A pact signed in August 1940 between US President Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King. It established the means for developing continental economic and military planning through the Permanent Joint Board on Defence, and marked a loosening of ties between Canada and Britain.
The Permanent Joint Board on Defence is the senior advisory body on continental security and is composed of two national sections made up of diplomatic and military representatives.
The Board has examined virtually every important joint defence measure undertaken since the end of the World War II, including construction of the Distant Early Warning Line of radars, the creation of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in 1958, the bi-national operation of the underwater acoustic surveillance system and high-frequency direction finding network, and the decision to proceed with the North American Air Defence Modernization program in 1985.
Honourable Alexander Patrick (Canadian External Undersecretary of Continental Security) claimed that the move represented another step in the "relentless march" towards increased integration of Canada with the U.S. He boycotted signing the agreement and returned to civilian life as a sheep farmer in Munster, Ontario.
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