Editing Louis St. Laurent (section)

== Prime Minister (1948–1957) ==
St. Laurent was sworn in as [[Prime Minister of Canada|prime minister of Canada]] on 15 November 1948, making him Canada's second French Canadian prime minister, after [[Wilfrid Laurier]].

St. Laurent was the first prime minister to live in the official residence of the [[Prime Minister of Canada]], [[24 Sussex Drive]] (then known as 24 Sussex Street), from 1951 to 1957.

=== Federal election victories===

==== 1949 federal election ====

[[File:Louis Saint-Laurent 1949.jpg|thumb|left|St. Laurent shaking hands with supporters during the 1949 election campaign]]
St. Laurent's first mission was to give the Liberals a new mandate. In the [[1949 Canadian federal election|1949 federal election]] that followed his ascension to the Liberal leadership, many wondered, including Liberal Party insiders, if St. Laurent would appeal to the post-war populace of Canada. On the campaign trail, St. Laurent's image was developed into somewhat of a 'character' and what is considered to be the first 'media image' to be used in Canadian politics. St. Laurent chatted with children, gave speeches in his shirt sleeves, and had a 'common touch' that turned out to be appealing to voters. At one event during the 1949 election campaign, he disembarked his train and instead of approaching the assembled crowd of adults and reporters, gravitated to, and began chatting with, a group of children on the platform. A reporter submitted an article entitled "Uncle Louis can't lose!" which earned him the nickname "Uncle Louis" in the media ("Papa Louis" in Quebec).<ref>{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=Uncle Louis (Papa Louis in Quebec) |url=https://parli.ca/uncle-louis-papa-louis-quebec/ |website=Parli.ca |date= October 17, 2014|access-date=16 January 2022}}</ref> With this common touch and broad appeal, he led the party to victory in the election against the [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative Party]] (PC Party) led by [[George A. Drew|George Drew]]. The Liberals won 191 seats – the most in Canadian history at the time, and still a record for the party. This is also the Liberals' second-most successful result in their history in terms of proportion of seats, behind the [[1940 Canadian federal election|1940 federal election]].

==== 1953 federal election ====

St. Laurent led the Liberals to another powerful majority in the [[1953 Canadian federal election|1953 federal election]], once again defeating PC leader Drew. Though they lost 22 seats, they still had three dozen seats more than the number needed for a majority, enabling them to dominate the [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]].

=== Foreign policy ===
[[File:StLaurnet Pearson and Churchill.jpg|thumb|Canadian Prime Minister
St. Laurent (far left), British prime minister [[Winston Churchill]] (left), British foreign minister [[Anthony Eden]] (right), and Canadian foreign minister [[Lester Pearson]] (far right) in Ottawa in 1954]]
St. Laurent and his cabinet oversaw Canada's expanding international role in the postwar world. His stated desire was for Canada to occupy a social, military, and economic [[middle power]] role in the post-World War II world. In 1947, he identified the five basic principles of Canadian foreign policy and five practical applications regarding Canada's international relations. Always highly sensitive to cleavages of language, religion, and region, he stressed national unity, insisting, "that our external policies shall not destroy our unity&nbsp;... for a disunited Canada will be a powerless one."  He also stressed political liberty and rule of law in the sense of opposition to totalitarianism.{{sfn|Mackenzie|2007}}

Militarily, St. Laurent was a leading proponent of the establishment of the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] (NATO) in 1949, serving as an architect and signatory of the treaty document.<ref>James Eayrs, ''In Defence of Canada: Volume 4: Growing Up Allied'' (1980) pp 58–62</ref> Involvement in such an organization marked a departure from King who had been reticent about joining a military alliance. Under his leadership, Canada supported the United Nations (UN) in the [[Korean War]] and committed the third largest overall contribution of troops, ships and aircraft to the U.N. forces to the conflict. Troops to Korea were selected on a voluntary basis. St. Laurent sent over 26,000 troops to fight in the war. In 1956, under his direction, St. Laurent's secretary of state for external affairs, Lester B. Pearson, helped solve the [[Suez Crisis]] between Great Britain, France, [[Israel]] and [[Egypt]], bringing forward St. Laurent's 1946 views on a U.N. military force in the form of the [[United Nations Emergency Force]] (UNEF) or [[peacekeeping]]. These actions were recognized when Pearson won the 1957 [[Nobel Peace Prize]].<ref name="The United Nations Organization"/>

