ON THIS DAY

October 24, 1962 At the urging of the Kennedy administration, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker authorized the alert status known as DEFCON 3 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The decision had taken days, reflecting the desire of the government to preserve the independence of Canadian foreign policy and to maintain a balanced posture in crisis conditions. The delay, however, was widely criticized and contributed to a perception of indecisiveness in the Diefenbaker government.