Talk:Lester B. Pearson

[A]nd he struggled to keep Canada out of the Vietnam War

I would not barge in with editorial alteration to the text here, but would it not be more accurate to mention that it was with the help and support (to put it mildly) of Tommy Douglas? Both were by nearly universal consensus great Canadians, for that matter in Person's case a world figure. But would it not be more accurate to attribute to Tommy Douglas what should be as to Medicare? Masalai (talk) 11:32, 2 September 2014 (UTC)

Service in the Serbian Army vs service alongside the Serbian Army

If it were the case that he had served in the Serbian Army, I would have expected him to have been awarded a Serbian campaign medal. He did indeed serve in Salonika, but this was alongside the Serbians. He did not enlist in the Serbian Army, this is incorrect.

The article behind this states:

'Among the many photographs, Pavlovic points out the one with four uniformed young men. One of them, originally Canadian, was a Corporal and a nurse in the Serbian army in the First World War. His name was Lester Pirson, and after the war he became Prime Minister of Canada and Nobel Peace Prize winner.'

The photo backs up the assertion that he served alongside the Serbs, but this is not evidence that he served in the Serbian Army. Keith H99 (talk) 20:09, 13 January 2019 (UTC)

Spengler Cup

Hello, the sentence currently says "He later also played for the Oxford University Ice Hockey Club while on a scholarship at the University of Oxford, a team that won the first Spengler Cup in 1923." without a direct citation. It's unclear from my reading whether the Spengler cup was during his time with the team or if it occurred afterwards (or if it occurred during his time there, but he did not participate). Do we have a citation for which one of those three happened, and if so, does anyone have a proposed wording to further clarify the section? 198.52.130.137 (talk) 01:27, 11 May 2020 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

• Lester B. Pearson at desk.jpg

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 03:23, 14 April 2023 (UTC)

Parties are defeated, not PMs

Hello all / Salut tout le monde, There are several phrases in this article which make it seem like Pearson personally challenged Diefenbaker, or was defeated directly by him as if they were candidates for PM. This is not how Canada works, but it's a common mistake of US writers trying to explain Westminster-style parliamentary democracy.

Would this page's curators please consider rewording the (multiple) sections about elections in order to correct this error? Removing the passive verbs would make it easier for Canadian newcomers to begin studying our history, and for ESL readers overall, too.

For example: "Diefenbaker's Conservative party defeated the Pearson-led Liberals in (year) and (year) elections."

Or the next sentence: "Yet Pearson persisted, leading the Liberals to a successful challenge of the Diefenbaker Conservatives, thus retaking the majority in Parliament at the (year) elections."

Political history isn't my area of expertise so I didn't want to step on toes by changing it without making a Talk topic first. Yet Pearson's legacy of peacekeeping is causing serious issues for Canada's defence and its NATO obligations in 2025, which means more readership of his page going forward. So I think his page should show how his power actually worked - too bad he never got a Rap Battle of History, but the "versus" presentation style is just incorrect here.

Thanks for tour time to read and Bon Weekend! ChekovsMoustache (talk) 15:30, 18 July 2025 (UTC)