Canada at the United Nations
Serving the World (1897-1972)

Support for the United Nations and its aspirations is fundamental to postwar Canadian foreign and security policy and is heavily endorsed by all Canadians. A more secure world means a more secure Canada. Canada in the post-Second World War era has replaced the notion of a fireproof house with a policy that requires it to join virtually every appropriate and relevant international organization in existence. Canadians are not passive joiners; they engage actively. The list of Canadians who have occupied prominent positions in the United Nations is long, impressive, and probably out of proportion to its population, but it is clearly reflective of the country’s desire to share its wealth. Thus, throughout the history of the UN, Canadians have served in high-level diplomatic and military positions where they have demonstrated outstanding dedication and service. Their skills and effectiveness are a reminder of Canada’s commitment to improving the lives of all citizens of all countries and to furthering international peace, security, and stability. In a speech to the Canadian Club of Ottawa in January of 1904, Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier declared his belief: “I think we can claim that it is Canada that shall fill the twentieth century.”(His words have become part of the popular belief that the twentieth century belongs to Canada.)

Speaking in Toronto on January 13, 1947, Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent proclaimed, “If there is one conclusion that our common experience has led us to accept, it is that security for this country lies in the development of a firm structure of international organization.” In our contemporary world the government of Canada, supported by all Canadians, has embraced the beliefs of those two Prime Ministers to ensure Canada a leading role in the international community of nations. Canadians who have played a substantial role at the United Nations include the following:

Born in Newtonbrook, Ontario, Mike Pearson, son of a Methodist minister, distinguished himself and brought enormous credit to Canada as a civil servant, politician, cabinet minister, international diplomat and Nobel Prize winner for his peacekeeping initiatives at the time of the 1956 Suez Crisis. The nickname “Mike,” given to him by his First World War flying instructor who thought that Lester was not a proper name for a pilot, was to remain with him all his life and was a natural fit with his unassuming, slightly self-embarrassed manner.

Pearson entered the Canadian Foreign Service in the middle 1920s, where his keen perception and writing skills quickly caught the attention of his superiors. For the next 45 years, he would be involved with matters international and would come to symbolize Canada to much of the rest of the world. He took part in the 1930s London Naval and Geneva Disarmament Conferences. In 1935 he became First Secretary at the High Commission in London, where he would remain until called back to Canada in 1941 to prepare for his next assignment as second in charge of the all-important Canadian legation in Washington, where he soon became well-respected for his warm personality and his all too obvious talents for diplomacy. In 1945 he was named Canadian Ambassador to United States and was one of Canada’s representatives at the founding conference of the United Nations in San Francisco. In 1946 he was called back to Ottawa by Prime Minister Mackenzie King to become Under Secretary of State for External Affairs. He entered partisan politics in 1948 as Secretary of State for External Affairs and was soon elected as Member of Parliament from Algoma East. He was now able to exercise fully his internationalist inclinations and played a leading role in the founding of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949. Although his appointment as Secretary-General of the United Nations was vetoed by the Soviets, he did become President of the UN General Assembly for 1952-53. When the Suez Crisis erupted in the autumn of 1956, Pearson immediately went to New York and persuaded the United Nations to send an international force to the area to oversee a cease-fire and restore stability. For this peacekeeping role he received the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, in December of that year. Mike Pearson’s name and accomplishments live on through many organizations, including the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre at Cornwallis Park, Nova Scotia, which brings military and civilian officials form all over the world to learn to become peacekeepers. Mr. Pearson’s son, Geoffrey, became a distinguished diplomat and Ambassador to the USSR; his grandson Michael, was a senior official from 1993 to 1997 in the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ottawa.

A graceful and erudite civil servant, diplomat, and scholarly professor, John Wendell Holmes, born in 1910 in London, Ontario, inspired generations of Canadians to become interested in and dedicate their professional lives to Canada and the international community. In 1943, Holmes joined the Department of External Affairs in Ottawa and, at various times while in foreign service, was First Secretary in London, Chargé d’affairs in Moscow, and Acting Canadian Representative to the United Nations in New York. While serving in Ottawa as Assistant Undersecretary of State, he supervised the work of the Far Eastern, United Nations, and Commonwealth Divisions. A resolute internationalist and one of the key architects of postwar Canadian foreign policy, John Holmes helped steer Canada through the turbulent times of the Cold War. His vision and foresight were major factors in the creation of the “golden age of Canadian diplomacy.” The Shaping of Peace: Canada in the Search for the World Order 1943-1957, (1979-82), his two-volume work, is the basic and advanced reference work about the true extent of Canada’s influence in the post-1945 world. For his outstanding service, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1969.

