Bill E. Featherstone

I am working on a book about Canadian Civil-Military Relations and defence policy from the end of World War II to the present. Current tensions in Eastern Europe have complicated what the future holds for all Western defence policy, including Canadian concerns. 

The book, which is nearing completion, is essentially an extension of my service in the Royal Canadian Navy (1960-1970), and my MA thesis topic, "Civil-Military Relations: The Case of Canada and the Cuban Missile Crisis."

Essential research for the book necessitated an examination of Arctic climate change, diminishing sea ice, and the implications for Canadian defence policy, security, and sovereignty.

This research has brought me to the Centre for Earth Observation Science as a Research Affiliate, to examine these issues as they are complicated with increased Arctic maritime traffic and surveillance concerns. 

Certainly not the least of these concerns, are how these issues are impacting the indigenous and other peoples of the Arctic, and how the rest of the Canadian public responds to Arctic concerns. 

My affiliation as a Research Fellow and defence policy expert with the Centre for Defence & Security Studies at the University of Manitoba continues.

"Arctic Waters Surveillance: Auditor-General Report 2022."  Canadian Naval Review, Vol.18 (3) (Winter 2023),

"COP 26, Arctic Climate Change and the RCN." Canadian Naval Review. Vol.17(3) (Spring 2022).

"Canadian Civil-Military Relations: 1962 and the Cuban Missile Crisis." Canadian Naval Review, Vol.16 (2) (Fall 2020)