In early 1954, St. Laurent took a 42-day long tour around the world, citing his desire to get a better picture of what he said, "the problems which all of us have to face together." He visited 12 countries in total, including France, Germany, Japan, India, and Pakistan. When he returned to Canada, St. Laurent's personality and character appeared to slightly change; cabinet ministers noticed he showed signs of fatigue and indifference. Some even claimed he started to feel depressed. Author [[Dale C. Thomson]] wrote, "[the tour was] his greatest hour but it marked as well the beginning of his decline; as such, it was a turning point both for him and for Canadian politics."<ref name="LouisBio" /><ref>{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=Louis St-Laurent goes around the world in 42 days |url=https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/st-laurent-goes-around-the-world-in-42-days |website=CBC |access-date=16 January 2022}}</ref>

=== Social and economic policies ===
[[File:Louisstlaurent.jpg|175px|thumb|right|St. Laurent, 1950]]
It took taxation surpluses no longer needed by the wartime military and paying back in full Canada's debts accrued during the World Wars and the Great Depression. With remaining revenues, St. Laurent oversaw the expansion of Canada's social programs, including the gradual expansion of social welfare programs such as family allowances, old age pensions, government funding of university and post-secondary education and an early form of [[Medicare (Canada)|Medicare]] termed ''Hospital Insurance'' at the time. This scheme laid the groundwork for [[Tommy Douglas]]' healthcare system in Saskatchewan, and Pearson's nationwide universal healthcare in the late 1960s. Under this legislation, the federal government paid around 50% of the cost of provincial health plans to cover "a basic range of inpatient services in acute, convalescent, and chronic hospital care." The condition for the cost-sharing agreements was that all citizens were to be entitled to these benefits, and by March 1963, 98.8% of Canadians were covered by ''Hospital Insurance''.<ref name="Guest">The emergence of social security in Canada by Dennis Guest</ref> According to historian Katherine Boothe, however, St. Laurent did not regard government health insurance to be a "good policy idea", instead favouring the expansion of voluntary insurance through existing plans. In 1951, for instance, St. Laurent spoke in support of the medical profession assuming "the administration and responsibility for, a scheme that would provide prepaid medical attendance to any Canadian who needed it".<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N9BtBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA62 |title = Ideas and the Pace of Change: National Pharmaceutical Insurance in Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom|isbn = 9781442648630|last1 = Boothe|first1 = Katherine|date = January 2015| publisher=University of Toronto Press }}</ref>

In addition, St. Laurent modernized and established new social and industrial policies for the country during his time in the prime minister's office. Amongst these measures included the universalization of old-age pensions for all Canadians aged seventy and above (1951),<ref>Gray agendas: interest groups and public pensions in Canada, Britain, and the United States by Henry J. Pratt</ref> the introduction of old age assistance for needy Canadians aged sixty-five and above (1951),<ref>Facts of life: the social construction of vital statistics, Ontario, 1869–1952 by George Neil Emery</ref> the introduction of allowances for the blind (1951) and the disabled (1954),<ref name="Guest"/> amendments to unemployment insurance in 1953 (which provided for the payment of unemployment insurance benefit to insured persons incapacitated for work due to injury or illness),<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015033597694&seq=1325Canada Year Book 1954 P.1257]</ref> 
amendments to the National Housing Act (1954) which provided federal government financing to non-profit organisations as well as the provinces for the renovation or construction of hostels or housing for students, the disabled, the elderly, and families on low incomes,<ref name="Guest"/> and unemployment assistance (1956) for unemployed employables on welfare who had exhausted (or did not qualify for) unemployment insurance benefits.<ref>In pursuit of the public good: essays in honour of Allan J. MacEachen by Tom Kent and Allan J. MacEachen</ref> Aid to farmers adversely affected by crop failures was improved, while grants to universities were doubled.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b139158&seq=14 Liberal action for a greater Canada: speaker's handbook, federal general election, 1957, P.106]</ref> 

