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Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, PC, CC, CH, QC, MSRC (usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau) (October 18, 1919 – 28 September 2000), was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984. Trudeau was the first Canadian Prime Minister born in the 20th century.
Trudeau was a charismatic figure who, from the late 1960s until the mid-1980s, dominated the Canadian political scene and aroused passionate reactions.
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I don't really know what a cyclotron is but I am certainly very happy Canada has one!
Visiting the TRIUMF cyclotron in 1976
If Canada is to survive, it can only survive in mutual respect and in love for one another.
We take the position that there is no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation.
Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.
Addressing the Press Club in Washington, D.C. ( 1969-03-25)
Encyclopedia
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, PC, CC, CH, QC, MSRC (usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau) (October 18, 1919 – 28 September 2000), was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984. Trudeau was the first Canadian Prime Minister born in the 20th century.
Trudeau was a charismatic figure who, from the late 1960s until the mid-1980s, dominated the Canadian political scene and aroused passionate reactions. "Reason before passion" was his personal motto. "He haunts us still," biographers Christina McCall and Stephen Clarkson wrote in 1990. Admirers praise the force of Trudeau's intellect. They salute his political acumen in preserving national unity and establishing the Charter of Rights and Freedoms within Canada's constitution. His detractors accuse him of arrogance, economic mismanagement, and unduly favouring the authority of the federal government in relation to the provinces. Nevertheless, Trudeau was, figuratively, a towering national figure who helped define--and redefine--Canada.
Trudeau led Canada through some of its most tumultuous times and was often the centre of controversy. Known for his flamboyance, he dated celebrities, was accused of using an obscenity during debate in the House of Commons, and once did a pirouette behind the back of Queen Elizabeth II.
Early life
He was born in Montreal to Charles-Émile Trudeau, a French Canadian businessman and lawyer, and Grace Elliott, who was of French and Scottish descent. Pierre had an older sister Suzette and a younger brother Charles Jr. (Tip); he was close to both siblings for his entire life. The family became quite wealthy by the time Trudeau was in his teens, as his father sold his prosperous gas station business to Imperial Oil. Trudeau attended the prestigious Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf (a private French Jesuit school) where he was affiliated with the ideas of Quebec nationalism. Trudeau's father died when Pierre was in his mid-teens, and this hit him and the family very hard. Pierre remained very close to his mother for the rest of her life.
According to long-time friend and colleague Marc Lalonde, the contemporary clerically influenced dictatorships of António de Oliveira Salazar in Portugal and Francisco Franco in Spain along with that of Marshal Pétain in Vichy France were seen as models to many young intellectuals educated at elite Jesuit schools in Quebec. Lalonde asserts that Trudeau's later intellectual development as an "intellectual rebel, anti-establishment fighter on behalf of unions and promoter of religious freedom" was a product of his experiences once he left Quebec to study in the United States, France and England and travel the world, an experience which allowed him to break from Jesuit influence and study French philosophers such as Jacques Maritain and Emmanuel Mounier as well as John Locke and David Hume.
Education and World War II
Trudeau earned a law degree at the Université de Montréal in 1943; during his studies he was conscripted into the Army, like thousands of other Canadian men, as part of the National Resources Mobilization Act. He joined the Canadian Officers' Training Corps and served with other conscripts in Canada, as they were not liable for overseas military service until after the Conscription Crisis of 1944. Trudeau said he was willing to become involved in World War II, but he believed that to do so would be to turn his back on a Quebec population he considered to have been betrayed by the Mackenzie King government. Trudeau reflected on his opposition to conscription and his doubts about the war in his 1993 Memoirs: "So there was a war? Tough... if you were a French Canadian in Montreal in the early 1940s, you did not automatically believe that this was a just war... we tended to think of this war as a settling of scores among the superpowers."
In a 1942 Outremont by-election, he campaigned for the anti-conscription candidate Jean Drapeau (later mayor of Montreal), and was eventually expelled from the Officers' Training Corps for lack of discipline. The National Archives of Canada, in its biographical sketches of Canadian prime ministers, records how on one occasion during the war Trudeau and his friends drove their motorcycles wearing Prussian military uniforms, complete with pointed steel helmets.
After the war, Trudeau went abroad to continue his studies, first with a master's degree in political economy at Harvard University's Graduate School of Public Administration, then in 1947 in Paris at the Institut d'études politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), and finally working towards his doctorate at the London School of Economics, although he did not finish his thesis.
Trudeau was interested in Marxist ideas in the 1940s and his Harvard dissertation was on the topic of Communism and Christianity. At Harvard Trudeau found himself profoundly challenged as he discovered that his "... legal training was deficient, [and] his knowledge of economics was pathetic." Thanks to the great intellectual migration away from Europe's fascism, Harvard had become a major intellectual centre in which Trudeau profoundly changed. Despite this, Trudeau found himself an outsider - a French Catholic living for the first time outside of Quebec in the predominantly Protestant American Harvard University. This isolation deepened finally into despair and led to his decision to continue his Harvard studies abroad.
