The Making of a Diplomat: Lester B. Pearson at Canada House London, 1935 to 1941

Finney, Gregory Scott (2024) The Making of a Diplomat: Lester B. Pearson at Canada House London, 1935 to 1941. The Hive Journal (2). pp. 23-41. ISSN 2977-3954

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Abstract

Canada House, in Trafalgar Square, London, is where the Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom has their diplomatic headquarters. Lester B. Pearson predominantly worked there from 1935 to 1941. Pearson was the only Canadian to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in resolving the Suez Crisis, in 1957, and was the Canadian Prime Minister from 1963 to 1968. This article argues that Pearson’s time working at Canada House focused his diplomatic skill set around managing Anglo-Canadian relations that respected both Canadian independence and conditional Canadian loyalty towards the British government; as opposed to behaving as a subordinate British colony. Pearson also learned to remain resolute in the face of seemingly impossible challenges, from the British collective approach to dealing with and managing World War II; a skill that would assist him through his political and diplomatic career. These events enabled him to develop some of the key characteristics of what the late diplomatic historian Harold Nicolson called the ideal diplomat: good temper, precision, calm, loyalty, and patience. As such, his time in Britain should be recognised for its significance to his future career and to Canada’s approach to world affairs as the country emerged from the shadow of the British Empire.