Canadians could die in a nuclear war. It strengthened Canada's contribution to the defence of North America and Europe and dedicated more resources to civil defence. Between 1957 and 1963 the domestic issue of nuclear arms acquisition and growing cold war tensions combined to draw attention to the threat. Newly founded anti-nuclear groups as well as Canadian unions, newspapers, magazines, student groups, churches and community organizations confronted nuclear issues. These groups shared a concern about survival but reached different conclusions about how Canada could avoid nuclear devastation. Their attempts to come to terms with the threat of nuclear war highlight broader themes in the history of postwar Canada including the influence of the cold war on the attitudes and behaviours of Canadians and the nation's relationship with the United States. / While more Canadians discussed the nuclear threat in these years the majority did not join the debate. Polls showed the public supported a nuclear defence. They believed few would survive a nuclear attack but did not worry about nuclear war. Economic concerns always ranked higher. The public was, on the whole, not mobilized either in preparation or in protest. Diefenbaker questioned what else he could do to increase public concern about survival. Both the civil defence program and the nuclear disarmament movement struggled. Polls showed that most Canadians did nothing to prepare for a war fought at home. Anti-nuclear groups remained small, divided over their platforms and methods and faced financial constraints. The debate about survival grew in the period between 1957 and 1963 but was dominated by elected officials, civil defence authorities and anti-nuclear activists. Even these groups found it difficult to balance the Soviet threat with the risk of a nuclear war and struggled to achieve policies that would provide security for the nation and its population.

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