GUI Buttons not working after scene transition

so, I found this tutorial on youtube and fit the code to work in my game.

 var pauseCanvas : Canvas;
 var playerObject : GameObject;
 var cameraObject : GameObject;
 function Start (){
     pauseCanvas = GameObject.Find("pauseCanvas").GetComponent("Canvas");
     pauseCanvas.enabled = false;
 }
 
 function Update (){
     if (Input.GetKeyDown("escape")){
         playerObject.GetComponent("MouseLook").enabled = false;
         playerObject.GetComponent("CharacterMotor").enabled = false;        
         playerObject.GetComponent("FPSInputController").enabled = false;
         cameraObject.GetComponent("MouseLook").enabled = false;
         pauseCanvas.enabled = true;
         Screen.lockCursor = false;
         Screen.showCursor = true;
     }
 }
 
 function Resume (){
     pauseCanvas.enabled = false;
     Screen.lockCursor = true;
     Screen.showCursor = false;
     playerObject.GetComponent("MouseLook").enabled = true;
     playerObject.GetComponent("CharacterMotor").enabled = true;        
     cameraObject.GetComponent("MouseLook").enabled = true;
     playerObject.GetComponent("FPSInputController").enabled = true;
 }

the problem lies in scene transitions. pauseCanvas is attached to a persistent object, but when I go from scene 0 (main menu) to scene 1(level 1) the buttons do not work.

The buttons do work under normal circumstances as tested on my "charTest" level.