The Unexpected Louis St-Laurent

Much of Canada’s modern identity emerged from the innovative social policies and ambitious foreign policy of Louis St-Laurent’s Liberal government. His extraordinarily creative administration made decisions that still resonate today: on health care, pensions, and housing; on infrastructure and intergovernmental issues; and, further afield, in developing Canada’s global middle-power role in global affairs and resolving the Suez Crisis. Yet St-Laurent remains an enigmatic figure.

Contributors to The Unexpected Louis St-Laurent assess the degree to which he set the policy agenda. They explore the features of his personality that made him effective (or sometimes less so), the changes he wrought on the state apparatus and federal-provincial relations, and the substance of his government’s policies.

This wide-ranging collection fills a great void in Canadian political history, bringing together seasoned professionals and new scholars to investigate the far-reaching influence of a politician whose astute policies and bold resolve moved Canada into the modern era.

Patrice Dutil is a professor of politics and public administration at Ryerson University, Toronto. He is the author of many books, including Prime Ministerial Power in Canada: Its Origins under Macdonald, Laurier, and Borden; Embattled Nation: Canada’s Wartime Election of 1917 (with David MacKenzie); and Canada, 1911: The Decisive Election That Shaped the Country (also with MacKenzie). He has also edited several collections, including Macdonald at 200: New Reflections and Legacies (with Roger Hall). He was the founding editor of the Literary Review of Canada (1991–96) and the president of the Champlain Society (2010–17).

With this superbly-executed, comprehensive book, [St-Laurent] now gets the tribute he would not have asked for — but nonetheless deserves.

"Leaders, like St. Laurent, make being prime minister look easy. It never is, and Dutil’s important book shows us how and why that was the case during the mid-twentieth century."

"… this is a very worthwhile book about one of the most distinguished and successful leaders in Canadian history."

"The Unexpected Louis St-Laurent is a must-read for Canadians of all political stripes. Full of essays that both praise and criticize, it gives a full picture of St. Laurent’s policies, successes and failures. Leaders from all walks of life seeking insight on how to build a stronger post-COVID Canada will find examples there that will inspire."

The Unexpected Louis St-Laurent is a fine volume, one of the few recent edited collections held together by more than the binding.