Lester B Pearson Essay

Lester Bowles Pearson was the 14th Prime Minister of Canada and served in office from the 22nd of April 1963 until the 20th of April in 1968. In the eyes of many he is considered as one of the most influential people of the 20th century. (“Lester B. Pearson,” Wikipedia) Born in Newtonbrook, he was known as a serious scholar and his athletic talents soon became apparent during his time at University. He excelled at numerous sports such as rugby, basketball, ice hockey as well as baseball. Many believe that Pearson is the most influential Prime Minister of Canada as he left lasting impacts on our great nation as well as internationally and a legacy.

Throughout his lifetime, Lester B. Pearson rose up the political ranks until he reached the highly

Before Lester Pearson becomes Prime Minister, he served as the President of the UN General Assembly where he tried to find solutions to conflicts. His biggest test came in 1956 when the Suez Crisis starts. (Bothwell) Egyptian President Nasser changed the ownership status of the Suez Canal Crisis so that this company is no longer private but is owned by the state. This caused the British and the French to disapprove as those two countries were the largest shareholders in the company. The canal has a channel through which oil passes through and if it were inaccessible for multiple countries, their economies would slowly crumble. The countries that are going to be cut off from the precious supply of oil are preparing plans to strike but the crisis was strategically orchestrated so that the countries who are facing a loss do not have enough resources to defend this territory as they are fighting other battles. Pearson believes there is one way which this situation could be fixed but when he does not gain enough support, he abandons this strategy and pursues another which is later agreed upon. Here Lester Pearson has his greatest diplomatic achievement and what he said had an impact on more than just one country. He then receives a Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for resolving the crisis. (“Lester Pearson and the Suez Crisis”) Another instance where Pearson’s actions had an impact on

Since Pearson brought bilingualism into being, he wanted to be the last unilingual Prime Minister and his wish came true. There is no official rule but all the Prime Ministerial candidates after Pearson are bilingual. This way, the Prime Minister can provide more services to the people living in Canada because he knows another language. Additionally, French people would not feel like second-class citizens as they have felt before because no one bothered to learn their language. Furthermore, Quebec could have separated from Canada in 1967 making Pearson’s institution of bilingualism futile. In 1967 the French President visited and advocated for Quebec’s separation from Canada. Lester Pearson shut it down and made it evident that the President was no longer welcome into Canada as he voiced those types of thoughts. The first race-free immigration system that Pearson instituted is still in effect today as it is so efficient. With immigration, the country’s population only grows as Canada can reap the benefits as this would mean more labor, tax-payers, creative ideas for inventions and more. (“Lester B. Pearson,” Canadian Content) When Lester B. Pearson earned and received the Nobel Peace Prize for all his help resolving the Suez Crisis conflict, it was then put on display at the headquarters of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in Ottawa to