In 1947 he travelled to Paris to continue his dissertation work. Over a five week period he attended many lectures and became a follower of personalism after being influenced most notably by Emmanuel Mounier. The Harvard dissertation remained undone when Trudeau entered a doctoral program to study under the renowned socialist economist Harold Laski in the London School of Economics. This cemented Trudeau's belief that Keynesian economics and social science were essential to the creation of the "good life" in democratic society.
Early career
From the late 1940s through the mid-1960s, Trudeau was primarily based in Montreal and was seen by many as an intellectual. In 1949, he was an active supporter of workers in the Asbestos Strike. In 1956, he edited an important book on the subject, La grève de l'amiante, which argued that the strike was a seminal event in Quebec's history, marking the beginning of resistance to the conservative, francophone clerical establishment and anglophone business class that had long ruled the province.. Throughout the 1950s, Trudeau was a leading figure in the opposition to the repressive rule of Premier of Quebec Maurice Duplessis as the founder and editor of Cité Libre, a dissident journal that helped provide the intellectual basis for the Quiet Revolution.
From 1949 to 1951 Trudeau worked briefly in Ottawa, in the Privy Council Office of the Liberal Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent as an economic policy advisor. He wrote in his memoirs that he found this period very useful later on, when he entered politics, and that senior civil servant Norman Robertson tried unsuccessfully to persuade him to stay on.
His socialist values and his close ties with Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) intellectuals (including Frank Scott, Eugene Forsey, Michael Oliver and Charles Taylor) led to his support and membership in that federal social democratic party throughout the 1950s. Despite these connections, when Trudeau entered federal politics in the 1960s he decided to join the Liberal Party rather than the CCF, now the New Democratic Party (NDP). This is attributed to a few factors: (1) he felt the NDP could not achieve power, due to Tommy Douglas' inability to attract Quebec voters, (2) Trudeau expressed doubts about the centralizing policies of Canada's socialists (he favoured a more decentralized approach), and (3) there were "real differences" between his approach and the NDP's "two nations" approach to the Canadian constitution and the role of Quebec within Canada.
In his memoirs, published in 1993, Trudeau wrote that during the 1950s, he wanted to teach at the University of Montreal, but was blacklisted three times from doing so by Maurice Duplessis, then premier of Quebec. He was offered a position at Queen's University teaching political science by James Corry, who later became principal of Queen's, but turned it down because he preferred to teach in Quebec. During the 1950s, he was blacklisted by the United States and prevented from entering that country because of a visit to a conference in Moscow, and because he subscribed to a number of leftist publications. Trudeau later appealed the ban and it was rescinded.
Law professor, enters politics
An associate professor of law at the Université de Montréal from 1961 to 1965, Trudeau's views evolved towards a liberal position in favour of individual rights counter to the state and made him an opponent of Quebec nationalism. In economic theory he was influenced by professors Joseph Schumpeter and John Kenneth Galbraith while he was at Harvard. Trudeau criticized the Liberal Party of Lester Pearson when it supported arming Bomarc missiles in Canada with nuclear warheads. Nevertheless, he was persuaded to join the party in 1965, together with his friends Gérard Pelletier and Jean Marchand. These "three wise men" ran successfully for the Liberals in the 1965 election. Trudeau himself was elected in the safe Liberal riding of Mount Royal, in western Montreal, succeeding House Speaker Alan Macnaughton. He would hold this seat until his retirement from politics in 1984, winning each election with large majorities.
Upon arrival in Ottawa, Trudeau was appointed as Prime Minister Lester Pearson's parliamentary secretary, and spent much of the next year traveling the world, representing Canada at international meetings and events, including the United Nations. In 1967, he was appointed to Pearson's cabinet as Minister of Justice.
Justice minister and leadership candidate
As Minister of Justice, Pierre Trudeau was responsible for introducing the landmark Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69, an omnibus bill whose provisions included, among other things, the decriminalization of homosexual acts between consenting adults, the legalization of contraception, abortion and lotteries, new gun ownership restrictions as well as the authorization of breathalyzer tests on suspected drunk drivers. Trudeau famously defended the bill by telling reporters that "there's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation", adding that "what's done in private between adults doesn't concern the Criminal Code". Trudeau also liberalized divorce laws, and clashed with Quebec Premier Daniel Johnson, Sr. during constitutional negotiations.
