Jack Pickersgill
| Jack Pickersgill | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 23, 1905 Wyecombe, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | November 14, 1997 (aged 92) Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Education | |
| Occupation | teacher, civil servant,politician |
John Whitney "Jack" Pickersgill, PC CC (June 23, 1905 – November 14, 1997) was a Canadian civil servant and politician. He was born in Ontario, but was raised in Manitoba. He was the Clerk for the Canadian Government's Privy Council in the early 1950s. He was first elected to federal parliament in 1953, representing a Newfoundland electoral district, and serving in prime minister Louis St. Laurent's cabinet. In the mid-1960s, he served again in cabinet, this time under prime minister Lester B. Pearson. He resigned from parliament in 1967 to become the president of the Canadian Transport Commission. He was awarded the highest level of the Order of Canada in 1970. In his later years he wrote books on Canadian history. He died in 1997 in Ottawa.
Pickersgill was born in Wyecombe, Ontario on June 23, 1905. His family moved to Ashern, Manitoba when he was a young child. He is the older brother of Frank Pickersgill. He was educated at the University of Manitoba and the University of Oxford, and taught history in Winnipeg.
He joined the Department of External Affairs in Ottawa, and was soon working at the Prime Minister's Office as Assistant Private Secretary to Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. In 1945, he became Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, and was officially in charge of the Prime Minister's Office. He stayed on to work for King's successor, Louis St. Laurent, and became Clerk of the Privy Council in 1952. He was a senior and trusted adviser to both Prime Ministers: "Clear it with Jack" was the byword on Parliament Hill for years.
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