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Update! Fall/Winter 1991 University of St. Jerome's College Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2L 3G3 Gerard Pelletier on Christians in Politics Gerard Pelletier delivers the sixth annual Graduates' Association Lecture. photo by S. Bjorkquist Gerard Pelletier was born in Victoriaville, Quebec in June 1919, one of eight children. He was educated at the Seminaire de Nicolet, College Mont-Laurier and the Universite de Montreal. From 1939 to 1943 he was General Secretary of Quebec's Jeunesse etudiante catholique, and was Field Secretary of the World Student Relief Organization in Geneva from 1945 ,to 1947. In 1947 he and his wife Alexandrine returned to Montreal, where he worked as a reporter for Le Devoir until 1950. It was his reporting of the 1949 Asbestos Strike which brought him to the position in 1950 of editor of Le Travail, the organ of the Confederation des travailleurs catholiques du Canada. In 1961 he became editor of the Montreal daily La Presse. His passionate commitment to justice, his fierce opposition to the antidemocratic practices and policies of Maurice Duplessis and to the rampant clericalism of the Catholic church in Quebec, led Pelletier and several colleagues, including Pierre Trudeau, to found the journal Cite Libre which sought to create a more open, progressive and democratic Quebec. In 1965 he was elected to the House of Commons as the member of Parliament for Hochelaga, one of the "Three Wise Men" with friends Trudeau and Jean Marchand. He served as Secretary of State and Minister of Communications in the federal cabinet. From 1975 to 1981 he served as Canadian Ambassador to France, and from 1981 to 1984, he was Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations. He is currently President of the Centre canadien d'etudes et de co-operation, a non-governmental organization active in thirty third world countries. He is author of The October Crisis (1971), a penetrating and balanced study still relevant 20 years after those tumultuous days, and he is the author of two volumes of memoirs Years of Impatience published in 1983, and Years of Choice published in 1986. Like the man himself, both books are characterized by their candour, warmth and perception, chronicling the social and political evolution of Quebec and the careers of four of Quebec's and Canada's most important political figures. In the post-Meech Lake, post-Oka era, there is ample evidence that Canadians have grown cynical towards their governments and legislators. The sixth annual Graduates' Association Lecture, however, held on October 27, 1990, provided a refreshing glimpse of the successful integration of faith and politics; of a man who saw his role as politician in terms of true public service. The Hon. Gerard Pelletier, author, journalist, labour activist, cabinet minister, and diplomat, spoke on "Christians in Politics" and addressed the critical link between values and politics in his own life. It was a warm and reflective talk, peppered with anecdotes and characterized by humility and integrity. He demonstrated that the integration of his faith into his life and actions started at an early age. He cited his "conversion" at the young age of 16 when he joined the Catholic Action Movement in Quebec. "(It) made me realize then that Christianity was essentially a way of life devoted to the service of one's neighbour. I have yet to fully understand what that means," he observed modestly, "but ever since I realized that it was fundamental to my faith, I've been thinking it over and over." When he began to work full-time for the labour unions in 1950, he realized that the "social doctrine of the church offered a set of principles, and nothing else, and it was the responsibility of Catholic politicians and political scientists to develop policies in line with those principles. The social doctrine of the Church was not a political ideology; it was an inspiration, a slide rule useful in measuring the merits of actual policies." Of his entry into politics in 1965, Pelletier remarked, "If one is a true believer, one cannot take such an important decision but in the light of one's convictions." Although he maintains that he never had a "vocation for politics" his dismissal as editor of La Presse in March 1965 after five years, and the active encouragement of two of his friends, Pierre Trudeau and Jean Marchand, who were considering running in the upcoming federal election, created the opportunity for him to seek office. "They (Trudeau and Marchand) appealed to my social conscience, my sense of altruism,