At the end of Canada's centennial year in 1967, Prime Minister Pearson announced his intention to step down. Trudeau was persuaded to run for the Liberal leadership. His energetic campaign attracted the attention of the news media and mobilized and inspired many youths, who saw Trudeau as a symbol of generational change (he was 48). Going into the leadership convention, Trudeau was the front-runner, and was clearly the favourite candidate with the Canadian public. Many within the Liberal Party still had deep doubts about him, though. Having joined the party only in 1965, he was still considered an outsider. Many saw him as too radical and outspoken a figure. Some of his views, particularly those on divorce, abortion, and homosexuality, were opposed by the substantial conservative wing of the party. Nevertheless, at the April 1968 Liberal leadership convention, Trudeau was elected leader of the party on the fourth ballot, with the support of 51% of the delegates, defeating some prominent, long-serving Liberals including Paul Martin Sr., Robert Winters and Paul Hellyer. Trudeau was sworn in as Liberal leader and Prime Minister two weeks later on April 20.
Prime Minister
Trudeau soon called an election, for June 25 (see Canadian federal election, 1968). His election campaign benefited from an unprecedented wave of personal popularity called "Trudeaumania" (a term coined by journalist Lubor J. Zink), which saw Trudeau mobbed by throngs of youths. An iconic moment that influenced the election occurred on its eve, during the annual Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day parade in Montreal, when rioting Quebec separatists threw rocks and bottles at the grandstand where Trudeau was seated. Rejecting the pleas of his aides that he take cover, Trudeau stayed in his seat, facing the rioters, without any sign of fear. The image of the young politician showing such courage impressed the Canadian people, and he handily won the election the next day.
As Prime Minister, Trudeau espoused participatory democracy as a means of making Canada a "Just Society." He defended vigorously the newly implemented universal health care and regional development programs as means of making society more just. He also implemented many procedural reforms, to make Parliament and the Liberal caucus meetings run more efficiently, and substantially expanded the size and role of the prime minister's office.
During the October Crisis of 1970, the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped British Trade Consul James Cross at his residence on the fifth of October. Five days later, Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte was also kidnapped (and was later murdered, on October 17). Trudeau responded by invoking the War Measures Act, which gave the government sweeping powers of arrest and detention without trial. Although this response is still controversial and was opposed as excessive by figures like Tommy Douglas, it was met with only limited objections from the public. Trudeau presented a determined public stance during the crisis, answering the question of how far he would go to stop the terrorists with "Just watch me." Five of the FLQ terrorists were flown to Cuba in 1970 as part of a deal in exchange for James Cross' life, but all members were eventually arrested. The five flown to Cuba were jailed after they returned to Canada years later.
Trudeau's first years would be most remembered for the passage of his implementation of official bilingualism. Long a goal of Trudeau, this legislation requires all Federal services to be offered in French and English. The measures were very controversial at the time in English Canada, but would be successfully passed and implemented.
Trudeau was the first world leader to agree to meet John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono on their 'tour for world peace'. Lennon said, after talking with Trudeau for 50 minutes, that Trudeau was "a beautiful person" and that "if all politicians were like Pierre Trudeau, there would be world peace."
On March 4, 1971, the Prime Minister married Margaret Sinclair, a woman who, at 22, was 30 years his junior. They later divorced.
In foreign affairs, Trudeau kept Canada firmly in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), but often pursued an independent path in international relations. He established Canadian diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, before the United States did, and went on an official visit to Beijing. He was known to be a friend of Fidel Castro and Cuba. A mobster said that in 1974 he was hired by New York State mafia members to kill Trudeau, hoping to bait Castro up to a funeral, where they would kill him. The plan was apparently later rejected.
In the election of 1972, Trudeau's Liberal Party won with a minority government, with the New Democratic Party holding the balance of power. This government would move to the left, including the creation of Petro-Canada.
In May 1974, the House of Commons passed a motion of no confidence in the Trudeau government, defeating its budget bill. Trudeau wrote in his memoirs that he had in fact engineered his own downfall, since he was confident he would win the resulting election. The election of 1974 saw Trudeau and the Liberals re-elected with a majority government with 141 of the 264 seats. In September 1975, Finance Minister, John Turner resigned. Trudeau later (in October 1975) instituted wage and price controls, something which he had mocked Progressive Conservative Party leader Robert Stanfield for proposing during the election campaign a year earlier.
Canada joined the G7 group of major economic powers in 1976, after being left out of the first set of meetings. Trudeau wrote in his memoirs that U.S. President Gerald Ford arranged this, and expressed sincere appreciation.
Trudeau's outward actions during his premiership led many to believe he harboured republican notions; it was even rumoured by Paul Martin, Sr., that the Queen was worried the Crown "had little meaning for him." This may have had to do with the erasure of royal symbols, his documented antics around the Monarch, such as his sliding down Buckingham Palace banisters, and his famous pirouette behind the Queen, captured on film in 1977. He also glaringly breached protocol in 1978 when he vacationed in Morocco, instead of being in Canada to attend the Queen's arrival and departure. However, he was accused of instant monarchism, as well as opportunism during a period of personal unpopularity in the 1970s, when he invited Elizabeth II to attend the second Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), at Ottawa 1973. The invitation, and acceptance of it, started the tradition of Elizabeth attending Commonwealth conferences, no matter the location. Also, in 1976, after Robert Bourassa, then Premier of Quebec, begged Trudeau to invite the Queen to the Olympics in Montreal, Trudeau, after obliging him, became annoyed when Bourassa later became unsettled about how unpopular the move might be. He commented directly on the Monarchy in 1967, when he, by then a Cabinet minister, stated "I wouldn't lift a finger to get rid of the monarchy.... I think the monarchy, by and large, has done more good than harm to Canada." Ultimately, he experimented with the Crown more than any previous politician, and then entrenched the role of the Crown in Canada when he orchestrated the patriation of the Canadian Constitution in 1982 (see below).
