Lester B. Pearson
Canada's Leader
Who is Lester Pearson?
What makes Lester a Leader?
The Suez Crisis
Pearson led Canada in gaining its identity as global peacemakers and possibly saved millions of lives by leading the world to the peaceful end of the Suez Crisis. In 1956, he proposed the United Nations Emergency Task Force.
During this period of time in history, there was a major conflict brewing in the Suez Crisis that could have resulted in WW3.
However Lester B Pearson would not let that happen. Pearson got to work, he spent weeks coming up with possible ideas to end the conflict. He came up with the UN task force. They would intervene in the fighting, supervise a ceasefire and get all sides to negotiate a peaceful conflict.
Pearson's work was not done yet, he then had to be a courageous leader and propose his plan to the UN and get a majority of countries to agree with it. Pearson was very successful, he gave a very heartfelt and inspiring speech. His plan was implemented and was successful in the resolution of the Suez crisis.
This task force also continues to exist today, and over the years, it has resolved many conflicts including the October war.
Pearson as Prime Minister
Pearson’s tenure as Prime Minister from 1963-1968 saw huge chances in policies. His changes propelled Canada into a strong independent first world country. He introduced many bills and acts for the betterment of the Canadian people. Some of these included universal healthcare, The Canada Pension Plan, interest free student loans and financial assistance for the poor. (The Greatest Canadian: Lester B. Pearson)
All these social programs were ahead of their time. They improved the lives of
Canadians and made Canada an attractive country for immigrants. This improved Canada’s diversity as these social programs lead to immigration booms in the last 90’s.
Another one of his huge accomplishments for diversifying Canadian culture was when he introduced the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. This bought official Bilingualism into Canada. Pearson hoped that he would be the last unilingual prime minister.
Pearson accomplished all this in his 5 years as prime minister. The impact of his work as PM has a huge impact on the lives of the Canadian people today. He was a great leader for the Canada.