By , Pearson was no longer in office. He and the St-Laurent government were widely blamed for not standing by Britain in The Liberals were defeated and St-Laurent resigned as leader. The Liberals faced a Conservative minority government under John Diefenbaker. In his first act as leader of the Opposition , Pearson challenged Diefenbaker to resign and turn the government over to him. Diefenbaker ridiculed the idea; in the subsequent general election, the Liberals were reduced to 49 of the seats in the House of Commons.
See also Elections of and Pearson began the slow task of rebuilding the party. With the assistance of parliamentary debaters such as Paul Martin and J.
Pickersgill , as well as party workers such as Walter Gordon , Mitchell Sharp and Maurice Lamontagne, Pearson re-established the Liberals as a national party. In , the Diefenbaker government collapsed over the issue of nuclear weapons. See Cuban Missile Crisis. In the election that February, the Liberals won seats to form a minority government.
Pearson took office on 22 April In , Pearson called a general election but again failed to secure a majority. In the next year, the Munsinger scandal erupted with even more partisan bitterness. In December , Pearson announced his intention to retire.
In April , a Liberal convention picked Pierre Trudeau as his successor. For all its superficial chaos, the Pearson government left behind a notable legacy of legislation: a Canada Pension Plan ; a universal medicare system; a unified Armed Forces ; and a new national flag.
Not all of these initiatives proved fruitful and some were costly; but they represented the high point of the Canadian welfare state that generations of social thinkers had dreamed about. In retirement, Pearson worked on his memoirs and on a study of international aid for the World Bank. From the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. From the Nobel Foundation. Extraordinary Canadians: Lester B.
He served at home and abroad, as leader of the country and president of the seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly. Pearson was named a Companion of the Order of Canada and was awarded an Order of the British Empire and an Order of Merit, the highest honour in the Commonwealth, for his service during a historic time in the 20th century.
Born in Newtonbrook, Ont. He taught history at the University of Toronto before entering the foreign service with the Department of External Affairs. Making his way to Washington, D. As a result, Pearson ventured a calming suggestion: "We need action … not only to end the fighting but to make the peace. Pearson's inspired suggestion was seized upon as a way out of the difficult situation. Within 24 hours, a force was organized on paper, and the immediate crisis was on the way to resolution.
Largely on the strength of his international reputation, Pearson was chosen to become the leader of the Liberal party in The party was in opposition, disorganized and demoralized, a situation that was to become worse in the short run.
In the election of Pearson led the Liberals to a crushing defeat, and the party was reduced to 48 of seats in the Commons. Reorganization began soon, and by the Liberals were on their way back.
In the election of that year the party won 98 seats, and after John Diefenbaker's government was defeated in the House of Commons in , Pearson led the Liberals to a narrow victory in that year's general election.
Pearson's government was almost immediately in trouble, a condition that persisted for the next five years. The first budget was almost completely withdrawn after fierce attacks; there were serious scandals involving ministers and people in the Prime Minister's office; and the province of Quebec was increasingly restive in confederation.
Above all was the extraordinary bitterness between Pearson and the leader of the opposition, Diefenbaker—a bitterness that dominated the political scene and almost discredited Parliament. But Pearson's administration was not unmarked with success. The Prime Minister listened sympathetically to Quebec and developed a formula of "cooperative federalism" to deal with its demands.
The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism was also created. The government strengthened social welfare legislation and introduced socialized medicine. A distinctive Canadian flag was designed and approved. And relations with the United States, although sometimes difficult with Lyndon Johnson, continued to remain close.
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