A worsening economy, burgeoning national debt, and growing public antipathy towards Trudeau's perceived arrogance caused his poll numbers to fall rapidly. Trudeau delayed the election as long as he could, but was forced to call one in 1979.
Defeat and opposition
In the election of 1979, Trudeau's government was defeated by the Progressive Conservatives, led by Joe Clark, who formed a minority government. Trudeau announced his intention to resign as Liberal Party leader; however, before a leadership convention could be held, Clark's government was defeated in the Canadian House of Commons by a Motion of Non-Confidence, in mid-December, 1979. The Liberal Party persuaded Trudeau to stay on as leader and fight the election. Trudeau defeated Clark in the February 1980 election, and won a majority government.
Return to power
The Liberal victory in 1980 highlighted a sharp geographical divide in the country: the party had won no seats west of Manitoba. Trudeau had to resort to having Senators appointed to Cabinet to ensure representation from all regions. The introduction of the National Energy Program (NEP) created a firestorm of protest in the Western provinces and increased what many termed "Western alienation."
A series of difficult budgets by long-time loyalist Allan MacEachen in the early 1980s did not improve Trudeau's economic reputation. However, after tough bargaining on both sides, Trudeau did reach a revenue-sharing agreement on energy with Alberta premier Peter Lougheed in 1982.
Two very significant events for Canada occurred during Pierre Trudeau's final term in office. The first was the defeat of the referendum on Quebec sovereignty, called by the Parti Québécois government of René Lévesque. In the debates between Trudeau and Levesque, Canadians were treated to a contest between two highly intelligent, articulate and bilingual politicians who, despite being bitterly opposed, were each committed to the democratic process. Trudeau promised a new constitutional agreement with Quebec should it decide to stay in Canada, and the "No" side (that is, No to sovereignty) ended up receiving around 60% of the vote.
Trudeau had attempted patriation of the Constitution earlier in his career, but always ran into a combined force of provincial Premiers on the issue of an amending formula. After he threatened to go to London alone, a Supreme Court decision led Trudeau to meet with the Premiers one more time. Trudeau reached an agreement with nine of the Premiers, with the notable exception of Lévesque. Quebec's refusal to agree to the new constitution became a source of continued acrimony between the federal and Quebec governments. Even so, the patriation was achieved; the Constitution Act, 1982 was proclaimed by Queen Elizabeth on April 17, 1982. Following this, Trudeau commented in his memoirs "I always said it was thanks to three women that we were eventually able to reform our Constitution. The Queen, who was favourable, Margaret Thatcher, who undertook to do everything that our Parliament asked of her, and Jean Wadds, who represented the interests of Canada so well in London... The Queen favoured my attempt to reform the Constitution. I was always impressed not only by the grace she displayed in public at all times, but by the wisdom she showed in private conversation."
Trudeau's approval ratings slipped after the bounce from the 1982 patriation, and by the beginning of 1984, opinion polls showed the Liberals were headed for certain defeat if Trudeau remained in office. On February 29, after a "long walk in the snow", Trudeau decided to step down, ending his 15-year tenure as Prime Minister. He formally retired on June 30.
Final years
Shortly after his retirement from politics, Trudeau joined the Montreal law firm Heenan Blaikie as counsel. Though he rarely gave speeches or spoke to the press, his interventions into public debate had a significant impact when they occurred. Trudeau wrote and spoke out against both the Meech Lake Accord and Charlottetown Accord proposals to amend the Canadian constitution, arguing that they would weaken federalism and the Charter of Rights if implemented. His opposition was a critical factor leading to the defeat of the two proposals.
He also spoke out against Jacques Parizeau and the Parti Québécois with less effect. In his final years, Trudeau commanded broad respect in Canada, but was regarded with suspicion in Quebec due to his role in the 1982 constitutional deal which was seen as having excluded that province, while dislike for him remained commonplace in western Canada. Trudeau also remained active in international affairs, visiting foreign leaders and participating in international associations such as the Club of Rome.
He published his memoirs in 1993; the book sold hundreds of thousands of copies in several editions, and became one of the most successful Canadian books ever published.
Trudeau lived in the historic Maison Cormier in Montreal following his retirement from politics. In the last years of his life, he was afflicted with Parkinson's disease and prostate cancer, and became less active, although he continued to work at his law office until a few months before his death at the age of 80. He was devastated by the death of his youngest son, Michel Trudeau, who was killed in an avalanche in November 1998.
