Pierre Trudeau
Overview
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada
from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.
Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals, but he eventually joined the Liberal Party of Canada
when he entered federal politics in the 1960s.
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.
Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals, but he eventually joined the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
when he entered federal politics in the 1960s.
Unanswered Questions
Discussions
Quotations
I would have to point out in the strongest terms the autocracy of the Liberal structure and the cowardice of its members. I have never seen in all my examination of politics so degrading a spectacle as that of all these Liberals turning their coats in unison with their Chief, when they saw the chance to take power. 
As a Co-operative Commonwealth Federation|CCF member taking issue with the federal Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party. Cite libre (April 1963)
Bilingualism is not an imposition on the citizens. The citizens can go on speaking one language or six languages, or no languages if they so choose. Bilingualism is an imposition on the state and not the citizens.
Statement to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, as quoted in Problems of Journalism (1966) by the American Society of Newspaper Editors
Vive le Franc libre.
Long live free France.
I'm not leaving! I must stay.
On the reviewing stand of a Fête nationale du Québec (Saint Jean Baptiste Day)|St. Jean Baptiste Day parade in Montreal, after being subjected to objects being thrown by demonstrators. (24 June 1968)
Of course a bilingual state is more expensive than a unilingual one — but it is a richer state.
Remark in 1968, quoted in Improving Canada's Democracy (2006) by Terry Julian, p. 14
If you want to see me again, don't bring signs saying "Trudeau is a pig" and don't bring signs that he hustles women, because I won't talk to you. I didn't get into politics to be insulted. And don't throw wheat at me either. If you don't stop that, I'll kick you right in the ass.
Comment to a young protester throwing wheat at him during a speech in Regina, (17 July 1969), in The Best of Trudeau (1972)
Encyclopedia
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada
from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.
Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals, but he eventually joined the Liberal Party of Canada
when he entered federal politics in the 1960s. He was appointed as Lester Pearson's Parliamentary Secretary
, and later became his Minister of Justice. From his base in Montreal, Trudeau took control of the Liberal Party and became a charismatic leader, inspiring "Trudeaumania
". From the late 1960s until the mid-1980s, he dominated the Canadian political scene and aroused passionate reactions. "Reason before passion" was his personal motto. He retired from politics in 1984, and John Turner
succeeded him as Prime Minister.
Admirers praise the force of Trudeau's intellect and they salute his political acumen in preserving national unity against Quebec separatists, suppressing a violent revolt, and establishing the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
within Canada's constitution. Critics accuse him of arrogance, economic mismanagement, and unduly favouring the federal government relative to the provinces
, especially in trying to control the oil wealth of the Prairies
.
to Charles-Émile Trudeau, a French Canadian
businessman and lawyer, and Grace Elliott, who was of French and Scottish descent. He had an older sister named Suzette and a younger brother named Charles Jr.; he remained close to both siblings for his entire life. The family had become 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 supported Quebec nationalism
. Trudeau's father died when Pierre was in his mid-teens. This death 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 clerically influenced dictatorships of António de Oliveira Salazar
in Portugal (the Estado Novo), Francisco Franco
in Spain (the Spanish State
), and Marshal Philippe Pétain
in Vichy France
were seen as political role models by many youngsters 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" came from his experiences after leaving Quebec to study in the United States, France and England, and to travel to dozens of countries. His international experiences 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
.
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 the Second World War, but he believed that to do so would be to turn his back on a Quebec population that he believed had 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 show that on one occasion during the war, Trudeau and his friends drove their motorcycles wearing Prussia
n military uniforms, complete with pointed steel helmets.
After the war, Trudeau continued his studies, first taking a master's degree in political economy
at Harvard University
's Graduate School of Public Administration. He then studied in Paris, France in 1947 at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
. Finally, he enrolled for a doctorate at the London School of Economics
, but failed to 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.
. 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 F. R. Scott
, Eugene Forsey
, Michael Kelway 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 of Canada
rather than the CCF's successor, the New Democratic Party
(NDP). This is attributed to a few factors: (1) he felt the federal NDP could not achieve power, because of Tommy Douglas
's inability to attract voters in Quebec, (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 Université de Montréal, 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 left-wing
publications. Trudeau later appealed the ban and it was rescinded.
. 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 warhead
s. 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 travelling abroad, representing Canada at international meetings and events, including the UN. In 1967, he was appointed to Pearson's cabinet as Minister of Justice
.
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 decriminalization of homosexual acts segment of 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, and Trudeau entered the race for the Liberal leadership. His energetic campaign attracted massive media attention and mobilized many young people, who saw Trudeau as a symbol of generational change (even though he was 48 years old). Going into the leadership convention, Trudeau was the front-runner and a clear favourite with the Canadian public. However, many Liberals still had deep doubts about him and his commitment to their political party. Having joined the Liberal Party only in 1965, he was still considered an outsider as well as too radical and outspoken. Some of his views, particularly those on divorce, abortion, and homosexuality, were opposed by the substantial segment of the party. Nevertheless, at the April 1968 Liberal leadership convention, Trudeau was elected as the leader on the fourth ballot, with the support of 51% of the delegates. He defeated several prominent and long-serving Liberals including Paul Martin Sr., Robert Winters
and Paul Hellyer
. Trudeau was sworn in as the Liberal leader and Prime Minister two weeks later on April 20.
). 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 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, significantly expanded the size and role of the Prime Minister's office, and substantially expanded the welfare state, with the establishment of new programmes
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's life, but all members were eventually arrested. The five flown to Cuba were jailed after they returned to Canada years later.
. 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. Leading after his endorsement of Lester Pearson's Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism
, the Official Languages Act
was passed by parliament in 1969.
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."
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
, the leader of Cuba
. A mobster said that in 1974 he was hired by New York State mafia
members to kill Trudeau, hoping to lure Castro to a funeral, where they would kill him. The plan was apparently later rejected.
, the Trudeau-led Liberal Party won with a minority government, with the New Democratic Party
holding the balance of power
. This government would move to the political left, including the creation of Petro-Canada
.
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.
arranged this, and expressed sincere appreciation.
, Trudeau's Liberal 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
.
. Trudeau had to resort to having Senators
appointed to Cabinet to ensure representation from all regions. Amongst the policies introduced by Trudeau's last term in office included an expansion in government support for Canada’s poorest citizens and the introduction of the National Energy Program
(NEP), which 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.
, called by the Parti Québécois
government of René Lévesque
. In the debates between Trudeau and Lévesque, 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 with the Victoria Charter
, but 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. Further, officials in the United Kingdom indicated that the British parliament was under no obligation to fulfill any request for legal changes made by Trudeau, particularly if Canadian convention was not being followed. 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.
. Shortly after, he 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 for 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.
, a young woman thirty years his junior. They were incompatible, for her image of Trudeau-as-romantic-playboy was based entirely on false media hype; he was actually a workaholic and an intense intellectual with little time for family or fun. After three children were born they separated in 1977 and were finally divorced in 1980. Their three children are Justin
, Alexandre
(Sacha), and Michel
(1975–1998).
When his divorce was finalized 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.
, Saint-Rémi
, Quebec. His body was laid in state to allow Canadians to pay their last respects. His son Justin delivered the eulogy during the state funeral 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). Several world politicians attended the funeral.
Michael W. Higgins, a former President of St. Thomas 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 Gorges, Rector of the Dominican University College
, 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."
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." "He haunts us still," biographers Christina McCall
and Stephen Clarkson
wrote in 1990. 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.
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 afterwards.
Some consider Trudeau's economic policies to have been a weak point. Inflation and unemployment marred much of his tenure as prime minister. 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", the 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
".
. 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, re-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
claim the Constitution 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
.
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.
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.
Furthermore, his cultural legacy can be found in Canada's strong ties to multiculturalism
.
." The reasons for this are various. Some of them are ideological. Some 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 nationwide 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 protesters' concerns with "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 protesters were shouting anti-French slogans at the train.
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, Quebequois twice elected the pro-sovereignty Parti Québécois
. Moreover, there were not at that time 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.
, Lord Moran
(John Wilson), career diplomat, was no exception to this rule. This is what Lord Moran wrote about Pierre Trudeau:
model of government in Canada, developing and promoting his ideas in response and contrast to strengthening Quebec nationalist movements, for instance the social and political atmosphere created during Maurice Duplessis
' time in power. Federalism in this context can be defined as "a particular way of sharing political power among different peoples within a state...Those who believe in federalism hold that different peoples do not need states of their own in order to enjoy self-determination. Peoples...may agree to share a single state while retaining substantial degrees of self-government over matters essential to their identity as peoples". As a social democrat, Trudeau sought to combine and harmonize his theories on social democracy
with those of federalism so that both could find effective expression in Canada. He noted the ostensible conflict between socialism, with its usually strong centralist government model, and federalism, which expounded a division and cooperation of power by both federal and provincial levels of government. In particular, Trudeau stated the following about socialists:
Trudeau pointed out that in sociological terms, Canada is inherently a federalist society, forming unique regional identities and priorities, and therefore a federalist model of spending and jurisdictional powers is most appropriate. He argues, "in the age of the mass society, it is no small advantage to foster the creation of quasi-sovereign communities at the provincial level, where power is that much less remote from the people."
