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The Best Prime Minister of the Last 50 Years — Pearson, by a Landslide

The Best Prime Minister of the Last 50 Years — Pearson, by a Landslide

THE BEST PRIME MINISTER OF THE LAST 50 YEARS — PEARSON, BY A LANDSLIDE Mulroney Second Overall, Trudeau and St-Laurent in a Virtual Tie for Third, Chrétien Fifth and Diefenbaker a Distant Sixth in Policy Options Rankings

L. Ian MacDonald

ester B. Pearson, who in four elections never won a office. Yet there was general agreement that the balancing of majority government, is the landslide winner in a the budget and the fiscal dividend, as well as the , L Policy Options ranking of Canadian prime ministers of defining rules of the road for separating from the last half-century, coinciding with the 50th anniversary , were the major achievements of the Chrétien years. of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth on June 2, 1953. , a towering personality and mesmer- In a survey by IRPP and Policy Options in consultation izing campaigner, finished a distant sixth, with most panel- with eminent authorities on Canadian history and public pol- lists regarding his time in office as a succession of missed icy, Canada’s 14th prime minister emerged as the overwhelm- opportunities and failed policies, though he received due ing first choice of a panel of 30 leading historians, political recognition for initiatives such as the Bill of Rights, wheat scientists, economists, former senior government officials and sales to Communist China in the face of US opposition, and a sprinkling of top editors, authors and journalists. (Two duos the expulsion of South Africa from the Commonwealth over on the panel each cast a single vote, for a total of 28 votes.) . In winning the 1957 and 1958 elections, he also , father of free trade and the GST, was a broke the stranglehold of a Liberal dynasty, swollen with clear second choice, though respondents were sharply divided, arrogance after 22 years in office, and provided the fresh air usually between English- and French-speaking Canada, in their of democratic change. assessments of his failed constitutional deals at Meech Lake and Charlottetown. finished in third place in espondents were asked to rate prime ministers on a scale the overall rankings, receiving high marks for the Charter of R of 1 to 10, low to high marks, in four critical policy Rights and Freedoms, but low scores for his mismanagement of areas: Canadian unity and the management of the federa- the economy and the fiscal framework during an era that saw tion; the economy and the fiscal framework; Canada’s role in Canada’s federal debt increase by more than 1,000 percent. the world, as measured by foreign and defence policy and Trudeau was closely followed in the overall rankings, in international trade; and social policy and the concerns of virtually a statistical dead heat, by Louis St-Laurent, who . Panellists were then asked to evaluate how each governed in an era of postwar expansion and prosperity, prime minister found the country and how he left it, and to and received generally high scores for both his economic assess the leadership of each as transformational, transition- management, as well as Canadian unity and conduct of al or transactional. Finally, taking all of those factors into Canadian foreign policy. Jean Chrétien ranked fifth overall, account, the panel members were asked to rank each prime though he received the highest scores for the economy and minister from first to sixth place. The scores were tabulated fiscal framework, notably the balancing of the budget and by Daniel Schwanen, IRPP senior economist. paying down debt out of the resulting fiscal dividend. But Though nine Canadian prime ministers have served Chrétien also received poor marks on leadership, as well as the Queen during her remarkable 50-year reign, we arbi- his conduct of foreign affairs, particularly Canada’s rela- trarily relegated , and tionship with the United States. to 7th, 8th and 9th place. Clark is ranked seventh because, However, several panellists pointed out that it is early alone among the last three, he at least won an election — days to be measuring a prime minister who has not yet left in 1979. Turner is ranked eighth because he at least fought

