Sovereignty or Security? explores the numerous and diverse influences responsible for the dramatic change in northern policies during the 1940s and their subsequent impact on the Yukon and Northwest Territories. Apart from concern for the social, economic, and political development of the North, two major issues emerged which became central to the policy initiatives in the war and postwar years -- the question of maintaining optimum sovereign control and of providing adequate defence against possible enemy attack. As a result, Ottawa abandoned its former laissez-faire approach to northern affairs and adopted an active interventionist role, accompanied by unprecedented financial support.

Shelagh D. Grant is the author of the award-winning Arctic Justice: On Trial for Murder; Pond Inlet 1923; Sovereignty or Security? Government Policy in the Canadian North 1936-50; and more recently, Mittimatalik-Pond Inlet: A History, translated into Inuktitut; as well as numerous scholarly articles on related topics. She is an adjunct professor in the Canadian Studies Program and research associate of the Frost Centre for Canadian Studies at Trent University and lives in Peterborough, Ontario.

Shelagh Grant's profile page

Grant has written a most impressive work based on extensive research in governmental and private papers. She is careful to place the events in the North within the broader context of military, economic, and political history, and each chapter begins with an elegant, brief description of the larger setting. Grant makes clear that the questions of national security and Arctic sovereignty have not yet been resolved. Those who seek such resolution in the future must read this important book.
- John English, American Historical Review

Shelagh Grant's careful and detailed study of the evolution of Canada's northern policy in the late 1930s and 1940s illuminates a critical period ... For those interested in a detailed study of a fascinating period of Northern development, Grant provides a major resource.
- Martin Loney, Ottawa Citizen

This is a daring book ... No doubt this will be the standard work, as a result not only of the author's analysis but also for its abundant maps, charts, and appended texts.
- Joseph T. Jockel, The American Review of Canadian Studies