Lester Pearson: The British North America Act

Pearson Dept: Smallwood wanted to ask Lester Pearson, then the prime minister, to invoke Clause 10 of Section 92 of the British North America Act, which allows Ottawa to assert jurisdiction over interprovincial projects if parliament declares them to be for the general advantage of Canada. , according to Vancouver Sun. Mr. Pearson said, 'Joe, I know why you are here and if you ask me I'll have to say yes, otherwise we would not really be a country. But I'm asking you not to ask me because we will not be able to keep the towers up.' In 1966, when Joey Smallwood, then the premier of Newfoundland, was trying to dam the massive Churchill River in Labrador, he got frustrated that Quebec wouldn't let him build power lines to southern markets. Smallwood later described his meeting with Pearson. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.