In 1954 a government scheme for insuring fishing vessels was established, while the following year a Fisheries Improvement Loan Act was introduced under which government guaranteed loans at 5% were provided to fishermen via the chartered banks.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b139158&seq=14 Liberal action for a greater Canada: speaker's handbook, federal general election, 1957, P.110]</ref> That same year a Women’s Bureau was set up to work on projects aimed at improving the position of female workers.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b139158&seq=14 Liberal action for a greater Canada: speaker's handbook, federal general election, 1957, P.232]</ref> In 1956, equal pay was introduced in the federal civil service.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b139158&seq=14 Liberal action for a greater Canada: speaker's handbook, federal general election, 1957, P.246]</ref> In 1955 a measure was introduced aimed at maintaining gold mine employment in communities depending on this industry.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b139158&seq=14 Liberal action for a greater Canada: speaker's handbook, federal general election, 1957, P.184]</ref> Improvements were also made in benefits for veterans and their dependents.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b139158&seq=14 Liberal action for a greater Canada: speaker's handbook, federal general election, 1957, P.269-270]</ref> Discrimination was also banned by the 1953 Fair Employment Practices Act and in 1957 unemployment insurance was extended to fishermen.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b139158&seq=14 Liberal action for a greater Canada: speaker's handbook, federal general election, 1957, P.239]</ref> Improvements were also made in superannuation arrangements.<ref>[https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/services/pension-plan/plan-information/public-service-pension-plan-history.html Public Service Pension Plan History]</ref>
 
St. Laurent's government also used $100&nbsp;million in death taxes to establish the [[Canada Council]] to support research in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In 1956, using the taxation authority of the federal level of government, St. Laurent's government introduced the policy of "[[Equalization payments in Canada|equalization payments]]" which redistributes taxation revenues between provinces to assist the poorer provinces in delivering government programs and services, a move that has been considered a strong one in solidifying the Canadian federation, particularly with his home province of [[Québec]].

In 1957, St. Laurent's government introduced the [[Registered retirement savings plan|registered retirement savings plan (RRSP)]], a type of financial account used to hold savings and investment assets. The plan had many tax advantages and was designed to promote savings for retirement by employees and self-employed people.

=== Immigration ===

In 1948, St. Laurent's government dramatically increased [[immigration to Canada|immigration]] in order to expand Canada's labour base. St. Laurent believed that immigration was key to post-war economic growth. He also believed that immigration would create a sufficient tax base that would pay for social welfare measures that were established at the end of World War II. Over 125,000 immigrants arrived in Canada in 1948 alone, and that number would more than double to 282,000 in 1957. Large numbers of immigrants were from Southern Europe, including [[Italians]], [[Greeks]], and [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] immigrants. Their arrival shifted the balance of ethnic origins amongst Canadians, increasing the population who were of neither French nor British descent.<ref>{{cite web |title=Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Canada/Early-postwar-developments |access-date=15 October 2021}}</ref>

In 1956 and 1957, Canada received over 37,500 refugees from [[Hungary]], in the wake of the [[1956 Hungarian Revolution]].<ref>{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=Refugees of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution National Historic Event |url=https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=12575 |website=Parks Canada |access-date=20 November 2021}}</ref>

=== Infrastructure ===
[[File:St. Lawrence Seaway construction 1959 (cropped).png|thumb|The construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959]]
St. Laurent's government engaged in massive public works and infrastructure projects such as building the [[Trans-Canada Highway]] (1949), the [[St. Lawrence Seaway]] (1954) and the [[Trans-Canada Pipeline]]. It was this last project that was to sow the seeds that led to the downfall of the St. Laurent government.