Death
Pierre Elliott Trudeau died on September 28, 2000, and was buried in the Trudeau family crypt, St-Rémi-de-Napierville Cemetery, Saint-Rémi, Quebec. He lay in state to allow Canadians to pay their last respects. The response by Canadians was unprecedented in its size and public outpouring of emotion. He is survived by his ex-wife Margaret, his sons Justin Trudeau and Alexandre "Sacha" Trudeau, and his daughter, Sarah, whom he fathered with Deborah Coyne. During the state funeral, Justin delivered an emotional yet articulate eulogy that led to widespread speculation in the media that a career in politics was in his future. (Justin was elected to the House of Commons in late 2008).
Marriage and children
On March 4, 1971, the Prime Minister married Margaret Sinclair, a woman who, at 22, was 30 years his junior. The couple had three children: Justin (b. December 25, 1971), Alexandre (Sacha) (b. December 25, 1973), and Michel (October 2, 1975 – 13 November 1998). They were the subject of enormous press coverage before their well-publicised legal separation in 1977. When their divorce was finalised in 1984, Trudeau became the first Prime Minister to become a single parent as the result of divorce. In 1991, Trudeau became a father again, with Deborah Coyne. This was his first and only daughter, named Sarah. Trudeau did not marry Coyne.
Spirituality
Trudeau was a Roman Catholic, and attended church throughout his life. While mostly private about his beliefs, he made it clear that he was a believer, stating, in an interview with the United Church Observer in 1971: “I believe in life after death, I believe in God and I’m a Christian.” Trudeau maintained, however, that he preferred to impose constraints on himself rather than have them imposed from the outside. In this sense, he believed he was more like a Protestant than a Catholic of the era in which he was schooled.
Michael W. Higgins, former President of St. Jerome's University, has researched Trudeau’s spirituality and finds that it incorporated elements of three Catholic traditions. The first of these was the Jesuits who provided his education up to the college level. Trudeau frequently displayed the logic and love of argument consistent with that tradition. A second great spiritual influence in Trudeau’s life was Dominican. According to Michel Gourges, Rector of the Collège Dominicain philosophie et théologie, Trudeau “considered himself a lay Dominican.” He studied philosophy under Dominican Father Louis-Marie Régis and remained close to him throughout his life, regarding Régis as “spiritual director and friend.” Another skein in Trudeau’s spirituality was a contemplative aspect acquired from his association with the Benedictine tradition. According to Higgins, Trudeau was convinced of the centrality of meditation in a life fully-lived. He took retreats at Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, Quebec and regularly attended Hours and the Eucharist at Montreal’s Benedictine community.
Although never publicly theological in the way of Margaret Thatcher or Tony Blair, nor evangelical, in the way of Jimmy Carter or George W. Bush, Trudeau’s spirituality, according to Higgins, "suffused, anchored, and directed his inner life. In no small part, it defined him.”
Legacy
Trudeau's most enduring legacy may lie in his contribution to Canadian nationalism, and of pride in Canada in and for itself rather than as a derivative of the British Commonwealth. His role in this effort, and his related battles with Quebec on behalf of Canadian unity, cemented his political position when in office despite the controversies he faced—and remain the most remembered aspect of his tenure afterward.
Some consider Trudeau's economic policies to have been a weak point. Inflation and unemployment marred much of his prime ministership. When Trudeau took office in 1968 Canada had a debt of $18 billion (24% of GDP) which was largely left over from World War II; when he left office in 1984, that debt stood at $200 billion (46% of GDP), an increase of 83% in real terms. However, these trends were present in most western countries at the time, including the United States.
Though his popularity had fallen in English Canada at the time of his retirement in 1984, public opinion later became more sympathetic to him, particularly in comparison to his successor, Brian Mulroney.
Pierre Trudeau is today seen in very high regard on the Canadian political scene. Many politicians still use the term "taking a walk in the snow, " a throw-away line Trudeau used to describe his decision to leave office in 1984. Other popular Trudeauisms frequently used are "just watch me", the "Trudeau Salute", and "Fuddle Duddle".
Constitutional legacy
One of Trudeau's most enduring legacies is the 1982 patriation of the Canadian constitution, including a domestic amending formula and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is seen as advancing civil rights and liberties and, notwithstanding clause aside, has become a cornerstone of Canadian values for most Canadians. It also represented the final step in Trudeau's liberal vision of a fully independent and nationalist Canada based on fundamental human rights and the protection of individual freedoms as well as those of linguistic and cultural minorities. Court challenges based on the Charter of Rights have been used to advance the cause of women's equality, establish French school boards in provinces such as Alberta and Saskatchewan, and to mandate the adoption of same-sex marriage all across Canada. Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, has clarified issues of aboriginal and equality rights, including establishing the previously denied aboriginal rights of Métis. Section 15, dealing with equality rights, has been used to remedy societal discrimination against minority groups. The coupling of the direct and indirect influences of the Charter has meant that it has grown to influence every aspect of Canadian life, and the override (notwithstanding clause) of the Charter has been infrequently used.
