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Following the death of
his powerful Quebec Lieutenant, Ernest
Lapointe, Mackenzie King searched for a
new Quebec leader who would be a good
successor when he retired. He chose
Louis St-Laurent.
To the end, King talked
with pride of the wisdom of his choice.
He persuaded St-Laurent to give up a
great law practice to become Justice
Minister in December of 1941.French
speaking father and an english speaking
mother. He was fluently bilingual from
childhood.
He graduated in Law from
Laval University and practiced with
exceptional success in Quebec. With the
high respect of French-Canadians, an
international reputation in legal
circles and a great understanding of
humanity, yet with no previous political
experience, Laurent was an immediate
success in the war cabinet and
thereafter.
Mackenzie King handed
over the party leadership to St-Laurent
in August 1948 and in November of the
same year gave up the Prime Ministership
to his chosen successor.
St-Laurent was
responsible for several important
departmental changes and was prominent
in the field of international relations.
He was one of the first western leaders
to advocate the North Atlantic treaty
Organization.
St-Laurent nominated the
first Canadian-born Governor General (Rt
Honourable Vincent Massey) and it was
under his administration that the St
Lawrence Seaway project was finally
launched in cooperation with the United
States.
He won the 1949 General
Election, the first under his
leadership, with a record 190 seats. His
won a second mandate but was edged out
by the Conservatives under John
Diefenbaker in 1957. The debate over the
northern Ontario gas pipeline led to his
defeat in 1957. In early 1958,
St-Laurent retired from politics and
returned to his law practice in Quebec
City. He died in Quebec on July 25th
1973. |