St. Laurent had to go through a series of negotiations with the [[United States]] in order to start the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway. In order to negotiate with the U.S., St. Laurent met with president [[Harry S. Truman]] twice, in 1949 and 1951, but was unsuccessful both times. St. Laurent then threatened that Canada would build the seaway alone. Finally, in 1953 and 1954, Truman's successor, president [[Dwight Eisenhower]], secured a deal with St. Laurent. The deal costed $470 million [[Canadian dollar]]s, with Canada paying nearly three-fourths of that total and the U.S. paying about one-fourth. The seaway was completed in 1959 and expanded Canada's economic trade routes with the United States.<ref>{{cite web |title=St-Laurent negotiates bridging the St. Lawrence |url=https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/st-laurent-negotiates-bridging-the-st-lawrence |website=CBC |access-date=12 October 2021}}</ref>

=== Other domestic affairs ===

In 1949, the former lawyer of many Supreme Court cases, St. Laurent ended the practice of appealing Canadian legal cases to the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]] of Great Britain, making the [[Supreme Court of Canada]] the highest avenue of legal appeal available to Canadians. In that same year, St. Laurent negotiated the [[British North America Acts|British North America (No. 2) Act, 1949]] with Britain which 'partially patriated' the Canadian Constitution, most significantly giving the Canadian Parliament the authority to amend portions of the constitution.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McCullough  |first1=J.J. |author-link=J.J. McCullough |title=Louis St. Laurent |url=https://thecanadaguide.com/history/prime-ministers/louis-st-laurent/ |website=The Canada Guide |access-date=18 January 2022}}</ref>

In 1949, following [[1948 Newfoundland referendums|two referendums]] within the province, St. Laurent and Premier [[Joey Smallwood]] negotiated the entry of Newfoundland and Labrador into [[Canadian Confederation|Confederation]].

When asked in 1949 whether he would outlaw the [[Communist Party (Canada)|Communist Party]] in Canada, St. Laurent responded that the party posed little threat and that such measures would be drastic.<ref name="google">{{cite book|title=Canada Since 1945: Power, Politics and Provincialism|author1=Bothwell, R.|author2=Drummond, I.M.|author3=English, J.|date=1989|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=9780802066725|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DMaS5cb7s8QC|page=117|access-date=8 April 2015}}</ref>

In 1952, St. Laurent advised [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth II]] to appoint [[Vincent Massey]] as the first Canadian-born [[Governor-General]]. Each of the aforementioned actions were and are seen as significant in furthering the cause of Canadian autonomy from Britain and developing a national identity on the international stage.

In 1953, St. Laurent undertook the [[High Arctic relocation]], where 92 [[Inuit]] were moved from [[Inukjuak|Inukjuak, Quebec]] to two communities in the [[Northwest Territories]] (now [[Nunavut]]).<ref name=report>{{cite report |title=The High Arctic Relocation: A Report on the 1953–55 Relocation |first1=René |last1=Dussault |first2=George |last2=Erasmus |publisher=[[Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples]] |date=1994 |url=http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2016/bcp-pco/Z1-1991-1-41-3-eng.pdf |isbn=0-660-15544-3 }}</ref><ref name="porteous">{{cite book |last1=Porteous |first1=J. Douglas |last2=Smith |first2=Sandra E |title=Domicide: The Global Destruction of Home |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6t_KSirfEnsC&pg=PA102 |year=2001 |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |isbn=978-0-7735-2258-9 |pages=102–103 }}</ref> The relocation was a [[forced displacement|forced migration]] instigated by the federal government to assert its sovereignty in the Far North by the use of "human flagpoles",<ref name="Pope">{{cite news|last=Pope|first=Frank|title=Disappearing Arctic|newspaper=The Times Magazine|date=14 May 2011|location=London|quote=The Relocated–a term still spoken in hushed terms–were then planted as human flagpoles in this desolate place.}}</ref> in light of both the Cold War and the [[territorial claims in the Arctic|disputed territorial]] claims to the [[Canadian Arctic Archipelago]]. The relocated Inuit were not given sufficient support to prevent extreme [[privation]] during their first years after the move. The story was the subject of a book called ''The Long Exile'', published by [[Melanie McGrath]] in 2006.<ref name="McGrath2006">{{cite book |last=McGrath |first=Melanie |title=The Long Exile: A Tale of Inuit Betrayal and Survival in the High Arctic |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7p3rBU6aDb0C&pg=PP1 |year=2006 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-307-53786-7 }}</ref>

