Paul Gérin-Lajoie was President of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). He was born in Montreal in 1920, and studied at Université de Montreal and Oxford University. He served as Quebec’s first Minister of Education and Minister of Youth from 1960-1966 and was a prominent figure in the province’s Quiet Revolution. During this time, he was also very involved in deepening the province’s ties with Quebec and the Francophonie. After he left government, Gérin-Lajoie taught for several years before beginning to work at CIDA, a post he held from 1970-1977. Under his leadership, the Canadian budget for development programs grew from $350 million to over $1 billion. In 1977, he established the Paul Gerin-Lajoie Foundation, a charitable organization in the field of international cooperation. In 1989, he published his book, Battles of a Quiet Revolutionary. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including 12 honorary degrees, the International Peace Prize from the Canadian Association of World Federalists, Grand Officer of the Order national du Québec, and the Albert-Einstein gold medal, awarded by UNESCO. He died in 2018.
Gérin-Lajoie’s lecture was a part of the series on “Canada’s Involvement in Latin America.” He provided insight into the thinking behind the Canadian International Development Agency’s policies and programming under his leadership. The year 1974 presented a turning point, Gérin-Lajoie argued, in the relations between developing and developed countries, as the latter became increasingly disenchanted with international aid and the existing world order. The outcome of the year’s events would lead either to breakdown of relations or breakthrough to greater equality. The major challenge of our time was the establishment of a new world order, on the basis of cooperation for economic liberation: “It is neither just nor politically astute nor economically beneficial in the long-run to leave one quarter of humanity in squalor and degradation while the rest march on to greater growth and increased consumption.” Gérin-Lajoie ended by considering Canada’s place in the development arena, suggesting that Canadians were inclined to support a constructive approach, seeking accommodation and recognizing the common interest of all in a viable international system. It was clear that the Third World had rejected an aid-centric view of development, insisting that aid was only useful in complement to equitable trade and investment policies. In this context, he believed Canada’s could serve the role of bridge-builder. However, the country had never, in the 25 years since the Colombo Plan, faced such challenges in its relations with the Third World, as fundamental assumptions about them were being questioned.
Gérin-Lajoie’s lecture was held on November 28, 1974. Listen to it below.