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Birthplace of Lester Pearson

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted September, 2007

Photo Source - Toronto Public Library

Photo Source - Wikipedia

On the east wall near the main doors of this building on the southwest corner of Yonge Street and Hendon Avenue, a block north of Finch Avenue, is this 1997 plaque erected on the centenary of Lester Pearson's birth by the Willowdale Federal Liberal Association. Here's what it says:

Coordinates: 43.78120 -79.41626

Click here for a larger map

Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson, scholar, diplomat and statesman, was born in his parent's home, the Wesleyan Methodist Church manse, which stood on this site in the then village of Newtonbrook, on April 23, 1897. He joined the Department of External Affairs in 1928, becoming First Secretary of the Canadian High Commission in London (1935-41) and Ambassador to the United States (1945-46). He was Member of Parliament for Algoma East and Minister of External Affairs in the government of Louis St. Laurent (1948-1957) where he was instrumental in the founding of NATO (1949) and the Korean Armistice (1953). He was President of the United Nations General Assembly (1952-53) and the architect of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Suez for which he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957.
Elected leader of the Liberal Party in 1958, he became Prime Minister of Canada in 1963. His government (1963-68) left a legacy of reform and pioneering social legislation which included the Canada Pension Plan, universal health care, the Canada Student Loan Plan, a new Canadian flag, and the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism.
Mr. Pearson died in Ottawa on December 27, 1972.

Related Toronto plaque
Right Honourable Lester Bowles Pearson, 1897-1972

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Here are the visitors' comments for this page.

> Posted January 28, 2015
Fifty years ago today (Jan. 28, 1965), the design of the Canadian flag was adopted. After a long and bitter battle, the Maple Leaf was signed into law, set to become our national flag effective February 15. Hail to Lester Pearson and designer George Stanley for championing what would become one of the world's greatest symbols of freedom, equality, justice--a beacon for all mankind.
"Long may it wave, and grace our own
blue skies and stormy weather;
Within my heart, above my home,
The Maple Leaf Forever!"
-Wayne

> Posted December 28, 2014
Whether intentional or not, this page was appropriately featured as the Plaque of the Day on the anniversary of Pearson's death, December 27. He is buried at Maclaren Cemetery in Wakefield, Quebec, where he retired after politics. His grave site is marked by a simple tombstone, with a small Historic Sites and Monuments Board plaque nearby, a federal effort to commemorate each prime minister at his/her final resting place. A similar plaque series marks the graves of the Fathers of Confederation. Part of the federal program is to install a flagpole near each prime minister's grave site, for the Canadian flag. There is one near Pearson's, where the Maple Leaf flies proudly on a hillside, with a grand view of the Laurentians around it. No other person so richly deserves the honour than the man who made it his mission to give our country a flag--one we have flown now for 50 years.
-Wayne

> Posted October 4, 2010
With Great Respect and Great Pride towards the Memory of Mister Pearson, I believe that he left us and also to all of our young generations and to future ones, an heritage of outstanding values from a generous and simple man, with a heart as big as the one of a Giant. In ordinary and plain language: "He was a good man". Thank You. Merci.
Lucien Alexandre Marion Gatineau Qc. Canada

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