Unfortunately, Trudeau's idealistic plans for a cooperative Canadian federalist state were resisted and hindered as a result of his narrowness on ideas of identity and socio-cultural pluralism: "While the idea of a 'nation' in the sociological sense is acknowledged by Trudeau, he considers the allegiance which it generates—emotive and particularistic—to be contrary to the idea of cohesion between humans, and as such creating fertile ground for the internal fragmentation of states and a permanent state of conflict". This position garnered significant criticism for Trudeau, in particular from Quebec and First Nations peoples on the basis that his theories denied their rights to nationhood. First Nations communities raised particular concerns with the proposed 1969 White Paper
, developed under Trudeau by Jean Chrétien
.
by the Governor General
:
, or by Queen Elizabeth II herself:
Other honours include:
on June 24, 1985. His citation reads:
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-series The Champions
.
(a side project band featuring former Barenaked Ladies
singer Steven Page
). The lyrics says "like Pierre Trudeau's walk out in the snow."
A homage to Trudeau is "Song for a Father" by Jian Ghomeshi
(of Moxy Fruvous fame) which chronicles the life of the politician.
Archival videos of Trudeau
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.
Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals, but he eventually joined the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
when he entered federal politics in the 1960s. He was appointed as Lester Pearson's Parliamentary Secretary
Parliamentary Secretary
A Parliamentary Secretary is a member of a Parliament in the Westminster system who assists a more senior minister with his or her duties.In the parliamentary systems of several Commonwealth countries, such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, it is customary for the prime minister to...
, and later became his Minister of Justice. From his base in Montreal, Trudeau took control of the Liberal Party and became a charismatic leader, inspiring "Trudeaumania
Trudeaumania
Trudeaumania was the nickname given in early 1968 to the excitement generated by Pierre Trudeau's entry into the leadership race of the Liberal Party of Canada...
". From the late 1960s until the mid-1980s, he dominated the Canadian political scene and aroused passionate reactions. "Reason before passion" was his personal motto. He retired from politics in 1984, and John Turner
John Turner
John Napier Wyndham Turner, PC, CC, QC is an English Canadian lawyer and retired politician, who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Canada from June 30 to September 17, 1984....
succeeded him as Prime Minister.
Admirers praise the force of Trudeau's intellect and they salute his political acumen in preserving national unity against Quebec separatists, suppressing a violent revolt, and establishing the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada. It forms the first part of the Constitution Act, 1982...
within Canada's constitution. Critics accuse him of arrogance, economic mismanagement, and unduly favouring the federal government relative to the provinces
Provinces and territories of Canada
The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories...
, especially in trying to control the oil wealth of the Prairies
Canadian Prairies
The Canadian Prairies is a region of Canada, specifically in western Canada, which may correspond to several different definitions, natural or political. Notably, the Prairie provinces or simply the Prairies comprise the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, as they are largely covered...
.
Early life
Pierre Trudeau was born in MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
to Charles-Émile Trudeau, a French Canadian
French Canadian
French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...
businessman and lawyer, and Grace Elliott, who was of French and Scottish descent. He had an older sister named Suzette and a younger brother named Charles Jr.; he remained close to both siblings for his entire life. The family had become 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
Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf
Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf is a private French-language educational institution offering secondary school and CEGEP college-level instruction in Montreal, Quebec. It is a co-ed establishment for students in their final year of secondary school and in college. It is boys-only in the first four years...
(a private French Jesuit school), where he supported Quebec nationalism
Quebec nationalism
Quebec nationalism is a nationalist movement in the Canadian province of Quebec .-1534–1774:Canada was first a french colony. Jacques Cartier claimed it for France in 1534, and permanent French settlement began in 1608. It was part of New France, which constituted all French colonies in North America...
. Trudeau's father died when Pierre was in his mid-teens. This death 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
Marc Lalonde
Marc Lalonde, PC, OC, QC is a retired Canadian politician and Cabinet minister.Lalonde was born in Île Perrot, Quebec and obtained a Master of Laws degree from the Université de Montréal, a Master's degree from Oxford University, and a Diplôme d'études supérieures en droit from the University of...
, the clerically influenced dictatorships of António de Oliveira Salazar
António de Oliveira Salazar
António de Oliveira Salazar, GColIH, GCTE, GCSE served as the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1932 to 1968. He also served as acting President of the Republic briefly in 1951. He founded and led the Estado Novo , the authoritarian, right-wing government that presided over and controlled Portugal...
in Portugal (the Estado Novo), Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
in Spain (the Spanish State
Spanish State
Francoist Spain refers to a period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975 when Spain was under the authoritarian dictatorship of Francisco Franco....
), and Marshal Philippe Pétain
Philippe Pétain
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain , generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain , was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France , from 1940 to 1944...
in Vichy France
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
were seen as political role models by many youngsters 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" came from his experiences after leaving Quebec to study in the United States, France and England, and to travel to dozens of countries. His international experiences allowed him to break from Jesuit influence and study French philosophers such as Jacques Maritain
Jacques Maritain
Jacques Maritain was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised as a Protestant, he converted to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive St. Thomas Aquinas for modern times and is a prominent drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights...
and Emmanuel Mounier
Emmanuel Mounier
Emmanuel Mounier was a French philosopher.Mounier was the guiding spirit in the French Personalist movement, and founder and director of Esprit, the magazine which was the organ of the movement. Mounier, who was the child of peasants, was a brilliant scholar at the Sorbonne...
as well as John Locke
John Locke
John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
and David Hume
David Hume
David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. He was one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment...
.
Education and the Second World War
Trudeau earned a law degree at the Université de MontréalUniversité de Montréal
The Université de Montréal is a public francophone research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It comprises thirteen faculties, more than sixty departments and two affiliated schools: the École Polytechnique and HEC 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
National Resources Mobilization Act
National Resources Mobilization Act is a Canadian government statute which enabled conscription in Canada during World War II. The bill, passed by Parliament on June 21, 1940, permitted conscripts to be used for home defence only and not to be deployed overseas but was modified lolin August 1942 to...
. 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
Conscription Crisis of 1944
The Conscription Crisis of 1944 was a political and military crisis following the introduction of forced military service in Canada during World War II. It was similar to the Conscription Crisis of 1917, but was not as politically damaging....
. Trudeau said he was willing to become involved in the Second World War, but he believed that to do so would be to turn his back on a Quebec population that he believed had been betrayed by the Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG was the dominant Canadian political leader from the 1920s through the 1940s. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921 to June 28, 1926; from September 25, 1926 to August 7, 1930; and from October 23, 1935 to November 15, 1948...
government. Trudeau reflected on his opposition to conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
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
Just War
Just war theory is a doctrine of military ethics of Roman philosophical and Catholic origin, studied by moral theologians, ethicists and international policy makers, which holds that a conflict ought to meet philosophical, religious or political criteria.-Origins:The concept of justification for...
... we tended to think of this war as a settling of scores among the superpowers."
In a 1942 Outremont
Outremont (electoral district)
Outremont is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1935 to 1949, and since 1968...
by-election, he campaigned for the anti-conscription candidate Jean Drapeau
Jean Drapeau
Jean Drapeau, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as mayor of Montreal from 1954 to 1957 and 1960 to 1986...
(later mayor of Montreal
Mayor of Montreal
The Mayor of Montreal is head of the executive branch of Montreal City Council.The Mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and provincial laws within 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 show that on one occasion during the war, Trudeau and his friends drove their motorcycles wearing Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n military uniforms, complete with pointed steel helmets.
After the war, Trudeau continued his studies, first taking a master's degree in political economy
Political economy
Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
's Graduate School of Public Administration. He then studied in Paris, France in 1947 at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
The Institut d'études politiques de Paris , simply referred to as Sciences Po , is a public research and higher education institution in Paris, France, specialised in the social sciences. It has the status of grand établissement, which allows its admissions process to be highly selective...
. Finally, he enrolled for a doctorate at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
, but failed to 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
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
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
Personalism
Personalism is a philosophical school of thought searching to describe the uniqueness of a human person in the world of nature, specifically in relation to animals...
after being influenced most notably by Emmanuel Mounier
Emmanuel Mounier
Emmanuel Mounier was a French philosopher.Mounier was the guiding spirit in the French Personalist movement, and founder and director of Esprit, the magazine which was the organ of the movement. Mounier, who was the child of peasants, was a brilliant scholar at the Sorbonne...
. The Harvard dissertation remained undone when Trudeau entered a doctoral program to study under the renowned socialist economist Harold Laski
Harold Laski
Harold Joseph Laski was a British Marxist, political theorist, economist, author, and lecturer, who served as the chairman of the Labour Party during 1945-1946, and was a professor at the LSE from 1926 to 1950....
in the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
. 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 StrikeAsbestos Strike
The Asbestos Strike of 1949, based in and around Asbestos, Quebec, Canada, was a four-month labour dispute by the asbestos miners. It has traditionally been portrayed as a turning point in Quebec history that helped lead to the Quiet Revolution...
. 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
Francophone
The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
clerical establishment and Anglophone
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
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
Premier of Quebec
The Premier of Quebec is the first minister of the Canadian province of Quebec. The Premier is the province's head of government and his title is Premier and President of the Executive Council....
Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis served as the 16th Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec from 1936 to 1939 and 1944 to 1959. A founder and leader of the highly conservative Union Nationale party, he rose to power after exposing the misconduct and patronage of Liberal Premier Louis-Alexandre...
as the founder and editor of Cité Libre
Cité Libre
Cité Libre was an influential political journal published in Quebec, Canada, through the 1950s and 1960s. Co-founded in 1950 by editor and future Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Trudeau, the publication served as an organ of opposition to the conservative and authoritarian government of Maurice...
, a dissident journal that helped provide the intellectual basis for the Quiet Revolution
Quiet Revolution
The Quiet Revolution was the 1960s period of intense change in Quebec, Canada, characterized by the rapid and effective secularization of society, the creation of a welfare state and a re-alignment of politics into federalist and separatist factions...
.
From 1949 to 1951 Trudeau worked briefly in Ottawa, in the Privy Council Office
Privy Council Office (Canada)
In Canada the Privy Council Office is the secretariat of the federal cabinet, providing officially non-partisan advice and support to the Prime Minister and leadership, coordination, and support to the departments and agencies of the government...
of the Liberal Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent
Louis St. Laurent
Louis Stephen St. Laurent, PC, CC, QC , was the 12th Prime Minister of Canada from 15 November 1948, to 21 June 1957....
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
Norman Robertson
Norman Alexander Robertson, CC was a Canadian diplomat and was one of Prime Minister Mackenzie King's advisers....
tried unsuccessfully to persuade him to stay on.
His socialist values and his close ties with Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was a Canadian political party founded in 1932 in Calgary, Alberta, by a number of socialist, farm, co-operative and labour groups, and the League for Social Reconstruction...
(CCF) intellectuals (including F. R. Scott
F. R. Scott
Francis Reginald Scott, CC commonly known as Frank Scott or F.R. Scott, was a Canadian poet, intellectual and constitutional expert. He helped found the first Canadian social democratic party, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, and its successor, the New Democratic Party...
, Eugene Forsey
Eugene Forsey
Eugene Alfred Forsey, served in the Canadian Senate from 1970 to 1979. He was considered to be one of Canada's foremost constitutional experts.- Biography :...
, Michael Kelway Oliver and Charles Taylor
Charles Taylor (philosopher)
Charles Margrave Taylor, is a Canadian philosopher from Montreal, Quebec best known for his contributions in political philosophy, the philosophy of social science, and in the history of philosophy. His contributions to these fields have earned him both the prestigious Kyoto Prize and the...
) led to his support and membership in that federal social-democratic
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
party throughout the 1950s. Despite these connections, when Trudeau entered federal politics in the 1960s he decided to join the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
rather than the CCF's successor, the New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
(NDP). This is attributed to a few factors: (1) he felt the federal NDP could not achieve power, because of Tommy Douglas
Tommy Douglas
Thomas Clement "Tommy" Douglas, was a Scottish-born Baptist minister who became a prominent Canadian social democratic politician...
's inability to attract voters in Quebec, (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 Université de Montréal, but was blacklisted three times from doing so by Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis served as the 16th Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec from 1936 to 1939 and 1944 to 1959. A founder and leader of the highly conservative Union Nationale party, he rose to power after exposing the misconduct and patronage of Liberal Premier Louis-Alexandre...
, then Premier of Quebec
Premier of Quebec
The Premier of Quebec is the first minister of the Canadian province of Quebec. The Premier is the province's head of government and his title is Premier and President of the Executive Council....
. He was offered a position at Queen's University
Queen's University
Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...
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 left-wing
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
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 nationalismQuebec nationalism
Quebec nationalism is a nationalist movement in the Canadian province of Quebec .-1534–1774:Canada was first a french colony. Jacques Cartier claimed it for France in 1534, and permanent French settlement began in 1608. It was part of New France, which constituted all French colonies in North America...
. In economic theory he was influenced by professors Joseph Schumpeter
Joseph Schumpeter
Joseph Alois Schumpeter was an Austrian-Hungarian-American economist and political scientist. He popularized the term "creative destruction" in economics.-Life:...
and John Kenneth Galbraith
John Kenneth Galbraith
John Kenneth "Ken" Galbraith , OC was a Canadian-American economist. He was a Keynesian and an institutionalist, a leading proponent of 20th-century American liberalism...
while he was at Harvard. Trudeau criticized the Liberal Party of Lester Pearson when it supported arming Bomarc missiles in Canada with nuclear warhead
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
s. Nevertheless, he was persuaded to join the party in 1965, together with his friends Gérard Pelletier
Gérard Pelletier
Gérard Pelletier, PC, CC worked as a journalist for Le Devoir, a French-language newspaper in Montreal, Quebec. In 1961 he became editor-in-chief of the Montreal daily and North America's largest French circulating newspaper, La Presse...
and Jean Marchand
Jean Marchand
Jean Marchand, PC, CC was a well known French Canadian public figure, trade unionist and politician in Quebec, Canada....
. These "three wise men" ran successfully for the Liberals in the 1965 election
Canadian federal election, 1965
The Canadian federal election of 1965 was held on November 8 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 27th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal Party of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson was re-elected with a larger number of seats in the House...
. Trudeau himself was elected in the safe Liberal riding of Mount Royal
Mount Royal (electoral district)
Mount Royal is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1925. Its population in 2006 was 98,888....
, in western Montreal, succeeding House Speaker
Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons
The Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada is the presiding officer of the lower house of the Parliament of Canada and is elected at the beginning of each new parliament by fellow Members of Parliament...
Alan Macnaughton
Alan Macnaughton
Alan Aylesworth Macnaughton, PC, OC, QC was a Canadian parliamentarian and Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons from 1963 to 1966.Macnaughton was born in Napanee, Ontario, and educated at Upper Canada College...
. 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 travelling abroad, representing Canada at international meetings and events, including the UN. In 1967, he was appointed to Pearson's cabinet as Minister of Justice
Minister of Justice (Canada)
The Minister of Justice is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for the Department of Justice and is also Attorney General of Canada .This cabinet position is usually reserved for someone with formal legal training...
.
Justice minister and leadership candidate
Minister of Justice (Canada)
The Minister of Justice is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for the Department of Justice and is also Attorney General of Canada .This cabinet position is usually reserved for someone with formal legal training...
, Pierre Trudeau was responsible for introducing the landmark Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69
Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69
The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69 was an omnibus bill that introduced major changes to the Criminal Code of Canada. It was introduced as Bill C-150 by then Minister of Justice Pierre Trudeau in the second session of the 27th Canadian Parliament on December 21, 1967...
, an omnibus bill
Omnibus bill
An omnibus bill is a proposed law that covers a number of diverse or unrelated topics. Omnibus is derived from Latin and means "for everything"...
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 decriminalization of homosexual acts segment of 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, and Trudeau entered the race for the Liberal leadership. His energetic campaign attracted massive media attention and mobilized many young people, who saw Trudeau as a symbol of generational change (even though he was 48 years old). Going into the leadership convention, Trudeau was the front-runner and a clear favourite with the Canadian public. However, many Liberals still had deep doubts about him and his commitment to their political party. Having joined the Liberal Party only in 1965, he was still considered an outsider as well as too radical and outspoken. Some of his views, particularly those on divorce, abortion, and homosexuality, were opposed by the substantial segment of the party. Nevertheless, at the April 1968 Liberal leadership convention, Trudeau was elected as the leader on the fourth ballot, with the support of 51% of the delegates. He defeated several prominent and long-serving Liberals including Paul Martin Sr., Robert Winters
Robert Winters
Robert Henry Winters, PC was a Canadian politician and businessman.Born in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, the son of a fishing captain, Winters went to Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, and then to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to complete his degree in electrical engineering...
and Paul Hellyer
Paul Hellyer
Paul Theodore Hellyer, PC is a Canadian engineer, politician, writer and commentator who has had a long and varied career. He is the longest serving current member of the Privy Council, just ahead of Prince Philip.-Early life:...
. Trudeau was sworn in as the 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, 1968Canadian federal election, 1968
The Canadian federal election of 1968 was held on June 25, 1968, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 28th Parliament of Canada...
). His election campaign benefited from an unprecedented wave of personal popularity called "Trudeaumania
Trudeaumania
Trudeaumania was the nickname given in early 1968 to the excitement generated by Pierre Trudeau's entry into the leadership race of the Liberal Party of Canada...
" (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.
Just Society
As Prime Minister, Trudeau espoused participatory democracyParticipatory democracy
Participatory Democracy, also known as Deliberative Democracy, Direct Democracy and Real Democracy , is a process where political decisions are made directly by regular people...
as a means of making Canada a "Just Society
Just Society
The idea of a "just society" first gained modern attention when philosophers such as John Stuart Mill asked the question, "What is a 'just society?" Their writings covered several different perspectives including allowing individuals to live their lives as long as they didn't infringe on the...
". He defended vigorously the newly implemented universal health care
Universal health care
Universal health care is a term referring to organized health care systems built around the principle of universal coverage for all members of society, combining mechanisms for health financing and service provision.-History:...
and regional development
Regional development
Regional development is the provision of aid and other assistance to regions which are less economically developed. Regional development may be domestic or international in nature...
