OTTAWA - The federal government is keeping quiet about any plans it may have to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Lester B. Pearson's Nobel Peace Prize win, which has critics worried the Tories will ignore the event altogether.
The former Liberal prime minister was awarded the prize in 1957 for spearheading the United Nations' first peacekeeping mission.
Pearson's efforts as a diplomat led to peacekeepers being deployed in Egypt during the Suez Crisis, a move generally regarded as having avoided a major international conflict.
But the Conservative government has yet to announce whether it intends to mark Pearson's win in any way.
The Foreign Affairs Department and the Pime Minister's Office did not respond to repeated questions by The Canadian Press about their plans for the anniversary.
Meanwhile, opposition parties, the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre and the Francophone Research Network on Peace Operations all say they have not been told about any commemorative events.
Pearson's legacy as a diplomat deserves to be recognized, say critics who point out there are 80,000 UN peacekeepers operating around the world.
"It was a groundbreaking move in terms of foreign affairs," said Marc-Andre Boivin, assistant director of the francophone peace operations program at the Universite de Montreal.
The Bloc Quebecois' foreign affairs critic attributed the government's silence to partisan politics.
"Pearson is a giant," said Francine Lalonde. "I am Quebecois and sovereigntist, but that doesn't prevent me from considering him to be one of the greatest figures of the century."
The NDP's deputy leader, Thomas Mulcair, also chalked up the Conservative attitude to strictly political interests.
"I don't think the Conservatives have any pretext for not underlining the 50th anniversary," said Mulcair. "It's a shame."
This wouldn't be the first time the Tories have decided to pass on anniversary celebrations of a largely Liberal milestone. Last spring the government was conspicuously absent from events marking 25 years of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
A year after winning the Nobel Prize, Pearson took over as leader of the federal Liberal Party and served as prime minister between 1963 and 1968.
The Liberals will host to Pearson on Dec. 11 in Toronto.