8 OPTIONS POLITIQUES JUIN-JUILLET 2003 The best prime minister of the last 50 years — Pearson, by a landslide two elections — in 1984 and 1988, ing out formula that allowed the He received the highest marks of and in the second campaign took a establishment of the Caisse de Dépôt all “the Serious Six” prime ministers bold stand against free trade. et Placement du Québec. While on Canadian unity and managing the Campbell is ranked last because being Quebec’s Quiet Revolution was federation, as well as on social policy prime minister turned out to be her unquestionably a seismic event, and foreign affairs. And why not? In summer job in 1993. Pearson’s leadership from 1963 to addition to the flag and the B&B That left us with what we called 1968 averted a tectonic shift along the Commission, Pearson practised execu- “the Serious Six” prime ministers of fault line of the River. tive federalism in a dizzying succes- the last 50 years: Louis St-Laurent, When he left office, as Peter C. sion of federal-provincial conferences, from 1948 to 1957; John Diefenbaker, Newman wrote in his perceptive 1968 of first ministers as well as ministers from 1957 to 1963; Lester Pearson, bestseller, The Distemper of Our Times: with portfolios. from 1963 to 1968; Pierre Trudeau, “No matter how history finally judges While federal-provincial confer- from 1968 to 1979, and from 1980 to him, there can be little doubt that ences had no constitutional role, they 1984; Brian Mulroney, from 1984 to Lester Pearson provided the moderat- became important, if not indispensa- 1993; and Jean Chrétien, from 1993 to ing influence that helped bring under ble, in the governance of the federa- the present. at least temporary control the cen- tion during the Pearson years and ever trifugal forces threatening to split since. When Trudeau wanted to patri- rom English- and French-speaking English and French Canada apart dur- ate the Constitution, when Mulroney F Canada, from East and West, from ing the mid-Sixties.” wanted to amend it, when Chrétien left to right on the political wanted new arrangements of spectrum, Pearson was a clear From English- and French-speaking the social union, each called first choice. Though he gov- Canada, from East and West, from the premiers to the table of the erned through chaos and con- federation. Each had a different fusion, with an unrelenting left to right on the political vision, or concept, of function- John Diefenbaker dogging him spectrum, Pearson was a clear first al federalism, but each adhered every step of the way, it is clear choice. Though he governed to the Pearsonian model of a that as history settles on the through chaos and confusion, with partnership between Ottawa Pearson years, it is his achieve- and the provinces. ments, not his bungling or a an unrelenting John Diefenbaker As for the Maple Leaf flag numbing succession of petty dogging him every step of the way, that Canadians now take for scandals, that stand out. it is clear that as history settles on granted as a symbol of unity, it “An exciting turning the Pearson years, it is his is generally forgotten that the point in Canadian political flag debate was among the history,” writes jury member achievements, not his bungling or most divisive public policy Antonia Maioni, director of numbing succession of petty issues of the last 50 years. It the McGill Institute for the scandals, that stand out. should not be forgotten that Study of Canada. “Pearson Pearson, with his determina- found the country stuck in the past, As Alain Gagnon, Canada tion to put it on the national agenda and decided to do something about it. Research Chair at l’Université du and his quiet courage in carrying it to Pearson arguably laid the groundwork Québec à Montréal, wrote in his a Canadian Legion meeting in for the three significant facets of the appraisal: “Lester B. Pearson is surely , not only framed the discus- present era: the multilateral agenda, the prime minister who contributed sion but carried the day. free trade, co-operative federalism the most to bringing English On social policy, in addition to and the welfare state.” Canadians and French Canadians the Canada and Quebec pension On Canadian unity and the man- together. He left his mark by making a plans, Pearson increased Old Age agement of the federation — the call for asymmetric federalism.“ Security, and as the father of adoption of the Canadian flag, the , adopted the 50-50 cost- Royal Commission on Bilingualism ronically, as his biographer John sharing between Ottawa and the and Biculturalism, and the spirit of co- I English notes in his appreciation of provinces that was later replaced by operative federalism are clearly land- Pearson in this special issue of Policy the block-funding formula imple- mark achievements of the Pearson Options, he made his reputation in for- mented by Trudeau. years. His determination to accommo- eign policy as external affairs minister On foreign policy and Canada’s date the aspirations of Quebec within in the 1950s, but created his lasting role in the world, Pearson also ranked Confederation enabled the creation of legacy in domestic policy as prime first, partly because of his record dur- the with an opt- minister in the 1960s. ing his decade at External Affairs, a

POLICY OPTIONS 9 JUNE-JULY 2003 L. Ian MacDonald

CP Photo Four Liberal PMs: In April 1967, Prime Minister Pearson brought three future prime ministers into his cabinet — (left to right) Justice Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Registrar General John Turner, and Minister without Portfolio Jean Chrétien.

