Most people associate the deadly chemical defoliant Agent Orange with the U.S. war in Vietnam. But freelance journalist Chris Arsenault has uncovered a disturbing Canadian connection that paints a portrait of human and environmental devastation much closer to home than the jungles of Southeast Asia.

This deceptively thin volume is a thoroughly documented case history of the aerial spraying of over one million litres of Agent Orange, along with related chemical compounds, over Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, New Brunswick. Employing interviews with exposure victims and discussions with participants in an ongoing class-action lawsuit, Arsenault weaves together the many strands of a shocking tale of criminal negligence that heretofore has been featured only in isolated news reports.

For over three decades, beginning in 1956, Gagetown and the residential community surrounding the base were subject to this chemical onslaught, delivered via the U.S. and Canadian militaries as well as a series of private contractors. Soldiers and civilian workers alike were told the chemicals were safe enough to drink, and no protective gear was provided when they cleared defoliant-soaked brush. Power companies used the poison as a cheap weed-clearing alternative that reduced labour costs, while aerial sprayers often missed their targets and hit crop lands or residential areas. Concentrations of the deadly product were even higher in Canadian applications than they were in Vietnam, and the U.S. continued testing the related Agent Purple in Canada, even after its use had been banned by the U.S. Congress.

According to Blowback, the legacy of this project is found in cancer clusters, a string of premature deaths, and a toxic gene pool. Arsenault interviews veterans, power workers, and community members whose seemingly innocent hikes in the woods or berry-picking trips exposed them to a phenomenally high risk of cancer. One woman recalls the burning sensation on her skin whenever she took in the washing of Gagetown personnel, while another discusses miscarriages of severely deformed fetuses.

While there is a lot of material to digest, Arsenault generally does an admirable job of pulling it all together in an accessible style. There is repetition in the book, however, some of which makes the text feel raw, like it was pulled from a blog.

Despite this minor cavil, Blowback effectively illustrates how one of Canada’s “contributions” to a distant war had deadly repercussions at home. Arsenault’s text serves as a cautionary tale about the profound costs of current and future Canadian military entanglements.