Canadian conservatives have criticized the Constitution for its lack of a system of checks and balances at a time when the courts have been gaining power at the expense of representative government. They claim that it has resulted in too much judicial activism on the part of the courts in Canada. It is also heavily criticized by Quebec Nationalists, who resent that the Constitution was never ratified by any Quebec government and does not recognize a constitutional veto for Quebec.
Bilingualism
Bilingualism is one of Trudeau's most lasting accomplishments, having been fully integrated into the Federal government's services, documents, and broadcasting (not, however, in provincial governments, except for Ontario and New Brunswick). While official bilingualism has settled some of the grievances Francophones had towards the federal government, many Francophones had hoped that Canadians would be able to function in the official language of their choice no matter where in the country they were.
However, Trudeau's ambitions in this arena have been overstated: Trudeau once said that he regretted the use of the term "bilingualism", because it appeared to demand that all Canadians speak two languages. In fact, Trudeau's vision was to see Canada as a bilingual confederation in which all cultures would have a place. In this way, his conception broadened beyond simply the relationship of Quebec to Canada.
Cultural legacy
Few outside the museum community recall the tremendous efforts Trudeau made, in the last years of his tenure, to see to it that the National Gallery of Canada and the Canadian Museum of Civilization finally had proper homes in the national capital. The Trudeau government also implemented programs which mandated Canadian content in film, and broadcasting, and gave substantial subsidies to develop the Canadian media and cultural industries. Though the policies remain controversial, Canadian media industries have become stronger since Trudeau's arrival.
Further, his cultural legacy can be found in Canada's strong ties to multiculturalism.
Legacy with respect to western Canada
Trudeau's posthumous reputation in the Prairie Provinces is notably less favourable than it is in the rest of English-speaking Canada. He is often regarded as the "father of Western alienation." The reasons for this are various. Some of them are ideological. Many Canadians disapproved of official bilingualism and many other of Trudeau's policies, which they saw as moving the country away from its historic traditions and attachments, and markedly toward the political left. Such feelings were perhaps strongest in the West. Other reasons for western alienation are more plainly regional in nature. To many westerners, Trudeau's policies seemed to favour other parts of the country, especially Ontario and Quebec, at their expense. Outstanding among such policies was the National Energy Program, which was seen as unfairly depriving western provinces of the full economic benefit from their oil and gas resources, in order to pay for nation-wide social programs, and make regional transfer payments to poorer parts of the country. Sentiments of this kind were especially strong in oil-rich Alberta where unemployment rose from 4% to 10% following passage of the NEP. Estimates have placed Alberta's losses between $50 billion and $100 billion because of the NEP.
More particularly, two incidents involving Trudeau are remembered as having fostered Western alienation, and as emblematic of it. During a visit to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on July 17, 1969, Trudeau met with a group of farmers who were protesting that the federal government was not doing more to market their wheat. The widely-remembered perception is that Trudeau dismissed the protestors' concerns with an arrogant "Why should I sell your wheat?" — in reality, however, the media never adequately reported the fact that he asked the question rhetorically and then proceeded to answer it himself. Years later, on a train trip through Salmon Arm, British Columbia, he "gave the finger" to a group of protesters through the carriage window — less widely remembered is that the protestors were shouting anti-French slogans at the train.
Legacy with respect to Quebec
Trudeau's legacy in Quebec is mixed. Many credit his actions during the October Crisis as crucial in terminating the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) as a force in Quebec, and ensuring that the campaign for Quebec separatism took a democratic and peaceful route. However, his imposition of the War Measures Act—which received majority support at the time—is remembered by some in Quebec and elsewhere as an attack on democracy. Trudeau is also credited by many for the defeat of the 1980 Quebec referendum.
At the federal level, Trudeau faced almost no strong political opposition in Quebec during his time as Prime Minister. For instance, his Liberal party captured 74 out of 75 Quebec seats in the 1980 federal election. Provincially, though, Quebecers twice elected the pro-sovereignty Parti Québécois. Moreover, there were not then any pro-sovereignty federal parties such as the Bloc Québécois. Since the signing of the Constitutional Act of Canada in 1982, the Liberal Party of Canada has never succeeded in winning a majority of seats in Quebec. Trudeau is disliked by many Québécois, particularly in the news media, the academic and political establishments. While his reputation has grown in English Canada since his retirement in 1984, it has not improved in Quebec.
