An Initiative

 This metal plaque is the emblem of NORAD, the joint US-Canadian military organization overseeing continental missile defense during the Cold War. Long after that time, the organization carries on.

One of the best ideas Canadians ever came up with was the idea of peacekeeping- using neutral soldiers to keep the peace between belligerent sides via the UN. It was Lester Pearson, the foreign minister at the time, and later prime minister, who proposed the concept to resolve the Suez Crisis. His initiative would win him the Nobel Peace Prize.

This is a UN scout car.

A replica of his Nobel is here. The original is kept at the foreign ministry headquarters.

Hercules Aircraft At Ismailia, Egypt is a 1974 painting by Collin Williams.

A collage of photographs of Canadian peacekeepers is seen here.

A reproduction of a Cyprus cafe is found here.

The prospect of a nuclear war worried everyone.

Against the backdrop of the Cold War, here we have examples of culture in response- from music to books.

The Canadian military itself was evolving through this period, from uniforms to a greater presence of women in the front lines.