A tremendously distinguished soldier, cabinet minister, diplomat, scientist and candidate to become Governor General, “Andy” McNaughton, born in 1887 in Moosomin, NWT (Saskatchewan), although tenacious and often controversial, was perhaps the quintessential Canadian: he served where and when needed without a great deal of regard for his personal life. In 1946 he was sent to United Nations by Prime Minister Mackenzie King to be Canada’s first representative to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission. His military experience in both the First and Second World Wars ensured that he knew the technology and the consequences of its use. He became the country’s first ambassador to the UN and also served as President of the UN Security Council in 1948 during Canada’s first term on the Council. He worked closely with Lester Pearson, the Secretary of State for External Affairs at the time, renewing a relationship that had been grounded in the Geneva Disarmament Conference of the early 1930s. He was not a man easily given to humour and took a dim philosophical view of his Soviet colleagues. George Ignatief, one of his staff members during the early days in New York, recalls the General confiding in Andrei Gromyko, then USSR Foreign Minister, that his favourite apples were McIntosh Reds and Northern Spies. Ignatief also credits McNaughton as being a “pathfinder in the mediatory posture in Canadian diplomacy at the United Nations in its early days.”

John Peters Humphrey (1905-1995)

Born in Hampton, New Brunswick, in 1905, John Peters Humphrey was an earnest champion of human rights both in Canada and in the wider international community. A lawyer, scholar, and diplomat, he was a private lawyer before he became a member of the McGill University Faculty of Law in 1936. Shortly before the founding of the United Nations, he became the first director of its Human Rights Division. Recognized as the main drafter of the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, he was an inspiration and guiding light for all human rights advocates. He retired from the UN in 1966 to return to McGill but continued to be active in his field, often serving as a member of the Canadian Delegation to the UN General Assembly sessions and at other Canadian, UN, and international gatherings. A founder of Amnesty International Canada and the Canadian Human Rights Foundation (CHRF) and a member of many international human rights commissions, he belongs to that large group of distinguished Canadians better known abroad than at home. His legacy lives on in the CHRF which continues to bear tribute to his legacy by “contributing to the creation of a vibrant community of human rights workers, dedicated to advancing democracy, human development and social justice, in Canada and around the world.”

L.Yves Fortier

Mr. Fortier served as Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations from 1988 until early December 1991, a particularly important time in the development of the UN. The ending of the Cold War, the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, the dramatic increase in peacekeeping missions, Canada’s successful campaign for a seat on the Security Council, and the subsequent two-year term on the Council – all combined to create an atmosphere of suspense and progress virtually unique in the history of the world organization. Immediately upon arrival in New York in the late summer of 1988, he assumed direction of the Security Council election campaign and met with virtually every one of his 155 ambassadorial colleagues. Impressed with the enthusiasm and the presentation of the Canadian record at the UN and the country’s hope for the future, member states of the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly for Canada. During his term at the UN, he served as a Vice President of the 45th General Assembly for the 1990-91 session, was Canada’s Representative to the Security Council from January 1989 to December 1990 and was President of the Security Council in October 1989. His work publicly and behind-the-scenes in convincing the United States to deal with Iraqi invasion of Kuwait is but a token indication of his effectiveness. In April of 1993, he was appointed by the Security Council to be Chairman of Panel C, United Nations Compensation Commission (Iraq-Kuwait) in Geneva. A Rhodes scholar, Mr. Fortier, today, is a Queen’s Counsel and a Companion of the Order of Canada.

Stephen Lewis

Stephen Lewis was named Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations in 1984 after distinguished careers as a Canadian politician, as a radio-television commentator, and as a labour relations arbitrator. He quickly made his mark as one especially interested in African and human rights issues. During the momentous 1986 Special Session of the UN General Assembly on Africa, he chaired the committee which drafted the five-year UN Program on African Economic Recovery. He was appointed by Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar as his Special Advisor on Africa, a position he continued to fulfill for over three years following the end of his term as ambassador in July of 1988. In June of 1988 Mr. Lewis chaired the first International Conference on Climate Change which drafted the first comprehensive policy on global warming. His term as ambassador was noted for his extensive speaking schedule in which he extolled the virtues of the UN and urged the Member States to greater action and success. Upon leaving his ambassadorial post, he continued his relationship with the United Nations system and, in February 1990, he was appointed Special Representative for UNICEF. In this capacity he travelled extensively to promote UNICEF’s advocacy of the rights and needs of children, specifically in the developing world. In 1993, he was asked to join the Secretary-General’s Advisory Group for the Fourth World Conference of Women held in Bejiing in 1995. He is now Deputy Executive Director at UNICEF Headquarters, New York.

Alex Morrison