Louis Stephen St. Laurent

V

Prime Minister

After many years in office, Prime Minister King found that his health would not permit him to continue as prime minister and Liberal Party leader. In the summer of 1948 a party conference was called to elect a new leader. Several men offered themselves for the post. However, King still had authority in the party and he convinced the Liberals to choose St. Laurent. King's choice was determined by St. Laurent's realistic and efficient approach to a wide range of government problems. St. Laurent also had influence among French Canadians, and his broad national outlook gave full consideration to the problems of the English-speaking provinces, as well as to those of Québec. St. Laurent was chosen head of the Liberal Party. On November 15, 1948, King resigned and St. Laurent, who himself was approaching 67, became prime minister of Canada.

St. Laurent inherited a powerful political machine. He preserved most of King's cabinet, including Pearson, who had acquired a worldwide reputation as a brilliant diplomat, to head the ministry of external affairs. St. Laurent stepped into leadership when Canada's economy was growing at a rapid pace. His cabinet was strengthened in this respect by Clarence D. Howe, who had been Canada's economic planner since World War II and was also minister of trade and commerce. Howe displayed an extraordinary ability to maintain one of the world's fastest rates of industrial expansion. The combination of St. Laurent and Howe followed the tradition of sharing leadership responsibilities between a representative of the English-speaking provinces and a French Canadian.

A

Achievements

St. Laurent brought to office a new concept of government. His broad, all-national view firmly rejected Québec's traditional isolationism. He made his decisions with cool impartiality, giving first consideration to the welfare of Canada as a whole.

St. Laurent's foreign policy involved Canada in world politics. He supported the UN, fully endorsing the initiatives proposed by Pearson, his representative there. St. Laurent actively sponsored and subsequently cooperated with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a defensive alliance of North American and Western European countries, and he formulated an expanding economic and social role for NATO. He convinced India and Pakistan to remain in the British Commonwealth when they threatened to leave, thus preserving the organization. He gave full cooperation to the UN forces during the Korean War (1950-1953), despite some opposition in Canada to this policy.

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St. Laurent's important domestic accomplishments included concluding negotiations that had been going on for 75 years over the entrance of Newfoundland into the confederation. In 1949, Newfoundland became Canada's tenth province. One of St. Laurent's main policies was to integrate Québec as a full and responsible partner in the Canadian Confederation. St. Laurent improved relations between the English-speaking and French-speaking communities of Canada, and he enlarged Québec's role in Canada's postwar economic boom. He abolished the carrying of judicial appeals to the Privy Council in London and made the Supreme Court the highest court in Canada. In 1952 he further asserted Canada's independence by appointing Vincent Massey as the first non-British governor-general. St. Laurent set up and appointed a royal commission on the state of the arts in Canada. It led to the establishment in 1957 of the Canada Council, which provided for government grants in scholarship and the creative arts. A drive was launched to encourage foreign immigration. Canada's limited population was substantially increased by this measure and came to include a large proportion of people from countries outside the United Kingdom. St. Laurent broadened the national welfare program to cover more of Canada's citizens, considerably increasing the variety of social services. He established a universal old-age pension, and he expanded the coverage and effectiveness of hospital insurance. He also delegated more authority to the provinces in all welfare and economic matters.

During St. Laurent's tenure in office the United States agreed, after years of negotiations, to join Canada in building the St. Lawrence Seaway connecting the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River, and the Atlantic Ocean. St. Laurent also invited more British and U.S. companies to make surveys and explorations of Canadian oil and mineral resources in the undeveloped northern territories. During the economic boom of the late 1940s and early 1950s the government was able to reduce the debt Canada had incurred during the war years.

As a result of St. Laurent's successful policies, his government was reelected twice with large majorities. The election in June 1949 gave the Liberal Party a landslide victory, with 190 seats, compared to the 41 seats for the Conservative opposition. He thereby earned the broadest national acceptance ever achieved up to that time by any prime minister. Canadians were getting used to the upward trend in their economy and to positive social change. The second election, held in August 1953, proved that the public still approved of the government. The voters elected 170 Liberals, as compared to 51 Conservatives. These results showed a slight loss to the Liberals in favor of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and the Social Credit Party, but there was no significant change in the Liberal government's strength.

B

Domestic Crises

After 1953, St. Laurent's administration was less successful. The elderly prime minister's health began to fail, while the political, economic, and administrative problems with which he had to deal began to increase. There was a financial dispute between the federal government and Québec over taxes. The dispute brought about a sharp conflict between St. Laurent and Maurice Lenoblet Duplessis, the popular leader of Québec. St. Laurent had over-played his impartiality to the point where he was exhorting the French Canadians to abandon their dream of independence and to put national interests before those of Québec. Although he patched up the break with Duplessis, St. Laurent's declarations provoked controversy and weakened his support among French Canadians.

The next major crisis caused a split in the cabinet when, under pressure from members of his government and the public, St. Laurent reduced the emergency war powers of Clarence Howe, his economic planner. Not long after this incident a more severe crisis began, again involving Howe. Howe proposed the construction of a trans-Canada gas pipeline from Alberta to the St. Lawrence River, and he asked the government to pay the $80 million that was needed to begin construction. Because the project was heavily backed by U.S. private capital, a commitment from the Canadian government was sought to guarantee the investment. The debate in Parliament was long and violent, and the entire project was delayed. Desperate to get legislative approval in time to meet the construction timetable, the government moved to apply closure on debate, which would have forced a vote immediately. There was a parliamentary and public uproar, which resulted in the temporary shelving of the project.

C

Suez Crisis

A third crisis occurred in the fall of 1956, with the news of the invasion of Egypt by the United Kingdom and France. Canada had not been notified of Britain's plans. When St. Laurent learned of the invasion, he sent a cable to London, stating his disapproval of what he considered an immoral and irresponsible act. He did not have many followers in the Canadian Parliament, because there was strong support in Canada for Britain and France. Nevertheless, St. Laurent dispatched Pearson to the UN and gave him a free hand in trying to bring about an immediate cease-fire. Pearson's historic resolution calling for the establishment of an immediate truce and the dispatching of a UN peacekeeping force was accepted. To back up the UN decision, St. Laurent immediately made available Canadian troops, which were sent to the troubled area. Although the stand of Pearson and his government was highly acclaimed throughout the world, St. Laurent was criticized by many in his own country. He reacted to his sudden unpopularity by stating in Parliament that the era when supermen of Europe could govern the whole world was quickly coming to an end. Eventually, the wisdom of St. Laurent's position became apparent, and he regained much of the respect he had lost.

D

Economic Troubles

In 1956 and 1957, the cost of goods and services was increasing. Canadians were also concerned about their ability to compete in export markets as Europe's economy was becoming stable again after its postwar depression. Unemployment was also becoming a serious problem in the mid-1950s. To discourage inflation, St. Laurent's minister of finance, Walter E. Harris, fought to hold down all wage increases and reduced a much needed increase in old-age pensions. These cautious tactics proved to be unpopular and were successfully challenged by the Conservatives. In his preparation for the 1957 election, John G. Diefenbaker, the head of the Conservative opposition, launched a vigorous attack on the government for trying to implement these policies.

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