Overview
Trudeau remains well-regarded by many Canadians. However, the passage of time has only slightly softened the strong antipathy he inspired among his opponents. Trudeau's charisma and confidence as Prime Minister, and his championing of the Canadian identity are often cited as reasons for his popularity. His strong personality, contempt for his opponents and distaste for compromise on many issues have made him, as historian Michael Bliss puts it, "one of the most admired and most disliked of all Canadian prime ministers." Trudeau's electoral successes were matched in the 20th century only by those of Mackenzie King. In all, Trudeau is undoubtedly one of the most dominant and transformative figures in Canadian political history.
Supreme Court appointments
Trudeau chose the following jurists to be appointed as justices of the Supreme Court of Canada by the Governor General:
- Bora Laskin (March 19, 1970 – March 17, 1984; as Chief Justice, December 27, 1973)
- Joseph Honoré Gérald Fauteux (as Chief Justice, March 23, 1970 – December 23, 1973; appointed a Puisne Justice December 22, 1949)
- Brian Dickson (March 26, 1973 – June 30, 1990; as Chief Justice, April 18, 1984)
- Jean Beetz (January 1, 1974 – November 10, 1988)
- Louis-Philippe de Grandpre (January 1, 1974 – October 1, 1977)
- Willard Zebedee Estey (September 29, 1977 – April 22, 1988)
- Yves Pratte (October 1, 1977 – June 30, 1979)
- William Rogers McIntyre (January 1, 1979 – February 15, 1989)
- Antonio Lamer (March 28, 1980 – January 6, 2000)
- Bertha Wilson (March 4, 1982 – January 4, 1991)
- Gerald Le Dain (May 29, 1984 – November 30, 1988)
Honours
The following honours were bestowed upon him by the Governor General, or by Queen Elizabeth II herself:
- Other honours include:
- The Canadian news agency Canadian Press named Trudeau "Newsmaker of the Year" a record ten times, including every year from 1968 to 1975, and two more times in 1978 and 2000. In 1999, CP also named Trudeau "Newsmaker of the 20th Century." Trudeau declined to give CP an interview on that occasion, but said in a letter that he was "surprised and pleased." In many informal and unscientific polls conducted by Canadian Internet sites, users also widely agreed with the honour.
- He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Duke University in 1974.
- In 1983–84, he was awarded the Albert Einstein Peace Prize, for negotiating the reduction of nuclear weapons and Cold War tension in several countries.
- The Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School in Markham, Ontario is named in his honour.
- Collège Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau in Winnipeg, Manitoba is also named in his honour.
- The Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL) in Montreal, Quebec was named in his honour, effective January 1, 2004.
- In 2004, viewers of the CBC series The Greatest Canadian voted Trudeau the third greatest Canadian.
- The government of British Columbia named a peak in the Cariboo Mountains Mount Pierre Elliott Trudeau, on June 10, 2006. The peak is located in the Premier Range, which has many peaks named for British Columbian premiers and Canadian prime ministers.
- Trudeau was awarded a 2nd dan black belt in judo by the Takahashi School of Martial Arts in Ottawa.
Trudeau in film
Through hours of archival footage and interviews with Trudeau himself, the recent documentary Memoirs details the story of a man who used intelligence and charisma to bring together a country that was very nearly torn apart.
Trudeau's life is depicted in two CBC Television mini-series. The first one, Trudeau (with Colm Feore in the title role), depicts his years as Prime Minister. Trudeau II: Maverick in the Making (with Stéphane Demers as the young Pierre, and Tobie Pelletier as him in later years) portrays his earlier life.
The 1999 documentary film Just Watch Me: Trudeau and the 70's Generation explores the impact of Trudeau's vision of Canadian bilingualism through interviews with eight young Canadians.
He was the co-subject along with René Lévesque in the Donald Brittain-directed documentary mini-seriesThe Champions.
Trudeau in music
Trudeau is name-checked in the song "Wilted Rose" by the Vanity Project (a side project band featuring Barenaked Ladies singer Steven Page). The lyrics says "like Pierre Trudeau's walk out in the snow."
See also
Footnotes
Bibliography
Books about Trudeau
- Bergeron, Gérard. Notre miroir à deux faces: Trudeau-Lévesque. Montreal: Québec/Amérique, c1985. ISBN 2-89-037239-1
- Bliss, Michael. Right Honourable Men: the descent of Canadian politics from Macdonald to Mulroney, 1994.
- Bowering, George. Egotists and Autocrats: the Prime Ministers of Canada, 1999.
- Burelle, André. Pierre Elliott Trudeau: l'intellectuel et le politique, Montréal: Fides, 2005, 480 pages. ISBN 276212669X
- Butler, Rick, Jean-Guy Carrier, eds. The Trudeau decade. Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 1979.
- Butson, Thomas G. Pierre Elliott Trudeau. New York: Chelsea House, c1986. ISBN 0-87-754445-X
- Clarkson, Stephen; McCall, Christina. Trudeau and our times. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, c1990–c1994. 2 v. ISBN 0-77-105414-9 ISBN 0-77-105417-3
- Cohen, Andrew, J. L. Granatstein, eds. Trudeau's Shadow: the life and legacy of Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Toronto: Vintage Canada, 1999.
