The Spirit of HMCS Bonaventure Calls for the Political Will to Beef Up Canada’s Defence
HMCS Bonaventure, RCN Files
Commentary
Perhaps forgotten in Canadian history is that the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) once had aircraft carriers. The last one was the HMCS Bonaventure, which plied Atlantic waters with jet fighters and anti-submarine warfare aircraft until 1970. Economies of budget then set in and the shrinking of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) began and subsequently plummeted in the post-Cold War environment.
Those were heady days when the Bonaventure was part of a robust Canadian military. The ship provided significant capabilities to defend the northern waters from Soviet submarines and long-range aircraft.
Canada had nuclear warheads—under U.S. lock and key—for its air defence missiles based at home and its strike aircraft based in Europe,
