Louis Stephen St. Laurent (born 1882) was a Canadian statesman. He was prime minister and leader of the Liberal party of Canada, and during his efficient government Canada experienced an economic boom.

Louis St. Laurent was born in Compton, Quebec, on Feb. 1, 1882, of French-and Irish-Canadian parents. Completely bilingual, St. Laurent was educated at Laval University, where he did brilliantly in legal studies. Until 1941 he was content to be a lawyer, building a large practice and earning a reputation for integrity and honesty.

In 1941, however, World War II was under way, and Ernest Lapointe, the minister of justice and French Canada's spokesman in Ottawa, had just died. Prime Minister Mackenzie King selected St. Laurent to be Lapointe's successor, and after giving serious consideration to the request, St. Laurent decided to accept for war service only.

The relations between French Canadians and English Canadians had always been delicate, but in wartime...