The Right Honourable former Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson (1897-1972) is the namesake for the Lester B. Pearson International Peacekeeping Training Centre (PPC).
Some say that Pearson invented the term ‘peacekeeping.’ Pearson was integral in the decision-making process that created the United Nations' first peacekeeping force – his actions did earn him a Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 – but there were other organizations and important people who contributed to the development of peacekeeping as a distinctly Canadian initiative. Canada had many earlier experiences in developing its role as a middle power mediator and conciliator within the International community, including its role in crises in Indonesia (1946), Kashmir (1947) and Palestine (1947).
Lester B. Pearson headed the Canadian delegation to the United Nations from 1946 to 1956, being elected to the presidency of the Seventh Session of the General Assembly in 1952-1953. As chairman of the General Assembly's Special Committee on Palestine, he laid the groundwork for the creation of the state of Israel in 1947. In the Suez crisis of 1956, when the United Kingdom, France and Israel invaded Egyptian territory, Pearson proposed and sponsored the resolution which created a United Nations Emergency Force to police that area, thus permitting the invading nations to withdraw with a minimum loss of face.
Lester B. Pearson died in 1972, but his legacy of peace and diplomatic international relationships lives on in Canadian values.
For more detailed information on the life and career of Lester B. Pearson, please visit his page on the Nobel Prize Website.