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, significantly expanded the size and role of the Prime Minister's office, and substantially expanded the welfare state, with the establishment of new programmes
October Crisis
During the October CrisisOctober Crisis
The October Crisis was a series of events triggered by two kidnappings of government officials by members of the Front de libération du Québec during October 1970 in the province of Quebec, mainly in the Montreal metropolitan area.The circumstances ultimately culminated in the only peacetime use...
of 1970, the Front de libération du Québec
Front de libération du Québec
The Front de libération du Québec was a left-wing Quebecois nationalist and Marxist-Leninist paramilitary group in Quebec, Canada. It was active between 1963 and 1970, and was regarded as a terrorist organization for its violent methods of action...
(FLQ) kidnapped British Trade Consul James Cross
James Cross
James Richard Cross, CMG was a British diplomat in Canada who was kidnapped by the Front de libération du Québec terrorist group during the October Crisis of October 1970....
at his residence on the fifth of October. Five days later, Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte
Pierre Laporte
Pierre Laporte was a Canadian lawyer, journalist and politician who was the Deputy Premier and Minister of Labour of the province of Quebec before being kidnapped and killed by members of the group Front de libération du Québec during the October Crisis. Mr...
was also kidnapped (and was later murdered, on October 17). Trudeau responded by invoking the War Measures Act
War Measures Act
The War Measures Act was a Canadian statute that allowed the government to assume sweeping emergency powers in the event of "war, invasion or insurrection, real or apprehended"...
, 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
Tommy Douglas
Thomas Clement "Tommy" Douglas, was a Scottish-born Baptist minister who became a prominent Canadian social democratic politician...
, 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
Just watch me
"Just watch me" is a phrase made famous by Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau on October 13, 1970, during the October crisis. The term is still regularly used in Canadian political discussion....
". Five of the FLQ terrorists were flown to Cuba in 1970 as part of a deal in exchange for James Cross's life, but all members were eventually arrested. The five flown to Cuba were jailed after they returned to Canada years later.
Bilingualism
Trudeau's first years would be most remembered for the passage of his implementation of official bilingualismBilingualism in Canada
The official languages of Canada are English and French, which "have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and Government of Canada" according to Canada's constitution...
. 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. Leading after his endorsement of Lester Pearson's Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism
Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism
The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism was a Canadian royal commission established on 19 July 1963, by the government of Prime Minister Lester B...
, the Official Languages Act
Official Languages Act (Canada)
The Official Languages Act is a Canadian law that came into force on September 9, 1969, which gives English and French equal status in the government of Canada. This makes them "official" languages, having preferred status in law over all other languages...
was passed by parliament in 1969.
Multiculturalism
Trudeau is credited with introducing Canada's "Multiculturalism Policy" on October 8, 1971 recognizing that while Canada was a country of two official languages, it did not have a single unitary culture but rather recognized the plurality of cultures - "a multicultural policy within a bilingual framework". This reflected what the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism found in their hearings across Canada, as described in Book IV of the Commission's report.World affairs
Trudeau was the first world leader to meet John LennonJohn Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
and his wife Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
on their 'tour for world peace
World peace
World Peace is an ideal of freedom, peace, and happiness among and within all nations and/or people. World peace is an idea of planetary non-violence by which nations willingly cooperate, either voluntarily or by virtue of a system of governance that prevents warfare. The term is sometimes used to...
'. 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."
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
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
, the leader of Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. A mobster said that in 1974 he was hired by New York State mafia
American Mafia
The American Mafia , is an Italian-American criminal society. Much like the Sicilian Mafia, the American Mafia has no formal name and is a secret criminal society. Its members usually refer to it as Cosa Nostra or by its English translation "our thing"...
members to kill Trudeau, hoping to lure Castro to a funeral, where they would kill him. The plan was apparently later rejected.
1972 election
In the federal election of 1972Canadian federal election, 1972
The Canadian federal election of 1972 was held on October 30, 1972 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 29th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in a slim victory for the governing Liberal Party, which won 109 seats, compared to 107 seats for the opposition Progressive...
, the Trudeau-led Liberal Party won with a minority government, with the New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
holding the balance of power
Balance of power (parliament)
In parliamentary politics, the term balance of power sometimes describes the pragmatic mechanism exercised by a minor political party or other grouping whose guaranteed support may enable an otherwise minority government to obtain and hold office...
. This government would move to the political left, including the creation of Petro-Canada
Petro-Canada
Petro-Canada was a crown corporation of Canada in the field of oil and natural gas. It was headquartered in the Petro-Canada Centre in Calgary, Alberta. In August, 2009, Petro-Canada merged with Suncor Energy, a deal in which Suncor investors received approximately 60 per cent ownership of the...
.
1974 election
In May 1974, the House of Commons passed a motion of no confidenceMotion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence is a parliamentary motion whose passing would demonstrate to the head of state that the elected parliament no longer has confidence in the appointed government.-Overview:Typically, when a parliament passes a vote of no...
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
Canadian federal election, 1974
The Canadian federal election of 1974 was held on July 8, 1974 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 30th Parliament of Canada. The governing Liberal Party won its first majority government since 1968, and gave Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau his third term...
saw Trudeau and the Liberals re-elected with a majority government with 141 of the 264 seats. In September 1975, Finance Minister John Turner
John Turner
John Napier Wyndham Turner, PC, CC, QC is an English Canadian lawyer and retired politician, who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Canada from June 30 to September 17, 1984....
resigned. Trudeau later (in October 1975) instituted wage and price controls, something which he had mocked Progressive Conservative Party
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
leader Robert Stanfield
Robert Stanfield
Robert Lorne Stanfield, PC, QC was the 17th Premier of Nova Scotia and leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. He is sometimes referred to as "the greatest prime minister Canada never had", and earned the nickname "Honest Bob"...
for proposing during the election campaign a year earlier.
G7
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 FordGerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
arranged this, and expressed sincere appreciation.
Declining popularity
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 1979Canadian federal election, 1979
The Canadian federal election of 1979 was held on May 22, 1979 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 31st Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of Liberal Party of Canada after 11 years in power under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Joe Clark led the Progressive...
, Trudeau's Liberal government was defeated by the Progressive Conservatives
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
, led by Joe Clark
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...
, who formed a minority government. Trudeau announced his intention to resign as Liberal Party leader; however, before a leadership convention
Leadership convention
In Canadian politics, a leadership convention is held by a political party when the party needs to choose a leader due to a vacancy or a challenge to the incumbent leader.- Overview :...
could be held, Clark's government was defeated in the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
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
Canadian federal election, 1980
The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 32nd Parliament of Canada...
, and won a majority government
Majority government
A majority government is when the governing party has an absolute majority of seats in the legislature or parliament in a parliamentary system. This is as opposed to a minority government, where even the largest party wins only a plurality of seats and thus must constantly bargain for support from...
.
Return to power
The Liberal victory in 1980 highlighted a sharp geographical divide in the country: the party had won no seats west of ManitobaManitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
. Trudeau had to resort to having Senators
Canadian Senate
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...
appointed to Cabinet to ensure representation from all regions. Amongst the policies introduced by Trudeau's last term in office included an expansion in government support for Canada’s poorest citizens and the introduction of the National Energy Program
National Energy Program
The National Energy Program was an energy policy of the Government of Canada. It was created under the Liberal government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau by Minister of Energy Marc Lalonde in 1980, and administered by the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources.-Description:The NEP was...
(NEP), which created a firestorm of protest in the Western provinces and increased what many termed "Western alienation
Western Alienation
In Canadian politics, Western alienation is a concept that the Western provinces - British Columbia , Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba - have been alienated, and in extreme cases excluded, from mainstream Canadian political affairs in favour of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec...
".
A series of difficult budgets by long-time loyalist Allan MacEachen
Allan MacEachen
Allan Joseph MacEachen, PC, OC is a retired Canadian politician, a many-time Cabinet minister, a retired Senator, one of Canada's elder statesmen, and was the first Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, serving from 1977 to 1979 and 1980 to 1984.-Early life:Born in Inverness on Nova Scotia's Cape...
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
Peter Lougheed
Edgar Peter Lougheed, PC, CC, AOE, QC, is a Canadian lawyer, and a former politician and Canadian Football League player. He served as the tenth Premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985....
in 1982.
Quebec referendum
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 sovereignty1980 Quebec referendum
The 1980 Quebec referendum was the first referendum in Quebec on the place of Quebec within Canada and whether Quebec should pursue a path toward sovereignty. The referendum was called by Quebec's Parti Québécois government, which strongly favoured secession from Canada...
, called by the Parti Québécois
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois is a centre-left political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Quebec and secession from Canada. The Party traditionally has support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social-democratic parties, its ties with the labour movement are informal...
government of René Lévesque
René Lévesque
René Lévesque was a reporter, a minister of the government of Quebec, , the founder of the Parti Québécois political party and the 23rd Premier of Quebec...
. In the debates between Trudeau and Lévesque, 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.
