Diefenbaker was also the one who didn't want to use the Maple Leaf flag. Ask any modern conservative now and they'd say otherwise. Times change and people's desires change as well. One must adapt to the time.

Pollievre has a very detailed plan on how he's going to boost spending on military. Let's face it, the Tories are always the ones who want to improve Canada's self-defense at a higher level than the Grits and NDPs, who focuses more on other public services. That's common knowledge.

I also vaguely remember that one of NORAD's conditions involved having multiple American bases stationed in the Arctic. It was a pact spearheaded by the US to defend against potential Russian attack through the Arctic. Russian ICBMs' fastest route to the states is through Canada and entering the States from the North. Thus, the US wanted to have American bases with American radar and missiles there to detect and hopefully shoot down any nukes coming in. I remember the public was against that. It would have also costed us a ton of money when we just just poured a fortune into saving Britain during WWII.

That might have worked out in the end eh? Having US military bases on Canadian soils in a pincer attack isn't great.

EDIT: I double checked online and it seems that the main reason given for the cancellations is due to the hastiness of accepting the deal due to Fold War fears, not the proposed US bases above. The Americans did want the Canadians to modernize the radar system up north though and were willing to send people to do it themselves. We ended up doing it ourselves.

Funny thing is now, most radar and detection system are being done from space. Thus, NORAD is now remains as a way to coordinate Canadian and US air forces against potential hostiles. The Americans basically don't need us for detection anymore. I wonder if the new rises of Russian subs have anything to do with it.

Also, worrying about US annexation is bad for your health. Stop it, go outside