Lester B Pearson

Lester B. Pearson lived from 1897-1972.  He was born on April 23 1897, in Newtonbrooke

Ontario (now part of Toronto).  He died on December 27 1972.  He was born the son of a

Methodist parson.  As a child he worked very hard in school, and he became one of the minority of

high school graduates who went on to college.

In his studies he went to Victoria College and the Methodist College inside the University of

Toronto.  In his free time he played hockey and baseball.  He then became a medical doctor in the

Royal Flying Corps.  He was Private Pearson in the Canadian Army Medical Corps.  This took him

to numerous foreign countries from 1915-1917.  When he returned he went to Oxford University

under the guidance of the poet Robert Graves.  When he graduated he enrolled for the assignment of

the Royal Flying Corps. 

He then began taking flight training but as fate would have it he was hit by a

London Transport Bus.  He remained in the hospital until he revived in the spring of 1918.

In November 1918 he enrolled in the University of Toronto again.  On June 5 1919 he graduated.

Like many other young veterans he was at a loss for something to do.  Law was a respectable

profession at the time so he ground away at the ungrateful task of articling for law.  After a week he

decided that business was more promising.  He worked at a number of places but in the end he

decided to teach at the University of Toronto. 

He taught history in the University of Toronto from 1924-1928.  All his students said he was a very

unique teacher.  In March 1924 one of his students, Maryon Moody decided to ensure getting her

degree by becoming engaged to her teacher.  And it worked.  On August 22, 1925 Lester Pearson

and Maryon Moody got married in Winnipeg.  From there on they lived just outside of Toronto.

Later he signed up for a position in The Canadian External Affairs Department.  The government

officials at first thought he had some sort of mental disorder due to the way he dressed and acted.  In

1928 he got a position in the Canadian Department of External Affairs despite their beliefs.

At the time Pearson had a very important position because Canada had finally achieved a feeling of

nationalism.  Canada also had hardly any diplomatic relations with other countries because Great

Britain still handled most of it's affairs.  For that reason when Great Britain went to war with

Germany, so did Canada.  In 1948 he was named Secretary of State for external affairs.  He

promoted proposals for western alliance tied in with the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty

Organization (NATO).  He was the chairman of the NATO project at the time of the Korean War.

He sat on a three man committee that negotiated the Korean cease-fire.  In 1952-1953 he was the

president of the UN general assembly.

In 1957 he won the Nobel Peace prize.  It was mainly for creating the UN emergency force which

helped settle the Suez Canal crisis of 1956.  When the Conservative Party under John Diefenbaker

defeated The Liberals in 1957 Pearson was out of public office for the first time in nearly 30 years.

In 1958 Pearson replace St. Laurent as head of the Liberal Party and became leader of the

opposition in the house of commons.  As Leader of the Opposition he advocated close relations

between Canada and the US.  When Diefenbaker refused to accept nuclear warheads from the US

it caused the fall of his government in 1963.  In 1968 the Liberals won 129 seats, four short of a

majority.  The conservatives 95, the Socreds 24, and NDP 19 which made Pearson Canada's 14th

Prime Minister.  People knew he would do a good job and they also thought the Liberals would

bring economic stability.

Pearson's first move was to restore relations with US and Great Britain that Diefenbaker had

destroyed.  Pearson became good friends with John F. Kennedy while trying to resolve the nuclear

weapons issue.

One of Pearson's major moves was the Canada Pension Plan.  The Canada Pension Plan was

available to anyone with a job.  It had to be decided on by all the provinces.  The only one who

gave trouble was Quebec.  They said that the money should be used to benefit their provinces.  In

1965 Quebec finally agreed.

The slogan "Sixty Days of Decision" had created the illusion that the Liberals would transform the

country during their first 2 months in power where in reality they hadn't.

Pearson's government finally became aware of Quebec nationalism and separatism problems when

French terrorists in Quebec city planted bombs in public buildings and mailboxes.  The most

dramatic indication was when the Queen visited Montreal and was confronted by a large mob.  The

treatment towards the Queen from Quebec shocked Pearson and the rest of the government.

Pearson started to worry about a full scale revolution in Quebec.

Pearson's only mistake was to take power right after WW II because that was the time the

provinces needed revenue the most.  While Pearson was in government Quebec announced that it

didn't want to be run by a English government.  They said that they needed a French government for

the "awakened" Quebec.  Pearson said that this problem could only be resolved by cooperation.

During his first year and a half Pearson called more meetings than Diefenbaker had in his six year

reign.  Even though Pearson's knowledge lay mostly in external matters he had little time devoted to

foreign affairs in his time of Prime Minister.

In May 1964, Pearson put a maple leaf on the Canadian Flag without any consent with the cabinet

members.  People criticized the new flag greatly.  Some said that they liked the old flag because it

was the one that they had fought under during the war.  Others said that it was a desperate attempt

to appease Quebec.  Pearson's original design was three maple leafs on a white background with a

blue strip on either side to represent the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.  When an opinion poll was

taken it showed that only 44% of all Canadians liked the flag.  Pearson said that the new flag would

show Canada's independence and national unity.  Diefenbaker said that it would destroy Canada's

unity.  Pearson answered by saying that it was time Canada got a new flag that could be easily

identified and not mistaken for another countries.  Also the Union Jack should still be flown in

Canada as a symbol of Canada's membership in the commonwealth and of its loyalty to the crown,

but just not as the national flag.  Despite his argument that the acceptance of the new flag didn't

imply any disrespect to the Union Jack or to Canada's history.  Pearson was almost drowned out by

boos and insults.

When Pearson was going to retire he had to choose someone to succeed himself.  His first choice

was Jean Marchand because in his mind a French-Canadian candidate was absolutely essential to

maintain the credibility of the Liberal Party as a bi-racial institution, but Marchand refused.  However

he, suggested Pierre Trudeau.  Pearson was surprised when Marchand mentioned Trudeau as a

possible leadership candidate.  Until then there had been little discussion of him in inner political

circles, although there was a forlorn hope outside.  Pearson met Trudeau and conferred a qualified

blessing on him, but he would have to get elected first.  Trudeau won and succeed Pearson.

Pearson accomplished many things in his life and was very well known and liked by people across

Canada.