Patriation of the Constitution
Patriation
Patriation is a non-legal term used in Canada to describe a process of constitutional change also known as "homecoming" of the constitution. Up until 1982, Canada was governed by a constitution that was a British law and could be changed only by an Act of the British Parliament...
of the Constitution earlier in his career with the Victoria Charter
Victoria Charter
The Victoria Charter was a set of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada in 1971. This document represented a failed attempt on the part of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to patriate the Constitution, add rights and freedoms to it and entrench English and French as Canada's official...
, but 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
Patriation Reference
Reference re a Resolution to amend the Constitution, [1981] 1 S.C.R. 753 – also known as the Patriation Reference – is a historic Supreme Court of Canada reference case that occurred during negotiations for the patriation of the Constitution of Canada.The Court affirmed the existence of...
led Trudeau to meet with the Premiers one more time. Further, officials in the United Kingdom indicated that the British parliament was under no obligation to fulfill any request for legal changes made by Trudeau, particularly if Canadian convention was not being followed. 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
Constitution Act, 1982
The Constitution Act, 1982 is a part of the Constitution of Canada. The Act was introduced as part of Canada's process of "patriating" the constitution, introducing several amendments to the British North America Act, 1867, and changing the latter's name in Canada to the Constitution Act, 1867...
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
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
, who undertook to do everything that our Parliament asked of her, and Jean Wadds
Jean Casselman Wadds
Jean Casselman Wadds, OC was a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Grenville—Dundas from 1958 to 1968. She sat as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party....
, 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.
Personal
Trudeau retired from politics on June 30, 1984 and was succeeded by John TurnerJohn Turner
John Napier Wyndham Turner, PC, CC, QC is an English Canadian lawyer and retired politician, who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Canada from June 30 to September 17, 1984....
. Shortly after, he joined the Montreal law firm Heenan Blaikie
Heenan Blaikie
Heenan Blaikie LLP is a full service Canadian law firm. It practices in the areas of business, labour and employment, litigation, taxation, entertainment law and intellectual property law. The firm was founded in 1973 by Roy Heenan, Donald Johnston, and Peter 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
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and ten provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of the Province of Quebec to endorse the 1982 Canadian Constitution and increase...
and Charlottetown Accord
Charlottetown Accord
The Charlottetown Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada, proposed by the Canadian federal and provincial governments in 1992. It was submitted to a public referendum on October 26 of that year, and was defeated.-Background:...
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
Jacques Parizeau
Jacques Parizeau, is an economist and noted Quebec sovereignist who was the 26th Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec from September 26, 1994 to January 29, 1996.-Early life and career:...
and the Parti Québécois with less effect. In his final years, Trudeau commanded broad respect in Canada, but was regarded with suspicion in Quebec for 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
Club of Rome
The Club of Rome is a global think tank that deals with a variety of international political issues. Founded in 1968 at Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, Italy, the CoR describes itself as "a group of world citizens, sharing a common concern for the future of humanity." It consists of current and...
.
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
Maison Cormier
Cormier House is an Art deco residence in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, located at 1418 Pine Avenue.- Description :It was built by architect Ernest Cormier as his own residence in 1930-31, and also served as the residence of Pierre Trudeau, following his retirement from politics, until Trudeau's death...
in Montreal following his retirement from politics. In the last years of his life, he was afflicted with Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
and prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
, 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
Michel Trudeau
Michel Trudeau was the youngest son of the late Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Margaret Trudeau.Born in Ottawa, Ontario, he studied at Dalhousie University to become a microbiologist....
, who was killed in an avalanche in November 1998.
Marriage and children
Late in life (1971), while Prime Minister, he quietly married Margaret SinclairMargaret Trudeau
Margaret Joan Sinclair Trudeau Kemper is the former wife of the late Pierre Trudeau, the 15th Prime Minister of Canada.-Early years and marriage:...
, a young woman thirty years his junior. They were incompatible, for her image of Trudeau-as-romantic-playboy was based entirely on false media hype; he was actually a workaholic and an intense intellectual with little time for family or fun. After three children were born they separated in 1977 and were finally divorced in 1980. Their three children are Justin
Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau, MP is a Canadian politician. He has represented the Montreal electoral division of Papineau in the Canadian House of Commons since 2008 as a member of the Liberal Party and currently serves as the party's critic for youth, post-secondary education, and amateur...
, Alexandre
Alexandre Trudeau
Alexandre "Sacha" Trudeau is a Canadian filmmaker and journalist, and second son of Canada's former Prime Minister, the late Pierre Trudeau, and Margaret Trudeau.-Early life and education:...
(Sacha), and Michel
Michel Trudeau
Michel Trudeau was the youngest son of the late Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Margaret Trudeau.Born in Ottawa, Ontario, he studied at Dalhousie University to become a microbiologist....
(1975–1998).
When his divorce was finalized 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
Deborah Coyne
Deborah Margaret Ryland Coyne, is a Canadian constitutional lawyer, professor and author. Her education includes a Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School of York University and a Master of Philosophy from Oxford University in international relations.-Early career:She was a staffer in...
. This was his first and only daughter, named Sarah.
Death
Pierre Elliott Trudeau died on September 28, 2000, and was buried in the Trudeau family crypt, St-Rémi-de-Napierville CemeterySt-Rémi-de-Napierville Cemetery
St-Rémi-de-Napierville Cemetery is a cemetery in Saint-Rémi-de-Napierville, Quebec and is the final resting place of Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau ....
, Saint-Rémi
Saint-Rémi, Quebec
Saint-Remi is a city in the municipality of Les Jardins-de-Napierville in Quebec, Canada, situated in the Montérégie administrative region. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was around 7000.-Population:Population trend -Population:...
, Quebec. His body was laid in state to allow Canadians to pay their last respects. His son Justin delivered the eulogy during the state funeral 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). Several world politicians attended the funeral.
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, a former President of St. Thomas University
St. Thomas University (New Brunswick)
St. Thomas University is jointly a public and Roman Catholic liberal arts university located in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. It offers degrees exclusively at the undergraduate level for approximately 3,000 students in the liberal arts, humanities, journalism, education, and social work....
, has researched Trudeau's spirituality and finds that it incorporated elements of three Catholic traditions. The first of these was the Jesuits
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
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
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
. According to Michel Gorges, Rector of the Dominican University College
Dominican University College
The Dominican University College is a bilingual Roman Catholic university in Ottawa, Ontario, offering civil and pontifical bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in philosophy and theology...
, Trudeau "considered himself a lay Dominican." He studied philosophy under Dominican Father Louis-Marie Régis
Louis-Marie Régis
Father Louis-Marie Régis, CC was a Canadian philosopher, theologian, scholar, and member of the Dominican Order.He was director of the Institute for Medieval Studies from 1943 until 1952....
and remained close to him throughout his life, regarding Régis as "spiritual director and friend." Another skein in Trudeau's spirituality was a contemplative
Contemplation
The word contemplation comes from the Latin word contemplatio. Its root is also that of the Latin word templum, a piece of ground consecrated for the taking of auspices, or a building for worship, derived either from Proto-Indo-European base *tem- "to cut", and so a "place reserved or cut out" or...
aspect acquired from his association with the Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
tradition. According to Higgins, Trudeau was convinced of the centrality of meditation
Christian meditation
Christian meditation is a form of prayer in which a structured attempt is made to get in touch with and deliberately reflect upon the revelations of God. The word meditation comes from the Latin word meditārī, which has a range of meanings including to reflect on, to study and to practice...
in a life fully lived. He took retreats at Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, Quebec
Saint-Benoit-du-Lac, Quebec
Saint-Benoît-du-Lac is a community of 48 people, part of the Memphrémagog Regional County Municipality in the Eastern Townships region of Quebec. It only comprises an abbey and its immediate surrounding lands.-External links:*...
and regularly attended Hours
Liturgy of the hours
The Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office is the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church to be recited at the canonical hours by the clergy, religious orders, and laity. The Liturgy of the Hours consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns and readings...
and the Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
at Montreal's Benedictine community.
Although never publicly theological in the way of Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
or Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
, nor evangelical, in the way of Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
or George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, Trudeau's spirituality, according to Higgins, "suffused, anchored, and directed his inner life. In no small part, it defined him."
Legacy
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 identityCanadian identity
Canadian identity refers to the set of characteristics and symbols that many Canadians regard as expressing their unique place and role in the world....
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
Michael Bliss
John William Michael Bliss, CM, FRSC is a Canadian historian and award-winning author. Though his early works focused on business and political history, he has written several important medical biographies, including of Sir William Osler...
puts it, "one of the most admired and most disliked of all Canadian prime ministers." "He haunts us still," biographers Christina McCall
Christina McCall
Christina McCall was a Canadian political writer.McCall studied English at the University of Toronto then spent the next 20 years as a journalist at The Globe and Mail, Saturday Night and Maclean's and as a senior editor at Chatelaine, as a senior political writer and author. She later worked...
and Stephen Clarkson
Stephen Clarkson
Stephen Clarkson, is one of Canada’s preeminent political scientists and a professor of political economy at the University of Toronto....
wrote in 1990. 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.
Trudeau's most enduring legacy may lie in his contribution to Canadian nationalism
Canadian nationalism
Canadian nationalism is a term which has been applied to ideologies of several different types which highlight and promote specifically Canadian interests over those of other countries, notably the United States...