period that included the founding of unquestionably his biggest achieve- percent manufacturers’ sales tax it NATO in 1949, and his winning the ment — the Canada-US Free Trade replaced, the visible GST does not 1957 Nobel Peace Prize for the Suez Agreement, and later the NAFTA, apply to exports, and has been a sig- peacekeeping initiative at the UN. But including . Canadian merchan- nificant factor in the growth of as prime minister, Pearson also con- dise exports of $100 billion to the US Canada’s trade with the US, as well as cluded the Canada-US Auto Pact, fore- in 1988, the last year before imple- a huge cash cow for Ottawa that has runner of free trade, and repaired mentation of the FTA, had grown to helped the Chrétien government to relations with the US, which had been $350 billion by 2002. Exports to the balance the books. sorely strained during the Diefenbaker- US, accounting for less than 19 percent Mulroney also receives high Kennedy period. of GDP before free trade, had grown to scores — second only to Pearson — 33 percent of output in just 15 years. for Canada’s role in the world, and rian Mulroney, who like By the reckoning of , for restoring good relations with the B Diefenbaker broke the reign of a the current minister of International United States during the presidencies Liberal dynasty, became the only Trade, exports have created four new of and the first Conservative leader since Sir John A. Canadian jobs in five between 1993, George Bush. Besides the trade agree- Macdonald to win consecutive majori- when the present government came to ments, bilateral achievements includ- ty governments. By the time he left office, and 2000. ed the Acid Rain Accord. Many office at the end of his second term, he Yet as Kim Nossal, head of Political panellists also noted that, like had used up his entire political capital, Studies at Queen’s University, observes Pearson and St-Laurent, Mulroney and left a country that was quite glad in his article, Mulroney may be “over- often differed with the White House to see the back of him. appreciated” for free trade, and on important issues — from Star A decade later, our panel gives “under-appreciated” for the goods and Wars, in which Canada declined to Mulroney full marks for what is services tax. Unlike the hidden 13.5 participate, to sanctions against

10 OPTIONS POLITIQUES JUIN-JUILLET 2003 The best prime minister of the last 50 years — Pearson, by a landslide apartheid in South Africa, to the Rio along with Pearson and Trudeau, as his Quebec MPs would “place our Earth Summit where Mulroney one of three transformational leaders seats on the line” for constitutional signed the biodiversity accord, which of the last 50 years. A majority of the reform and that they wouldn’t stop Bush refused to sign. panel saw St-Laurent and Diefenbaker until it was done. That it proved to be Where our panel differed sharply as transitional figures, while nearly a different kind of reform than that was over Mulroney’s legacy on two-thirds of the participants saw which many Quebecers had in mind, Canadian unity and managing the fed- Chrétien as a transactional leader. adopted without the support of either eration. There was a clear difference of party in the Quebec legislature, would views, largely though not exclusively rudeau’s third-place finish over- be a debate for another day — and to along language lines, on the necessity T all, and lower in his segment this very day. But the point is that he and value of Mulroney’s two doomed scores, is undoubtedly worse than he got it done. constitutional initiatives — the Meech would fare with the general public. The survey does not measure Lake Accord, which died in June 1990 Many members of the panel cited the what Tom Courchene of Queen’s calls when the legislatures of Newfoundland of the Constitution with a Trudeau’s “Camelot” factor. From the and failed to call a vote as Charter of Rights as Trudeau’s greatest moment he burst on the scene in 1968 promised by their premiers, and the achievement, which is not to overlook to the evening of his farewell speech , soundly reject- the importance of official bilingualism to the Liberal convention in June ed by voters in a 1992 referendum. or his pivotal role in the 1980 Quebec 1984, when he exited with a trade- referendum. mark pirouette, Trudeau fascinated hile some panellists in English- When Jean Chrétien, then justice the country as an entirely unconven- W speaking Canada saw Meech as minister, introduced Trudeau to a huge tional and charismatic leader. Yet as an unnecessary initiative whose failure rally at ’s Paul Sauvé Arena on historian Desmond Morton, founding plunged the country into a prolonged May 14, 1980, he presented the prime director of the McGill Institute for the unity crisis, our Quebec-based panellists, minister as “the pride of Quebec and Study of Canada, writes in his assess- both francophone and anglophone, saw the pride of Canada.” In one of the ment of Trudeau. “Philosopher it quite differently. “He tried to repair the great Canadian speeches of the 20th princes make better literary heroes bridges between Canadians,” writes Jean century, Trudeau brilliantly personi- than practical leaders.” Pare, former publisher of l’Actualité, fied the appartenance canadienne, the Quebec’s leading magazine, “but with- sense of belonging to Canada, which or all the sizzle of the Trudeau era, out immediate success.” most Quebecers shared. It was a critical F many of panellists found the steak On the economy and the fiscal moment in the life of the country, and somewhat disappointing. On a ranking framework, most panellists agreed Trudeau defined it by drawing on his of his average scores in the four catego- Mulroney inherited a mess from mother’s name, which René Lévesque ry segments, Trudeau actually placed Trudeau — from deficits and debt to state interventions such Brian Mulroney, who like Diefenbaker broke the reign of a as the National Energy Liberal dynasty, became the only Conservative leader since Program. While Mulroney Sir John A. Macdonald to win consecutive majority receives high marks for deregu- governments. By the time he left office, he had used up his lation, tax reform and employ- ment growth in his first entire political capital, and left a country that was quite mandate, there is general agree- glad to see the back of him. A decade later, our panel gives ment that he didn’t do enough Mulroney full marks for what is unquestionably his biggest to attack the staggering deficits achievement — the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement. left behind by his predecessor. While the Conservative government had said proved he wasn’t a real fifth in a closely bunched middle of the eventually achieved an operating sur- Quebecer. “Bien sur que mon nom est pack, rising to third on the strength of plus and reduced the deficit as a per- Pierre Elliott Trudeau,” he roared, “c’é- his ranking as a transformational leader, centage of output from 8.6 to 5.9 tait le nom de ma mere, voyez-vous?” and wide agreement that the Charter percent, the deficits remained and the In a Quebec where millions had traces was a transforming act of governance. national debt more than doubled of Irish or Scottish ancestry, he was Louis St-Laurent also received high again during the Mulroney years. speaking to family, but he was also marks for his management of the econ- Still, Mulroney finished a clear lashing the sovereignists for intoler- omy and the federation, and for second in the overall rankings, pulled ance, their Achilles heel. Canada’s high standing in the world up by his strong leadership scores. The It was equally the occasion on between 1948 and 1957, particularly in panel overwhelmingly regarded him, which Trudeau pledged that he and the UN action in Korea, in NATO and

