Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson, Politician
Prime Minister of Canada Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Feb 25, 2009
Pearson received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for his tireless efforts to bring about a peaceful solution to the 1956 Suez Crisis. Because of his diplomatic efforts and successes, Pearson was probably the most well-known Canadian in the world. He made people feel proud to be Canadians.
Lester Bowles “Mike” Pearson and Politics
As stated in documents at the National Archives of Canada, Lester Pearson “always approached a problem cautiously, gathering as much background information as he could…after this, he acted decisively, but…sometimes lacked the ruthlessness required today for political leadership…Pearson’s knack for solving diplomatic problems was formidable and his relaxed manner and disarming sense of humour contributed to this greatly.”
When the Liberal Party lost the 1958 election, Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent retired. Pearson, elected to lead the party, served as Leader of the Opposition.
Lester Bowles Pearson Fourteenth Prime Minister of Canada
Lester Bowles Pearson became the fourteenth Prime Minister of Canada in 1963 with a minority government. The 1965 federal election resulted in another Liberal minority government. There were many difficulties, particularly when his conciliatory approach to problem solving was perceived as poor leadership. Though he didn’t have a secure majority in Parliament, he was able to implement many changes.
- …New Canadian flag
- …Canada Pension Plan
- …Universal Medicare
- …New Immigration Act
- …Canada Student Loans Plan
- …Rural economic development fund
- …Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism
- …Royal Commission on the Status of Women
- …Guaranteed Income Supplement
The two Royal Commissions brought about official bilingualism in Canada and helped create legal equality for women.
Maple Leaf Flag of Canada
On February 15, 1965 at the inauguration of the National Flag of Canada, Prime Minister Pearson said, “…Under this Flag may our youth find new inspiration for loyalty to Canada; for a patriotism based not on any mean or narrow nationalism, but on the deep and equal pride that all Canadians will feel for every part of this good land.”
Prime Minister Lester Pearson Opposed Vietnam War
Prime Minister Pearson resisted pressure to enter the war in Vietnam. During his April 2, 1965 visit to Philadelphia, Pearson expressed his support for a negotiated settlement. He also called for a halt to the bombings. When he and United States President Lyndon Johnson met hours later, Pearson was strongly berated for his words.
Prime Minister Pearson and Canada’s Centennial
During Canada’s Centennial year, 1967, there was a grand celebration. Expo ’67 was a massive undertaking by the people of Canada and many countries. Prime Minister Pearson remarked at the opening of Expo ’67 in Montreal on April 27, 1967, “Our own country’s existence has always depended upon achieving unity of human purpose within the diversity of our linguistic, cultural, and social backgrounds.”
Lester Pearson in Retirement
Following his retirement from politics in 1968, Lester Pearson returned to the academic life. He lectured at Carleton University in Ottawa on Canadian foreign relations. He was Chancellor of the University from 1969 until his 1972 death.
During his years of retirement, Pearson completed the first of three volumes of his memoirs. His work on the second volume was well underway. Before his death he had written a draft of less than half of the concluding volume. The editors, John Munro and Alex Inglis, completed it by adding material from recorded interviews, diaries, correspondence, speeches, etc. Geoffrey Pearson wrote the foreword to the second volume.
Lester Bowles “Mike” Pearson died of cancer December 18, 1972. He is buried in Maclaren Cemetery, north of Gatineau in Wakefield, Quebec.
Source:
Canada's Prime Ministers, 1867 - 1994: Biographies and Anecdotes, National Archives of Canada 1994
Mike: The Memoirs of the Right Honourable Lester B. Pearson, Vol. 3, Edited by J. AMunro and A. I. Inglis, University of Toronto Press 1972
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