, and of pride in Canada in and for itself rather than as a derivative of the British Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
. 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 afterwards.
Some consider Trudeau's economic policies to have been a weak point. Inflation and unemployment marred much of his tenure as prime minister. 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
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
.
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", the line Trudeau used to describe his decision to leave office in 1984. Other popular Trudeauisms frequently used are "just watch me
Just watch me
"Just watch me" is a phrase made famous by Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau on October 13, 1970, during the October crisis. The term is still regularly used in Canadian political discussion....
", the "Trudeau Salute", and "Fuddle Duddle
Fuddle duddle
In Canadian English, fuddle duddle is a euphemistic substitution for "fuck" or "fuck off", a notable use of which was by Pierre Elliott Trudeau, during his time as Prime Minister of Canada....
".
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 FreedomsCanadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada. It forms the first part of the Constitution Act, 1982...
. It is seen as advancing civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
and liberties and, notwithstanding clause
Section Thirty-three of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Section Thirty-three of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is part of the Constitution of Canada. It is commonly known as the notwithstanding clause , or as the override power, and it allows Parliament or provincial legislatures to override certain portions of the Charter...
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, re-establish French school boards in provinces such as Alberta and Saskatchewan, and to mandate the adoption of same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage in Canada
On July 20, 2005, Canada became the fourth country in the world and the first country in the Americas to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide with the enactment of the Civil Marriage Act which provided a gender-neutral marriage definition...
all across Canada. Section 35
Section Thirty-five of the Constitution Act, 1982
Section thirty-five of the Constitution Act, 1982 provides constitutional protection to the aboriginal and treaty rights of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. The section, while within the Constitution Act, 1982 and thus the Constitution of Canada, falls outside the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms...
of the Constitution Act, 1982
Constitution Act, 1982
The Constitution Act, 1982 is a part of the Constitution of Canada. The Act was introduced as part of Canada's process of "patriating" the constitution, introducing several amendments to the British North America Act, 1867, and changing the latter's name in Canada to the Constitution Act, 1867...
, 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
Section Thirty-three of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Section Thirty-three of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is part of the Constitution of Canada. It is commonly known as the notwithstanding clause , or as the override power, and it allows Parliament or provincial legislatures to override certain portions of the Charter...
) of the Charter has been infrequently used.
Canadian conservatives
Canadian conservatism
Conservatism in Canada is generally considered to be primarily represented by the Conservative Party of Canada at the federal level, and by various right-wing parties at the provincial level...
claim the Constitution has resulted in too much judicial activism
Judicial activism
Judicial activism describes judicial ruling suspected of being based on personal or political considerations rather than on existing law. It is sometimes used as an antonym of judicial restraint. The definition of judicial activism, and which specific decisions are activist, is a controversial...
on the part of the courts in Canada. It is also heavily criticized by Quebec Nationalists
Quebec nationalism
Quebec nationalism is a nationalist movement in the Canadian province of Quebec .-1534–1774:Canada was first a french colony. Jacques Cartier claimed it for France in 1534, and permanent French settlement began in 1608. It was part of New France, which constituted all French colonies in North America...
, who resent that the Constitution was never ratified by any Quebec government
Politics of Quebec
The politics of Quebec are centred on a provincial government resembling that of the other Canadian provinces, namely a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The capital of the province is Quebec City, where the Lieutenant Governor, Premier, the legislature, and cabinet reside.The...
and does not recognize a constitutional veto for Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
.
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, New Brunswick, and Manitoba). 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.
Multiculturalism
On October 8, 1971, Pierre Trudeau introduced the Multiculturalism Policy in the House of Commons. It was the first of its kind in the world, and was then emulated in several provinces, such as Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and other countries most notably Australia, which has had a similar history and immigration pattern. Beyond the specifics of the policy itself, this action signalled an openness to the world and coincided with a more open immigration policy that had been brought in by Trudeau's predecessor Lester B. Pearson (with the help of legendary mandarin, Tom Kent).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 CanadaNational Gallery of Canada
The National Gallery of Canada , located in the capital city Ottawa, Ontario, is one of Canada's premier art galleries.The Gallery is now housed in a glass and granite building on Sussex Drive with a notable view of the Canadian Parliament buildings on Parliament Hill. The acclaimed structure was...
and the Canadian Museum of Civilization
Canadian Museum of Civilization
The Canadian Museum of Civilization is Canada's national museum of human history and the most popular and most-visited museum in Canada....
finally had proper homes in the national capital. The Trudeau government also implemented programs which mandated Canadian content
Canadian content
Canadian content refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission requirements that radio and television broadcasters must air a certain percentage of content that was at least partly written, produced, presented, or otherwise contributed to by persons from...
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.
Furthermore, his cultural legacy can be found in Canada's strong ties to multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
.
Legacy with respect to western Canada
Trudeau's posthumous reputation in the Western Provinces is notably less favourable than it is in the rest of English-speaking Canada. He is often regarded as the "father of Western alienationWestern Alienation
In Canadian politics, Western alienation is a concept that the Western provinces - British Columbia , Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba - have been alienated, and in extreme cases excluded, from mainstream Canadian political affairs in favour of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec...
." The reasons for this are various. Some of them are ideological. Some 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
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
and Quebec, at their expense. Outstanding among such policies was the National Energy Program
National Energy Program
The National Energy Program was an energy policy of the Government of Canada. It was created under the Liberal government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau by Minister of Energy Marc Lalonde in 1980, and administered by the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources.-Description:The NEP was...
, which was seen as unfairly depriving western provinces of the full economic benefit from their oil and gas resources, in order to pay for nationwide social programs, and make regional transfer payments to poorer parts of the country. Sentiments of this kind were especially strong in oil-rich Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
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
Saskatoon
Saskatoon is a city in central Saskatchewan, Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. Residents of the city of Saskatoon are called Saskatonians. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Corman Park No. 344....
, 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 protesters' concerns with "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
Salmon Arm, British Columbia
-Climate:- Education :Public schools in Salmon Arm are part of School District 83 North Okanagan-Shuswap; within the city limits, there are currently five elementary schools , one middle school , and a secondary school with two campuses...
, he "gave the finger
Finger (gesture)
In Western culture, the finger , also known as the middle finger, is an obscene hand gesture, often meaning the phrases "fuck off" , "fuck you" or "up yours"...
" to a group of protesters through the carriage window – less widely remembered is that the protesters 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 CrisisOctober Crisis
The October Crisis was a series of events triggered by two kidnappings of government officials by members of the Front de libération du Québec during October 1970 in the province of Quebec, mainly in the Montreal metropolitan area.The circumstances ultimately culminated in the only peacetime use...
as crucial in terminating the Front de libération du Québec
Front de libération du Québec
The Front de libération du Québec was a left-wing Quebecois nationalist and Marxist-Leninist paramilitary group in Quebec, Canada. It was active between 1963 and 1970, and was regarded as a terrorist organization for its violent methods of action...
(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
1980 Quebec referendum
The 1980 Quebec referendum was the first referendum in Quebec on the place of Quebec within Canada and whether Quebec should pursue a path toward sovereignty. The referendum was called by Quebec's Parti Québécois government, which strongly favoured secession from Canada...
.
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
Canadian federal election, 1980
The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 32nd Parliament of Canada...
. Provincially, though, Quebequois twice elected the pro-sovereignty Parti Québécois
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois is a centre-left political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Quebec and secession from Canada. The Party traditionally has support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social-democratic parties, its ties with the labour movement are informal...
. Moreover, there were not at that time any pro-sovereignty federal parties such as the Bloc Québécois
Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative...
. Since the signing of the Constitutional Act of Canada
Constitution Act, 1982
The Constitution Act, 1982 is a part of the Constitution of Canada. The Act was introduced as part of Canada's process of "patriating" the constitution, introducing several amendments to the British North America Act, 1867, and changing the latter's name in Canada to the Constitution Act, 1867...
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.
High Commissioner Lord Moran's assessment of Trudeau
In the British tradition, ambassadors leaving their posts emptied their hearts in a last letter to the Foreign Office. In 1984, before returning to London after three years in Canada, the British High CommissionerHigh Commissioner
High Commissioner is the title of various high-ranking, special executive positions held by a commission of appointment.The English term is also used to render various equivalent titles in other languages.-Bilateral diplomacy:...
, Lord Moran
Baron Moran
Baron Moran, of Manton in the County of Wiltshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.It was created on 8 March 1943 for the physician Charles Wilson...
(John Wilson), career diplomat, was no exception to this rule. This is what Lord Moran wrote about Pierre Trudeau:
Although I like him personally and he has been kind to us, it has, I am sure, been a disadvantage that Mr. Trudeau has been Prime Minister throughout my time in Canada because with some reason, he has not been greatly respected or trusted in London. He has never entirely shaken off his past as a well-to-do hippie and draft dodger. His views on East/West relations have been particularly suspect. Many of my colleagues here admire him. I cannot say I do. He is an odd fish and his own worst enemy, and on the whole I think his influence on Canada in the past sixteen years has been detrimental. But what he minded most about was keeping Quebec in Canada and his finest hours were the ruthless and effective stamping-out of terrorism in Quebec in 1970 and the winning there of the referendum on sovereignty/association ten years later. For the present, separatism in Quebec is at a low ebb. Mr. Trudeau has maintained that only by an increase in Ottawa's powers could Canada develop as a strong state. He treated provincial premiers with contempt and provincial governments as if they were town councils. But I think few Canadians share his extreme centralizing stance. Most believe that Canada's diversity and geographical spread need a federal system and a division of powers, with each level treating the other, as seldom happened in Mr. Trudeau's time, with courtesy, respect and understanding. Mr. Turner, for one, takes this view.