- Couture, Claude. Paddling with the Current: Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Étienne Parent, liberalism and nationalism in Canada. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, c1998. Issued also in French: La loyauté d'un laïc. ISBN 1417593067 ISBN 0888643136
- Donaldson, Gordon (journalist). The Prime Ministers of Canada, 1997.
- English, John. "Citizen of the World: the life of Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Volume One 1919–1968" Knopf Canada, 2006 ISBN 0676975216 ISBN 978-0676975215
- Ferguson, Will. Bastards and Boneheads: Canada's Glorious Leaders, Past and Present, 1999.
- Griffiths, Linda. Maggie & Pierre: a fantasy of love, politics and the media: a play. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1980. ISBN 0889221820
- Gwyn, Richard. The Northern Magus: Pierre Trudeau and Canadians. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, c1980. ISBN 0771037325
- Hillmer, Norman and Granatstein, J.L. Prime Ministers: Rating Canada's Leaders, 1999.
- Laforest, Guy. Trudeau and the end of a Canadian dream. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, c1995. ISBN 0773513000 ISBN 0773513221
- Lotz, Jim. Prime Ministers of Canada, 1987.
- McDonald, Kenneth. His pride, our fall: recovering from the Trudeau revolution. Toronto: Key Porter Books, c1995. ISBN 155013714X
- McIlroy, Thad, ed. A Rose is a rose: a tribute to Pierre Elliott Trudeau in cartoons and quotas. Toronto: Doubleday, 1984. ISBN 038519787X ISBN 0385197888
- Nemni, Max and Nemni, Monique. Young Trudeau: Son of Quebec, Father of Canada, 1919-1944. Toronto: Douglas Gibson Books, 2006. ISBN 0771067496 (Based on private papers and diaries of Pierre Trudeau which he gave the authors in 1995)
- Peterson, Roy. Drawn & quartered: the Trudeau years. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 1984.
- Radwanski, George. Trudeau. New York: Taplinger Pub. Co., 1978. ISBN 0800878973
- Sawatsky, John. The Insiders: Government, Business, and the Lobbyists, 1987.
- Simpson, Jeffrey. Discipline of power: the Conservative interlude and the Liberal restoration. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1984. ISBN 0920510248
- Stewart, Walter. Shrug: Trudeau in power. Toronto: New Press, 1971. ISBN 0887700810
- Southam, Nancy. Pierre, McClelland & Stewart, September 19, 2006, 408 pages ISBN 978-0-7710-8168-2
- Simard, François-Xavier. Le vrai visage de Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Montréal: Les Intouchables, April 19, 2006 ISBN 2-89549-217-4
- Vastel, Michel. The outsider: the life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, c1990. 266 pages. Translation of: Trudeau, le Québécois. ISBN 0771591004
- Zink, Lubor J. Trudeaucracy. Toronto: Toronto Sun Publishing Ltd., 1972. 150 pages. ISBN 1301459780
Works by Trudeau
- Memoirs. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, c1993. ISBN 0-7710-8588-5
- Towards a just society: the Trudeau years, with Thomas S. Axworthy, (eds.) Markham, Ont.: Viking, 1990.
- The Canadian Way: Shaping Canada's Foreign Policy 1968–1984, with Ivan Head
- Two innocents in Red China, with Jacques Hébert 1960.
- Against the Current: Selected Writings. Gerard Pelletier (ed)
- The Essential Trudeau. Ron Graham, (ed.) Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, c1998. ISBN 0-7710-8591-5
- The asbestos strike. (Grève de l'amiante), translated by James Boake 1974
- Pierre Trudeau Speaks Out on Meech Lake. Donald J. Johnston, (ed). Toronto: General Paperbacks, 1990. ISBN 0-7736-7244-3
- Approaches to politics. Introd. by Ramsay Cook. Prefatory note by Jacques Hébert. Translated by I. M. Owen. from the French Cheminements de la politique. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1970. ISBN 0-19-540176-X
- Underwater Man, with Joe Macinnis and Joseph B. Macinnis.
- Federalism and the French Canadians. Introd. by John T. Saywell. 1968
- Conversation with Canadians. Foreword by Ivan L. Head. Toronto, Buffalo: University of Toronto Press 1972. ISBN 0-8020-1888-2
- The best of Trudeau. Toronto: Modern Canadian Library. 1972 ISBN 0-919364-08-X
- Lifting the shadow of war. C. David Crenna, editor. Edmonton: Hurtig, c1987. ISBN 0-88830-300-9
- Human rights, federalism and minorities. (Les droits de l'homme, le fédéralisme et les minorités), with Allan Gotlieb and the Canadian Institute of International Affairs
- À contre-courant: textes choisis, 1939–1996, with Gérard Pelletier.
Archival videos of Trudeau
External links
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