Lester B. Pearson

I've delayed writing this blog entry on Lester B. (I feel if we had met we'd be on a first name basis). It's not that I didn't want to, but I didn't quite know how to approach it. He's not the most shocking or interesting character; he didn't run up any major scandals, didn't say anything outrageous or divisive, and when you think of Canada's well known Prime Ministers of the past - which I believe exists to some extent, perhaps - he's not really one you think of. However, he completely deserves to be. If politics were sports, Pearson would be your stay-at-home defender; not particularly flashy, not one for hogging the limelight, but a reliable player that will quietly bring home the wins without much fanfare. In the wake of America's crazy politics, what we have here is what you really want out of a politician: someone who gets things done, moves the country forward, and does so without fighting every second person on the road to doing so. The best politics is probably a little dry. My father, upon recommending me Pearson's biography, told me he's his favourite P.M.. That means a lot coming from the guy who can sweep the board on our darn near impossible Canadian trivia board game we own. He's absolutely no fun to play with.

There is so much Prime Minister in this room right now I
literally can't even.

So, after that terrible introduction that must have scared away any would-be readers, it's probably best to talk about the man.

He, like many others, saw the first World War as a means of adventure and signed up the moment he turned eighteen. His post was rather easy, working as a quartermaster on the eastern front, and eventually managed to transfer to become a fighter pilot on the western side. Apparently a fortunate posting in at least the relative safety as a quartermaster role was something he saw as a negative, as it didn't really give that whole war "feel" that one, somehow, craves at that time period. The training for fighter pilots should be about a year, but the constraints of the war pressed it into a three-week span. (During that training, his commanding officer believed the name Lester not befitting a fighter pilot and renamed him "Mike" - a name that stuck for the rest of his life, and even became the title for his memoirs.) Subsequently, Pearson crashed his plane and as a result his nerves were a wreck, causing his release back home. While he did serve time oversees, Pearson never invoked his war record in later years in politics, believing he didn't really earn the same reputation others would have during the time as he wasn't close enough to the fighting.

Pearson, front right, showing those at Oxford there
is more to life than this "football" they play. He dominated
the British hockey players as he would use a stick rather than
his feet.

It wasn't the last time he was in Europe, though. After a long stretch of schooling in the University of Toronto and Oxford, as well as a stretch of sports in playing semi-professional baseball and playing on Oxford's hockey team (thus making him somehow more Canadian than he was before) he decided he'd try his hand at politics. He was given a job in London prior to World War II, and quickly realized that Canada was lacking a voice on the world stage. Pearson went through the admirable task of changing that, showing that Canada worked with Britain and not for Britain after the war officially broke out. Even though we were Britain's kid he felt it was time we became a big boy country, more than willing to fight our own battles. Well, sort of. Our then Prime Minister Mackenzie King was more accepting of a subordinate role, an ideal that irked Pearson.

Strong enough to handle Suez; cute
enough for a bow-tie.

Upon his return he was quickly shipped off again and stationed in America where he served to work for a different but quite similar idea. America at the time of World War II saw us as simply a part of the British union, and Britain saw us as their subordinate. Pearson sought to change that mentality, bringing more autonomy to our nation. That would be the hallmark of Pearson's pre-Prime Minister political life; pushing for Canadian recognition on a world stage. After the war he continued that fight while helping to rebuild Europe, spurring him on to become one of the most recognizable Canadians in the world - a title now belonging to, most likely, a Justin, Trudeau or Beiber.

In this motion Pearson was very successful. The early 1940s to the late '50s was said to be the golden age of Canadian diplomacy, and while that may be the least exciting golden age of all time, it did wonders for how the world saw us. He helped create NATO just prior to moving to elected office and becoming the Liberal party's Secretary of State for External Affairs for the following nine years. There, he would be the president of the UN for a year, participated in the Colombo Plan to help take the southern hemisphere out of poverty (a whole hemisphere!), worked in Korea to slow down the Americans that were maybe getting a little overeager, and as the icing on the diplomacy cake, came to a brilliant solution that appeased darn near everyone in the Suez Canal crisis. Lester Pearson was essentially a diplomatic rock star. His work for the Suez Canal ordeal won him a Nobel Peace Prize, placing a Canadian face amongst the other laureates, such as the unforgettable Elihu Root and Auguste Beernaert! And don't think I've forgotten about you, Ernesto Teodoro Moneta!

Pearson created our nation's symbol, giving us all something
to shed a patriotic tear over. *sniff* If you're not saluting
right now, shame on you.

Things went downhill afterwards (albeit briefly) when he tried to step up his political game and become Prime Minister. He took the leadership of the Liberals in 1958, and tried to push for a motion of non-confidence in the Diefenbaker Conservatives. The latter quickly moved to an election in which they crushed the Liberals, taking a record 208 seats. However, politics having more of a stick-to-your-man style back then, Pearson was allowed to stay as the leader of the Liberals until he was elected as P.M. on his third attempt in 1963. If his work was great outside of Canada before than, now was the time to turn it inwards.

Pearson spearheaded much of what makes Canada, Canada. The Canada Assistance Plan, the Canada Pension Plan, the Guaranteed Income Supplement and Medicare all came during Pearson's reign. He even helped to slow the tide of rising Quebec unrest (mind you, "rising Quebec unrest" has been happening since before Canada became a country). He gave Quebec some autonomy over their affairs, making them more willing to stay within Canada. Through that he also pushed for bilingualism, another cornerstone of Canadian life (otherwise, I would never have known that grapefruit in French is pamplemousse). I would argue his greatest achievement, and it couldn't have come under a different Prime Minister, was the creation of the flag. While many spoke against it claiming it was too far of a step away from the British, Pearson was all for a national symbol, and through him the the maple leaf was chosen. He did a tremendous amount, and it wasn't like he was in there for that long, either - a five year stretch and he did all this.

In our centennial year Pearson decided to leave politics and retire, passing the torch to Pierre Trudeau. He passed away in 1972 at the age of 75. If there's a better Prime Minister than him, let me know. That's a tough act to follow.