Canadian Politics During the1950s & 60s

Uncle Louis – 1949-1957 In 1948 William Lyon Mackenzie King retired as PM after almost a total of 22 years in office Louis St. Laurent succeeded King as leader of the Liberal party and became PM in 1949 with a majority election win The economic prosperity after WWII helped to solidify the popularity of the Liberal Party

Louis St. Laurent

One of the main tasks for St One of the main tasks for St. Laurent was to bring NFLD into the confederation After defeating anti-confederalists (lead by Joey Smallwood) in a referendum NFLD officially joined Canada in 1949 Joey Smallwood would become the first Premier of Newfoundland

St. Lawrence Seaway St. Laurent was also responsible for building the St. Lawrence Seaway – a series of locks and channels that linked the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.

The economic prosperity of the 1950s and low unemployment led to a second victory in the 1953 elections St. Laurent’s government finally fell in 1957 after forcing through an unpopular construction project to build a pipeline from the west to eastern Canada John Diefenbaker led the Conservatives to victory in the 1957 election

Avro Arrow – Canada began building the world’s most advanced ‘supersonic’ jet fighter Cost was much higher than anticipated – rose from $2 million per plane to $12 million per plane

Avro Arrow

Dief the Chief

John Diefenbaker Elected with a minority government in 1957 During his time as Prime Minister he cut taxes, helped farmers, and raised senior pensions He was an excellent speaker and promised a bright future and more jobs -- this made him very popular In 1958 a new election was called and Diefenbaker won with the largest majority in the history of Canadian politics (208 seats out of 265)

In 1960, Diefenbaker introduced and passed the Canadian Bill of Rights He promoted development in the North and the West Diefenbaker was responsible for stopping the ‘Avro Arrow’ project – the development of a supersonic, interceptor jet aircraft Approximately 28 000 Canadians lost their jobs with the cut of this project

Missile Uproar In the fall of 1958, Diefenbaker agreed to accept 56 Bomarc missiles from the United States and deploy them in North Bay, Ontario and La Macaza, Quebec. Canada soon discovered the type of Bomarc missiles it received was designed to hold nuclear warheads. The missiles touched off anti-nuclear protests in the country, although Canada eventually accepted the nuclear warheads on New Year's Eve, 1963.

During his time, the economy slowed and Diefenbaker barely won a minority gov’t in 1962 In 1963 Diefenbaker lost the election and Lester B. Pearson, a Liberal, becomes Prime Minister of Canada

Lester B. Pearson

A New Canadian Flag Pearson believed there was need to develop national symbols to help strengthen Canadians’ sense of identity He believed that one way to do this was by having a new flag created that did not reflect Canada’s colonial past On February 15, 1965, the new Canadian flag was raised for the very first time.

The Pearson Pennant

Pearson’s Accomplishments Nobel Peace Prize winner Introduced universal health care to all Canadians Interest-free student loans Bilingualism in Gvt buildings and services Canada Pension Plan Canada's flag All of these were done with a minority gvt