bout de papier, Vol. 14, No. 3 (1997) — Fall 1997 // Automne 1997, p. 32
Gerard Pelletier’s death in June the ’t was noteworthy that, at the time of extensive press comment concentrated on his work as a journalist and politician. Little beyond the bare facts was said about his work as a diplomat. Considering that in his day Gérard Pelletier had been, among other things, a widely-respected and popular television interviewer, a co-founder of Cité Libre and editor of La Presse; and that his later career as a politician is indelibly linked with his memorable entry into the Pearson government as one of the Three Wise Men, along with Jean Marchand and Pierre Trudeau, and with the defence of the Official Languages Act, the concentration on journalism and politics is not surprising.
Yet Gérard Pelletier’s diplomatic career was far from negligible. He served successively as ambassador to France from 1975 to 1980 and as ambassador to the United Nations from 1981 to 1984 — nearly a decade in two of the most sensitive and important of Canadian diplomatic appointments.
At the time he was named to the embassy in Paris, the atmosphere of relations with France was much improved from the low point of “Vive le Québec libre!”. (Those interested in knowing just how difficult it was to work in Paris in those years should read Pat Black’s Direct Intervention). By Gérard Pelletier’s day, however, de Gaulle was long gone, as was his political heir, Georges Pompidou. President Giscard d’Estaing, Pompidou’s successor, owed no allegiance to the Gaullist inheritance and drew his support from the Centre more than from the Gaullist Right of French politics. Giscard came to office as an innovator; in this more favourable context it was possible to arrange an official visit to France by Prime Minister Trudeau in 1974, the first such visit by a Canadian Prime Minister in more than ten years.
Thus Gérard Pelletier came to his appointment with a new base in which he could build. He was in a position to undertake the work of consolidating and improving relations, relying on his knowledge of France and the depth of his French culture, and his extensive network of friendships in French political and intellectual circles. In all this, his friendship with Prime Minister Trudeau was an important asset. Everyone, French or Canadian, who worked with him was sensitive to the connection. But it was an asset Gérard Pelletier used with discretion and discrimination. The advantage to Canada of having a representative of such personal distinction, emotionally and intellectually committed to Québec, yet intellectually committed to federalism, and known to be a close friend and colleague of the Prime Minister, was evident throughout his appointment.
In the same way, during his years in New York, Gérard Pelletier’s remarkable background and personal qualities spoke for themselves before another sensitive audience, this time at the United Nations. These were years when, for example, the Middle East was again in turmoil. With his journalist’s instincts, Gérard Pelletier early undertook a visit to the region to gain additional background for his mission at first hand. Both on occasions like this, and in the corridors of the United Nations, his political connections in Canada served to strengthen the personal impression he made through his dignity and courtesy, his formidable intellectual capacity, and the precision of his expression in French and English.
Gérard Pelletier was a reserved man. He had little or no flamboyance about him. He was good at quiet listening, reflection, analysis and thoughtful advice. This disqualified him for the posturing aspects of the House of Commons when he was in politics and similarly, when he became a diplomat, from striking attitudes before the General Assembly. Yet he was perfectly at home in the era of public diplomacy; he had taken the measure of the television age early in his career. He endured with unfailing courtesy the drearier side of diplomatic entertaining, but came to life when, in private conversations, an intellectual challenge presented itself. His diplomatic colleagues remember him as a charming and intelligent man, and his Canadian staffs as someone who was absolutely without pretension and capable of great personal kindness. The foreign service was fortunate to have shared for a decade in the life of this remarkable mon A
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 14, No. 3 (1997) — Fall 1997 // Automne 1997, p. 32. Read the rest of this issue →