Intellectual contributions
Trudeau made a number of contributions throughout his career to the intellectual discourse of Canadian politics. Trudeau was a strong advocate for a federalistFederalism
Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...
model of government in Canada, developing and promoting his ideas in response and contrast to strengthening Quebec nationalist movements, for instance the social and political atmosphere created during Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Duplessis
Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis served as the 16th Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec from 1936 to 1939 and 1944 to 1959. A founder and leader of the highly conservative Union Nationale party, he rose to power after exposing the misconduct and patronage of Liberal Premier Louis-Alexandre...
' time in power. Federalism in this context can be defined as "a particular way of sharing political power among different peoples within a state...Those who believe in federalism hold that different peoples do not need states of their own in order to enjoy self-determination. Peoples...may agree to share a single state while retaining substantial degrees of self-government over matters essential to their identity as peoples". As a social democrat, Trudeau sought to combine and harmonize his theories on social democracy
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
with those of federalism so that both could find effective expression in Canada. He noted the ostensible conflict between socialism, with its usually strong centralist government model, and federalism, which expounded a division and cooperation of power by both federal and provincial levels of government. In particular, Trudeau stated the following about socialists:
rather than water down...their socialism, must constantly seek ways of adapting it to a bicultural society governed under a federal constitution. And since the future of Canadian federalism lies clearly in the direction of co-operation, the wise socialist will turn his thoughts in that direction, keeping in mind the importance of establishing buffer zones of joint sovereignty and co-operative zones of joint administration between the two levels of government
Trudeau pointed out that in sociological terms, Canada is inherently a federalist society, forming unique regional identities and priorities, and therefore a federalist model of spending and jurisdictional powers is most appropriate. He argues, "in the age of the mass society, it is no small advantage to foster the creation of quasi-sovereign communities at the provincial level, where power is that much less remote from the people."
Unfortunately, Trudeau's idealistic plans for a cooperative Canadian federalist state were resisted and hindered as a result of his narrowness on ideas of identity and socio-cultural pluralism: "While the idea of a 'nation' in the sociological sense is acknowledged by Trudeau, he considers the allegiance which it generates—emotive and particularistic—to be contrary to the idea of cohesion between humans, and as such creating fertile ground for the internal fragmentation of states and a permanent state of conflict". This position garnered significant criticism for Trudeau, in particular from Quebec and First Nations peoples on the basis that his theories denied their rights to nationhood. First Nations communities raised particular concerns with the proposed 1969 White Paper
1969 White Paper
The 1969 White Paper was a Canadian policy document in which then Minister of Indian Affairs, Jean Chrétien, proposed the abolition of the Indian Act, the rejection of land claims, and the assimilation of First Nations people into the Canadian population with the status of other ethnic minorities...
, developed under Trudeau by Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
.
Supreme Court appointments
Trudeau chose the following jurists to be appointed as justices of the Supreme Court of CanadaSupreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
by the Governor General
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
:
- Bora LaskinBora LaskinBora Laskin, PC, CC, FRSC was a Canadian jurist, who served on the Supreme Court of Canada for fourteen years, including a decade as its Chief Justice.-Early life:...
(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 JusticePuisne JusticeA Puisne Justice or Puisne Judge is the title for a regular member of a Court. This is distinguished from the head of the Court who is known as the Chief Justice or Chief Judge. The term is used almost exclusively in common law jurisdictions such as England, Australia, Kenya, Canada, Sri Lanka,...
December 22, 1949) - Brian DicksonBrian DicksonRobert George Brian Dickson, , commonly known as Brian Dickson, was appointed Chief Justice of Canada on April 18, 1984. He retired on June 30, 1990 and died October 17, 1998.-Career:...
(March 26, 1973 – June 30, 1990; as Chief Justice, April 18, 1984) - Jean BeetzJean BeetzJean-Marie Philémon Joseph Beetz, was a Canadian jurist and puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada....
(January 1, 1974 – November 10, 1988) - Louis-Philippe de GrandpreLouis-Philippe de GrandpréLouis-Philippe de Grandpré, was a Canadian lawyer and Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.Born in Montreal, Quebec to Roland de Grandpré and Aline Magnan, he studied at McGill University and received a BCL in 1938...
(January 1, 1974 – October 1, 1977) - Willard Zebedee Estey (September 29, 1977 – April 22, 1988)
- Yves PratteYves PratteYves Pratte was a Canadian lawyer and jurist who served briefly as a Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada....
(October 1, 1977 – June 30, 1979) - William Rogers McIntyre (January 1, 1979 – February 15, 1989)
- Antonio LamerAntonio LamerJoseph Antonio Charles Lamer, PC, CC, CD was a Canadian lawyer, jurist and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.-Personal life:...
(March 28, 1980 – January 6, 2000) - Bertha WilsonBertha WilsonBertha Wernham Wilson, CC was a Canadian jurist and the first woman Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.-Early life:...
(March 4, 1982 – January 4, 1991) - Gerald Le DainGerald Le DainGerald Eric Le Dain, CC was a Canadian lawyer and judge, who sat on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1984 to 1988....
(May 29, 1984 – November 30, 1988)
Honours
The following honours were bestowed upon him by the Governor GeneralGovernor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
, or by Queen Elizabeth II herself:
- Trudeau was made a member of the Queen's Privy Council for CanadaQueen's Privy Council for CanadaThe Queen's Privy Council for Canada ), sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council, is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign or her viceroy,...
on April 4, 1967, giving him the style "The HonourableThe HonourableThe prefix The Honourable or The Honorable is a style used before the names of certain classes of persons. It is considered an honorific styling.-International diplomacy:...
" and post-nominal "PC" for life. - He was styled "The Right HonourableThe Right HonourableThe Right Honourable is an honorific prefix that is traditionally applied to certain people in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Anglophone Caribbean and other Commonwealth Realms, and occasionally elsewhere...
" for life on his appointment as Prime Minister on April 20, 1968. - Trudeau was made a Companion of HonourOrder of the Companions of HonourThe Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion....
in 1984. - He was made a Companion of the Order of Canada (post-nominal "CC") on June 24, 1985.
- He was granted arms, crest, and supporters by the Canadian Heraldic AuthorityCanadian Heraldic AuthorityThe Canadian Heraldic Authority is part of the Canadian honours system under the Queen of Canada, whose authority is exercised by the Governor General. The Authority is responsible for the creation and granting of new coats of arms , flags and badges for Canadian citizens, permanent residents and...
on December 7, 1994.
Other honours include:
- The Canadian news agency Canadian PressCanadian PressCanadian Press Enterprises Inc. is the entity which "will take over the operations of the Canadian Press" according to a November 26, 2010 article in the Toronto Star...
named Trudeau "Newsmaker of the YearCanadian Newsmaker of the YearThe Canadian Newsmaker of the Year is a title awarded by the Canadian Press annually since 1946, reflecting the opinion of CP, and, since its formation in 1954, that of Broadcast News, on which Canadian has had the most influence on the news in a given 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. - In 1983–84, he was awarded the Albert Einstein Peace PrizeAlbert Einstein Peace PrizeThe Albert Einstein Peace Prize is given yearly by the Chicago-based Albert Einstein Peace Prize Foundation. Winners of the prize receive $50,000. Past winners include:...
, for negotiating the reduction of nuclear weapons and Cold War tension in several countries. - The Pierre Elliott Trudeau High SchoolPierre Elliott Trudeau High SchoolPierre Elliott Trudeau High School is a public, bilingual English and French-immersion secondary school in Markham, Ontario. It was named in honour of the 15th Prime Minister of Canada, the Right Honourable Pierre Elliott Trudeau.-History:...
in Markham, OntarioMarkham, OntarioMarkham is a town in the Regional Municipality of York, located within the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada. The population was 261,573 at the 2006 Canadian census...
is named in his honour. - Collège Pierre-Elliott-TrudeauCollège Pierre-Elliott-TrudeauCollège Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau is part of River East Transcona School Division in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It opened its doors in September 1990 with a population of 140 students and 14 teachers. By 2006, the school had grown to 330 students and a staff of 21 teachers. In 2006, Collège...
in Winnipeg, Manitoba is also named in his honour. - Pierre Elliott Trudeau elementary school in Oshawa, OntarioOshawa, OntarioOshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario approximately 60 kilometres east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of both the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe. It is now commonly referred to as the most...
. - École élémentaire Pierre-Elliott-TrudeauÉcole élémentaire Pierre-Elliott-TrudeauÉcole élémentaire Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau is a French first language elementary school located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It serves the French population of west end downtown Toronto.- External links :*...
in Toronto, Ontario. - The Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International AirportMontréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International AirportMontréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport or Montréal-Trudeau, formerly known as Montréal-Dorval International Airport, is located on the Island of Montreal, from Montreal's downtown core. The airport terminals are located entirely in Dorval, while the Air Canada headquarters complex...
