Cabinet Defence Committee minutes, 25 June 1954 (Documents on Canadian External Relations, vol. 20, doc. 466)

The Top Secret minutes of the Cabinet Defence Committee meeting that authorized the Mid-Canada Line, reproduced in the Department of External Affairs’ Documents on Canadian External Relations series and hosted by the Military Communications and Electronics Museum. The line is described as consisting ‘mainly of equipment of the McGill Fence type, supplemented by scanning radars,’ covering 300 to 60,000 feet; the cost estimate is $120 million for Hopedale to west of Edmonton; and the reasoning for building it as an all-Canadian project is stated plainly - one authority making decisions, fewer delays, better cost control, and avoiding suggestions that Canada contribute to the seaward extensions.