Seeing Canada Whole: A Memoir

David A. Lenarcic teaches history at Wilfrid Laurier University in
Waterloo.

J.W. Pickersgill’s remarkable career at the centre of power in Ottawa
as both civil servant and politician spanned four decades. Initially as
adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office during the late 1930s and 1940s
and then as cabinet minister in the Liberal governments of the 1950s and
1960s, Pickersgill’s influence was felt in many areas, from
federal-provincial relations to immigration to transportation. He lists
as his two main contributions the provision of unemployment insurance
for fishers and the settlement in Canada of 35,000 refugees fleeing the
Hungarian revolution of 1956.

These memoirs are insightful for what they reveal about other key
figures in Canadian history, including Mackenzie King, Louis St.
Laurent, Lester Pearson, John Diefenbaker, and Joey Smallwood. However,
Pickersgill’s engaging account of his experiences as a child,
adolescent, and young adult, and of his retirement years, also makes for
interesting reading.

The book is generally candid and even-handed. Pickersgill both praises
and criticizes friend and foe alike. While he is not shy about pointing
out his substantial achievements, he does not back away from identifying
his own mistakes; the overall tone is humble and self-effacing. Even so,
his career as civil servant and politician comes across as a seamless
web, which raises the question of the relationship between bureaucracy
and party during the Liberals’ long reign, an issue the author
addresses only peripherally.

The major flaw of this book is its length. At 858 pages, there is too
much material to digest, and the conclusion makes only a cursory attempt
at summing up Pickersgill’s life and career. Two earlier
historical/autobiographical studies penned by the same author already
cover in detail the St. Laurent-Pearson period. Nonetheless, this is a
fascinating record of the long, varied, and distinguished career of a
dedicated public servant who always strove to place the best interests
of his country first and foremost.