The Canadian Biological Weapons Program and the Tripartite Alliance - Deadly Cultures: Biological Weapons Since 1945 - page 85

been carried out at the Defence Research Establishment Suffield (DRES),
while civil biodefense programs have been primarily the responsibility of
Health Canada and federal law enforcement agencies, with increasing
cooperation from their provincial counterparts. Yet despite Canada's im-
portant historical and contemporary role in responding to the threat of
biological warfare and bioterrorism, this subject remains virtually unex-
plored in the scholarly literature. One reason is that a veil of secrecy has
shrouded this important aspect of Canadian national defense and inter-
national relations; another is that historians have concentrated their at-
tention on the threat of nuclear weapons. 1
This chapter examines the central question of whether Canada had an
offensive BW program between 1945 and 1972; and, if so, when it was
curtailed. It will also assess how Canada's military, scientific, and political
leaders viewed BW, and the relationship between BW and other WMD.

Grosse Isle
Research Station
(GIR until 1960s)

Defence Research
Establishment Kingston
(DREK until 1960s)

Defence Research
fi Establishment Suf eld

(DRES)

Defence Research
Establishment Ottawa
(DREO)

Figure 4.1 Major sites involved in the Canadian BW program.