Canada at War: THE DOMINION: Sky Blueprint

Canada’s plan for an international air policy was announced last week by an American—smart Wayne Parrish, editor of Washington’s American Aviation Daily. Four days after Editor Parrish printed the details, U.S.-born Munitions Minister Clarence Decatur Howe confirmed them.

Canada proposed two limited freedoms for the air: 1) the right of all to innocent passage; 2) the right to land for refueling, repairs and emergencies. But international airlines would be licensed by an international air authority. Cross-border lines operating between contiguous countries would be exempt.

Neither Britain nor the U.S. warmed to the Canadian plan (see p. 18). The British, it was reported, thought the exemption of U.S.-Canadian lines weakened the United Kingdom’s bargaining position. For the competition-minded U.S., the plan was far too tight, politically too hot to handle. But Minister Howe’s proposals clearly demonstrated that Canada must be considered in postwar air talks. Said Minister Howe: “The geographical position demands Canada be given an important place among nations. . . .”

Minister Howe announced that Canada will immediately start production of a four-motor transport plane “that is considered probably the best plane of the next five years.”