POLICY OPTIONS 11 JUNE-JULY 2003 L. Ian MacDonald

times, his rule was ended by age and Liberal arrogance in office. Like his contemporary, Eisenhower, he is look- ing better as time passes.” For McGill’s Morton, St-Laurent “made Canada a middle power, and crafted much of the new, involved foreign policy, from military alliances to third world development aid, that Canadians have come to see as their international image.” Of Louis St-Laurent, it was later said by one of his Cabinet ministers, that the country “ran so well it seemed anyone could run it, so they elected anyone to run it” — Diefenbaker. The Diefenbaker years, which in the begin- ning signalled that democracy was alive and well in Canada, to the point where Canadians would throw out the governing Liberals once in a genera- tion, soon degenerated into turmoil. Diefenbaker’s tenure was marked by a succession of crises — from firing the governor of the , to reneging on a promise to station nuclear weapons on Canadian soil, which became the tipping point in the disinte- gration of the Conservative government in 1963. Yet for his generally disappoint- ing performance in office, all agreed he was a dominant campaigner. Even as his government fell apart in 1963, the Chief pulled it together on the hustings to deny Pearson a majority that had been easily within reach. Dief did it again in 1965, meaning that the best prime min- ister of the last half century governed for two terms and five eventful years, with- out the comfort of a majority. On , there is a stat-

The Gazette, Montreal ue of the Chief striking a typical ora- tor’s pose, hand on his hip as always. A Twosome: Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney at their famous meeting at the Ritz in Montreal in December 1982, where Mulroney pledged his support for Clark’s leadership. few yards away, there is a bronze of a Two months later, unsatisfied with his support in a , Clark called a con- genial Pearson, sitting at his ease. vention, where he lost the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party to Mulroney. In a way, Pearson’s statue is his revenge on Dief for all the torments he the Commonwealth. Also the builder Former Globe and Mail and endured in Parliament — he is looking of the St. Lawrence Seaway, St-Laurent editor-in-chief down on the Chief. actually ranked higher in his perform- Norman Webster reflected the consen- ance scores, in virtually a statistical tie sus on St-Laurent when he wrote that L. Ian MacDonald, Editor of Policy with Mulroney for second place, than he “found the country in good shape Options, is the author of From in his overall ranking, which dipped to and growing, post Second World War, Bourassa to Bourassa: Wilderness to fourth, primarily because he was seen and left it in good shape. A good chair- Restoration, from McGill-Queen’s as a transitional leader. man of the board in essentially steady University Press.

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