(YUL) in Montreal was named in his honour, effective January 1, 2004. - In 2004, viewers of the CBCCanadian Broadcasting CorporationThe Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
series The Greatest CanadianThe Greatest CanadianOfficially launched on April 5, 2004, The Greatest Canadian was a television program series by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to determine who is considered to be the greatest Canadian of all time, at least among those who watched and participated in the program...
voted Trudeau the third greatest Canadian. - The government of British Columbia named a peak in the Cariboo MountainsCariboo MountainsThe Cariboo Mountains are the northernmost subrange of the Columbia Mountains, which run down into the Spokane, Washington area of the United States and include the Selkirks, Monashees and Purcells. The Cariboo Mountains are entirely within the province of British Columbia, Canada. The range is...
Mount Pierre Elliott TrudeauMount Pierre Elliott TrudeauMount Pierre Elliott Trudeau is a mountain located at co-ordinates in the Premier Range of the Cariboo Mountains in the Interior of British Columbia, Canada. The mountain is located on the south side of the McLennan River, just west of Valemount....
, on June 10, 2006. The peak is located in the Premier RangePremier RangeThe Premier Range is a group of mountains within the Cariboo Mountains of east-central British Columbia, Canada. The range is bounded by the Rausch River and Kiwa Creek to the north, the North Thompson River on the south and west and the Fraser River and its tributaries to the east.In 1927, the...
, 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 was ranked No.5 of the first 20 Prime Ministers of Canada (through Jean Chrétien in a survey of Canadian historians. The survey was used in the book Prime Ministers: Ranking Canada's Leaders by J.L. Granatstein and Norman HillmerNorman HillmerGeorge Norman Hillmer is a leading Canadian historian and teacher and is among the leading scholars on Canada-US relations....
. - In 2009 Trudeau was posthumously inducted into the Q Hall of Fame Canada, Canada's Prestigious National LGBT Human Rights Hall of Fame, for his pioneering efforts in the advancement of human rights and equality for all Canadians.
Honorary degrees
- Duke UniversityDuke UniversityDuke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
in Durham, North CarolinaDurham, North CarolinaDurham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
in 1974. - Keio UniversityKeio University,abbreviated as Keio or Keidai , is a Japanese university located in Minato, Tokyo. It is known as the oldest institute of higher education in Japan. Founder Fukuzawa Yukichi originally established it as a school for Western studies in 1858 in Edo . It has eleven campuses in Tokyo and Kanagawa...
in Tokyo, Japan in 1976 (LL.D) - Queen's UniversityQueen's UniversityQueen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...
in Kingston, OntarioKingston, OntarioKingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
in 1968 - University of AlbertaUniversity of AlbertaThe University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
in Edmonton in 1968 - University of MacauUniversity of MacauThe University of Macau, ;, established in 1981, was the first and currently the largest university in Macau, a former Portuguese colony. It was formerly known as University of East Asia , and was renamed the University of Macau in 1991. The university offers about 100 Doctoral, Master's and...
in Macau, China in 1987 (LL.D) - University of OttawaUniversity of OttawaThe University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
, Ontario in 1974 - University of Notre Dame du Lac in Notre Dame, IndianaNotre Dame, IndianaNotre Dame is a census-designated place north of South Bend in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States; it includes the campuses of three colleges: the University of Notre Dame, Saint Mary's College, and Holy Cross College. Notre Dame is split between Clay and Portage Townships...
in 1982
Order of Canada Citation
Trudeau was appointed a Companion of the Order of CanadaOrder of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
on June 24, 1985. His citation reads:
Lawyer, professor, author and defender of human rights this statesman served as Prime Minister of Canada for fifteen years. Lending substance to the phrase "the style is the man," he has imparted, both in his and on the world stage, his quintessentially personal philosophy of modern politics.
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
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
mini-series. The first one, Trudeau
Trudeau (film)
Trudeau is a 2002 television miniseries dramatizing the life of former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. It aired on CBC Television and was written by Wayne Grigsby and directed by Jerry Ciccoritti....
(with Colm Feore
Colm Feore
Colm Feore is an American-born Canadian stage, film and television actor.-Early life:Feore was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Irish parents who lived in Ireland for several years during Feore's early life. The family subsequently moved to Windsor, Ontario, where Feore grew up.After graduating...
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
Just Watch Me: Trudeau and the 70's Generation
Just Watch Me: Trudeau and the '70s Generation is a Canadian documentary film by Catherine Annau, produced in 1999 by the National Film Board of Canada....
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
René Lévesque
René Lévesque was a reporter, a minister of the government of Quebec, , the founder of the Parti Québécois political party and the 23rd Premier of Quebec...
in the Donald Brittain
Donald Brittain
Donald Brittain, O.C. was a film director and producer with the National Film Board of Canada.Fields of Sacrifice is considered Brittain's first major film as director....
-directed documentary mini-series The Champions
The Champions (documentary miniseries)
The Champions is a three-part Canadian documentary mini-series on lives of Canadian political titans and adversaries Pierre Elliott Trudeau and René Lévesque....
.
Trudeau in music
Trudeau is name-checked in the song "Wilted Rose" by the Vanity ProjectThe Vanity Project
The Vanity Project is an album released as a side-project by Steven Page, then of the band Barenaked Ladies . It is also the artist name under which the album was released...
(a side project band featuring former Barenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian alternative rock band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart. Barenaked Ladies formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario, then a suburban municipality outside the City of Toronto...
singer Steven Page
Steven Page
Steven Jay Page , is a Canadian musician. Along with Ed Robertson, he was a founding member, lead singer, guitarist, and a primary songwriter of the music group Barenaked Ladies ; he left the band in 2009 to pursue a solo career....
). The lyrics says "like Pierre Trudeau's walk out in the snow."
A homage to Trudeau is "Song for a Father" by Jian Ghomeshi
Jian Ghomeshi
Jian Ghomeshi is a Canadian broadcaster, writer, musician and producer of Iranian descent who was raised in Thornhill, Ontario. Now based in Toronto, he is the host of the national daily cultural affairs talk program, Q, on CBC Radio One and Bold TV...
(of Moxy Fruvous fame) which chronicles the life of the politician.
Works by Trudeau
- Memoirs. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, c1993. ISBN 0-7710-8588-5
- Towards a just society: the Trudeau years, with Thomas S. AxworthyTom AxworthyThomas Sidney Axworthy, OC is a Canadian civil servant, political strategist, writer and professor. He is best known for having served as Principal Secretary and Chief Speechwriter to Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau...
, (eds.) Markham, Ont.: Viking, 1990. - The Canadian Way: Shaping Canada's Foreign Policy 1968–1984, with Ivan Head
- Two innocents in Red China. (Deux innocents en Chine rouge), with Jacques Hébert 1960.
- Against the Current: Selected Writings, 1939–1996. (À contre-courant: textes choisis, 1939–1996). 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
See also
- Death and state funeral of Pierre TrudeauDeath and state funeral of Pierre TrudeauThe death and state funeral of Pierre Trudeau took place in September 2000. Pierre Trudeau was the 15th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1968 to 1984, with a brief interruption in 1979–1980. Trudeau died on September 28, 2000...
- History of the Quebec independence movement
- List of Canadian federal general elections
- Politics of CanadaPolitics of CanadaThe politics of Canada function within a framework of parliamentary democracy and a federal system of parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions. Canada is a constitutional monarchy, in which the Monarch is head of state...
- Prime Minister nicknaming in Quebec
- Timeline of Canadian historyTimeline of Canadian historyThis is a timeline of the history of Canada.*Years BC*Early years AD*1000s*1400s*1500s*1600s: 1600s - 1610s - 1620s - 1630s - 1640s - 1650s - 1660s - 1670s - 1680s - 1690s*1700s: 1700 - 1701 - 1702 - 1703 - 1704 - 1705 - 1706 - 1707 - 1708 - 1709...
- List of Prime Ministers of Canada
Further reading
- 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.
- Bothwell, Robert and Granatstein, J.L. Pirouette : Pierre Trudeau and Canadian foreign policy, 1990. ISBN 0802057802
- 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 Elliott Trudeau Volume One: 1919–1968 (2006); Just Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau Volume Two: 1968–2000 (2009); Knopf Canada, 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. ISBN 0-00-200027-X.
- 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, 1919-1944Young Trudeau: Son of Quebec, Father of Canada, 1919-1944Young Trudeau: 1919-1944: Son of Quebec, Father of Canada is the intellectual biography of the former Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Trudeau that deals with his parents, childhood, and education in the province of Quebec from his birth in 1919 until November 1944 when he left to study at Harvard...
. 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
- Ricci, Nino. Extraordinary Canadians Pierre Elliott Trudeau (2009)
- 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
- Walters, Eric. Voyageur, Toronto: Penguin Groups 2008
- Zink, Lubor J. Trudeaucracy. Toronto: Toronto Sun Publishing Ltd., 1972. 150 pages. ISBN 1301459780
Archival videos of Trudeau