Review Of Lester B. Pearson's Creation Of The Royal Commission On Biculturalism

Furthermore, Lester B. Pearson integrated minorities into Canadian society. His creation of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (RCBB) is an example of how he did this. Pearson established a commission of ten people in the government whose job was to expand bilingualism in Canada, give Canadians more opportunities to learn French and strengthen relations between the English and French. The commission was successful as it made various changes in the country that reached these goals. For example, restrictions on the French language were repealed, French education at schools was improved and more provinces declared themselves as bilingual as a result of the commission's initiatives. The French comprised of a smaller population

Thus, the interest that Pearson had taken into the French gave them a new sense of welcomeness in the country that replaced their feelings of isolation from when their culture was not as valued. Likewise, Quebec’s relationship with the rest of Canada became much stronger as more provinces showed their support for the people of Quebec by making their inhabitants resemble them. Citizens of Quebec felt that they were more widely represented by the growing amount of French-speaking people in neighboring provinces. The cultural exposure that these people had experienced did not only affect the French’s way of thinking but also that of the people themselves. More Canadians became aware of the French population of Canada and became more accepting of them as they learned more about them and their language. Therefore, Pearson changed the negative sentiments of the French towards the rest of Canadians and vice versa into more positive ones. In addition to this, Pearson also welcomed more minority groups into Canada by establishing the world’s first race-free immigration system, which was outlined in the White Paper on Immigration of

Pearson significantly improved social and economic conditions in foreign countries. When Pearson was Canada’s Minister of External Affairs in 1956 (in the midst of the Cold War), the Suez Crisis began to stir. During the crisis, Egyptian President Nasser seized a prosperous oil company in the Suez Canal owned by Britain and France. As a result, these two countries sided with Israel and planned a military offense against Egypt in order to retaliate for what Nasser had done. Luckily before these highly-destructive bombings began, Pearson had found a peaceful solution to the crisis. He developed the idea of sending a peaceful military force (peacekeeping force) called the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) into the area. The force would allow Britain, France and Israel to withdraw from Egypt, without giving away the appearance of defeat. Pearson’s plan worked and the withdrawal that resulted from it prompted an agreement between France, Britain and Egypt on oil that allowed all of these countries to be able to obtain this resource from the Canal. Pearson’s idea of a peacekeeping force revolutionized how countries dealt with external conflicts that they were not involved in. Instead of using brute force, peacekeepers reconciled two groups of people or countries without violence or the death of citizens. This ensured the social well-being of the country as citizens would not be hurt due to what their government had done. In this case, Pearson protected