George Pearson
George Sharratt Pearson (born April 27, 1880 in Brierly Hill, England; died August 24, 1966 in Nanaimo, BC) was a grocer and provincial politician who spent from 1928 to 1952 as the Liberal and Coalition MLA for various Nanaimo-area ridings. Serving as Minister of Mines and Labour under Premier Pattulo’s government and Minister of Health and Welfare under John Hart’s coalition government, Pearson was one of many prominent politicians in BC who advocated for restrictions on Asian Canadian labour and immigration. During World War II, Pearson took an active role in insisting that Japanese Canadians be uprooted from the coast and interned and speculated openly that the loyalties of Japanese Canadians would rapidly shift if the Japanese army landed in BC. (Source: Kimura Appendix)
Metadata
| Surname | Pearson |
| Forename | George |
| AddName | Sharratt |
| Regularized Name | George Pearson |
Collections
Fishing Vessel Request Letters (1)
Oral Histories (1)
Other Archival Files (1)
Terminology
Readers of these historical materials will encounter derogatory references to Japanese Canadians and euphemisms used to obscure the intent and impacts of the internment and dispossession. While these are important realities of the history, the Landscapes of Injustice Research Collective urges users to carefully consider their own terminological choices in writing and speaking about this topic today as we confront past injustice. See our statement on terminology, and related sources here.