Pearson is back in favour but international role he fashioned for Canada is lagging: Globe and Mail op-ed

Today marks the 60^th anniversary of Lester Bowles Pearson being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, recognized for advocating a United Nations peacekeeping force as a way to defuse the Suez Canal crisis.

Pearson, Canada’s 14^th prime minister and University of Toronto alumnus, continues to be heralded for his role in global diplomacy. In a June speech to Parliament, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland championed him for being "the great Canadian, perhaps best known for advancing the cause of humanitarian internationalism."

And at U of T this fall, a new scholarship for international students bears his name.  The Lester B. Pearson International Scholarships recognize exceptional academic achievement, creativity, leadership potential and community involvement, and covers tuition, books, incidental fees and residence costs for four years.

Read more about this year's Pearson Scholars

“The need for Mr. Pearson's statecraft [today] is real,” Andrew Cohen, author of Extraordinary Canadians: Lester B. Pearson, writes in an op-ed for the Globe and Mail. “As leading democracies are in retreat or repose – the United States withdrawing from the world, Britain withdrawing from Europe, France and Germany looking inward – Canada is well-positioned to seize the day.”

But, Cohen writes, the federal government may honour him, but they don’t  follow his example.  “ Instead, we praise the man, but ignore his method, heralding Mr. Pearson more than Pearsonianism,” Cohen writes. “We oppose global warming and accept Syrian refugees, yes, but shrink from innovative multilateralism, robust peacekeeping and generous foreign assistance.”

Read the full Globe and Mail op-ed