=== Defeat in the 1957 federal election ===
{{Main|1957 Canadian federal election}}

==== Pipeline Debate ====
{{Main|Pipeline Debate}}
The 1956 [[Pipeline Debate]] led to the widespread impression that the Liberals had grown arrogant in power. On numerous occasions, the government invoked [[cloture|closure]] in order to curtail debate and ensure that its Pipeline Bill passed by a specific deadline. St. Laurent was criticized for a lack of restraint exercised on his minister, [[C.&nbsp;D. Howe]] (who was also known as the "Minister of Everything"). Howe was widely perceived as extremely arrogant. Western Canadians felt particularly alienated by the government, believing that the Liberals were kowtowing to interests in Ontario and Quebec and the United States. The opposition accused the government of accepting overly costly contracts that could never be completed on schedule. In the end, the pipeline was completed early and under budget. The pipeline conflict turned out to be meaningless, insofar as the construction work was concerned, since pipe could not be obtained in 1956 from a striking American factory, and no work could have been done that year.{{sfn|Hutchison|1964|pp=303-307}} The uproar in Parliament regarding the pipeline had a lasting impression on the electorate, and was a decisive factor in the Liberal government's 1957 defeat at the hands of the [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative (PC) Party]], led by [[John Diefenbaker]], in the [[1957 Canadian federal election|1957 election]].

==== Results ====
By 1957 St. Laurent was 75 years old and tired. His party had been in power for 22 years, and by this time had accumulated too many factions and alienated too many groups. He was ready to retire, but was persuaded to fight one last campaign.<ref>{{cite book|first=Patricia I.|last=McMahon|title=Essence of Indecision: Diefenbaker's Nuclear Policy, 1957–1963|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7aSZmApwF2IC&pg=PA7|year=2009|publisher=MQUP|pages=7|isbn=9780773583351}}</ref> In the [[1957 Canadian federal election|1957 election]], the Liberals won 200,000 more votes nationwide than the Progressive Conservatives (40.75% Liberals to 38.81% PC). However, a large portion of that overall Liberal popular vote came from huge majorities in Quebec ridings, and did not translate into seats in other parts of the country. Largely due to dominating the rest of the country, the Progressive Conservatives took the greatest number of seats with 112 seats (42% of the House) to the Liberals' 105 (39.2%). The result of the election came as a shock to many, and is considered to be one of the greatest [[upset victory|upsets]] in Canadian federal political history.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bradburn |first1=Jamie |title=How arrogance cost the Liberals the 1957 election |url=https://www.tvo.org/article/how-arrogance-cost-the-liberals-the-1957-election |website=TVO |access-date=8 October 2021 |date=7 October 2019 |quote=The Liberals were confident they would emerge victorious in the 1957 federal contest. But, thanks to Louis St. Laurent’s stumbles and John Diefenbaker’s vision, they were headed for an election upset}}</ref>

Some ministers wanted St. Laurent to stay on and offer to form a minority government, arguing that the popular vote had supported them and the party's long years of experience would make them a more effective minority. Another option circulated within the party saw the balance of power to be held by either the [[Co-operative Commonwealth Federation]] (CCF) and their 25 seats or [[Social Credit Party of Canada]] with their 15 seats. St. Laurent was encouraged by others to reach out to the CCF and at least four of six independent/small party MPs to form a coalition majority government, which would have held 134 of the 265 seats in Parliament—50.6% of the total. St. Laurent, however, had no desire to stay in office; he believed that the nation had passed a verdict against his government and his party. In any case, the CCF and Socreds had pledged to cooperate with a Tory government. It was very likely that St. Laurent would have been defeated on the floor of the House had he tried to stay in power with a minority government, and would not have stayed in office for long even if he survived that confidence vote. With this in mind, St. Laurent resigned on 21 June 1957—ending the longest uninterrupted run in government for a party at the federal level in Canadian history.<ref>{{cite book|author=McMahon|title=Essence of Indecision: Diefenbaker's Nuclear Policy, 1957–1963|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7aSZmApwF2IC&pg=PA8|year=2009|page=8|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP |isbn=9780773583351}}</ref>