PIERRE TRUDEAU

Left-wing Prime Minister during 70's and 80's

Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau,PC, CC, CH, QC, MSRC (18 October 1919 – 28 September 2000), usually known asPierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from 20 April 1968 to 4 June 1979, and again from 3 March 1980 to 30 June 1984.

Pierre Trudeau was a charismatic figure who, from the late 1960s until the mid-1980s, dominated the Canadian political scene and aroused passionate reactions. "Reason before passion" was his personal motto.[2] Admirers praise the force of Trudeau's intellect[3] and they salute his political acumen in preserving national unity and establishing the Charter of Rights and Freedoms within Canada's constitution.[4] His detractors accuse him of arrogance, economic mismanagement, and unduly favouring the authority of the federal government in relation to the provinces,[5] but despite the controversy, both Trudeau's defenders and detractors agree he left a mark on the Canadian politics of his time.

Trudeau led Canada through a difficult period in Canadian history, and was often the centre of attention and controversy. Known for his flamboyance, he dated celebrities, was accused of using an obscenity during debate in the House of Commons, and once did a pirouettebehind the back of Queen Elizabeth II.

Early life:
He was born in Montreal to Charles-Émile Trudeau, a French Canadian businessman and lawyer, and Grace Elliott, who was of French andScottish descent. Pierre had an older sister named Suzette and a younger brother named Charles Jr. and he was close to both siblings for his entire life. The family became quite wealthy by the time Trudeau was in his teens, as his father sold his prosperous gas station business to Imperial Oil.[6] Trudeau attended the prestigious Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf (a private French Jesuit school) where he was affiliated with the ideas of Quebec nationalism. Trudeau's father died when Pierre was in his mid-teens, and this hit him and the family very hard. Pierre remained very close to his mother for the rest of her life.[7]

According to long-time friend and colleague Marc Lalonde, the contemporary clerically influenced dictatorships of António de Oliveira Salazarin Portugal, Francisco Franco in Spain and Marshal Philippe Pétain in Vichy France were seen as models to many young intellectuals educated at elite Jesuit schools in Quebec. Lalonde asserts that Trudeau's later intellectual development as an "intellectual rebel, anti-establishment fighter on behalf of unions and promoter of religious freedom" was a product of his experiences once he left Quebec to study in the United States, France and England and travel the world, an experience which allowed him to break from Jesuit influence and study French philosophers such as Jacques Maritain and Emmanuel Mounier as well as John Locke and David Hume.

From 1950 to 1951, Trudeau served as advisor to the Privy Counsel in Ottawa. He then returned to Quebec to fight for social change. He opposed Maurice Duplessis’ Union Nationale at this time.
Trudeau opposed conscription of soldiers during WWII. He did not fight in the war. Later, this would come back to haunt him. His opponents used it against him when he entered politics.
Trudeau loved adventure. For many years he dabbled in politics and writing. In 1961, he joined the staff at the University of Montreal as a professor of Constitutional law.

In 1965, Trudeau was elected to the Commons in Montreal’s Mount Royal riding. In 1967, he was appointed Justice Minister in the Liberal government of Lester B. Pearson. He impressed the people of Canada with bills to relax laws on homosexuality and abortion. One of Trudeau’s most famous quotes had to do with homosexuality. He stated, “The State has no place in the bedrooms of the Nation.”
Trudeau was elected Leader of the Liberal Party when Lester B. Pearson retired in December 1967. On April 20, 1968, Pierre Elliott Trudeau was sworn in as Canada’s 15th Prime Minister. He was the youngest man to hold that office in the history of Canada. On July 3, just three days after taking power, Trudeau dissolved Parliament and called a June election. Trudeaumania hit Canada with a vengeance. On Election Day, the people of Canada voted Trudeau back into power. It was the first majority government Canada had seen since 1958. Trudeau was young, fresh and he appealed to the Canadian people. He was the country’s most eligible bachelor. Women swarmed around him. His trademark was a fresh, red rose in his lapel each morning.
The biggest challenge that Trudeau faced in his career came just two years after he had taken office. Two factions of the FLQ (Front de Liberation de Quebec) kidnapped Quebec Labor Minister Pierre LaPorte and British Trade Commissioner James Cross. Trudeau pulled no punches. He invoked the War Measures Act, which allowed police to arrest without a warrant. Canadian troops were sent into the streets of Ottawa and Montreal. LaPorte was found dead. James Cross was eventually released.
The decisions made by Trudeau at that time are highly debated to this day, although 70% of Canadian people who were born baby boomers still believe he did the right thing. But the Canadian people were disillusioned. Some felt the country had made a mistake electing such a young man to the country’s highest office. In 1972, the Conservatives came close to regaining control of Canada at the polls. They won 107 seats to Trudeau’s 109. Once again, Canada was ruled by a minority government.

In 1974, a federal election was called. Canadians stood behind Trudeau and gave him yet another majority government.
Trudeau believed in federalism. In 1973, he spoke of his reason for entering politics. “One was to make sure that Quebec wouldn’t leave Canada through separatism and the other was to make sure that Canada didn’t shove them out through narrow-mindedness.”
When Trudeau took power, he was a bachelor. In 1971, he married Margaret Sinclair. She stayed behind the scenes and the couple was blessed with three sons: Justin, Sacha and Michel.

In 1979, a federal election was on the agenda again. Trudeau gave it his all but after 16 years of Liberal government, Canadians wanted change. They gave the Tories (Conservatives) only a minority government.
On November 21, 1979, Trudeau announced his resignation. But Conservative Leader Joe Clark lost his minority government by a non-confidence motion. The Liberal Party called back Trudeau and the Liberals were successful in acquiring a majority government. Trudeau was Prime Minister of Canada once more. His top priority was the Quebec referendum of 1980, followed by Constitutional reform. Trudeau’s attempt to re-write the Canadian Constitution was successful. Trudeau retired from politics in 1984, after a walk through Ottawa’s streets in a raging blizzard.

Trudeau continued to practice law in Quebec after his resignation. In July 2000, Parkinson’s disease forced him to give up his work.
Trudeau never fully recovered from the death of his son, Michel, who was killed by a British Columbia avalanche in 1998. Michel’s body was swept into a frigid lake by the snow and was never recovered.

When Justin and Sacha Trudeau announced their father’s passing on September 28, 2000, the people of Canada went into deep mourning. Flags were lowered to half-mast and the Nation wept. Dignitaries from around the world attended Trudeau’s funeral. Fidel Castro, who seldom leaves Cuba, was in attendance and an honorary pallbearer along with former US President Jimmy Carter and Trudeau’s former adversary, Joe Clark, among others.
Canada’s leaders knew that there would be a huge turnout to view Trudeau as he lay in State in the Hall of Honor in Ottawa. Little did they realize the masses that would stand in line for up to five hours to stand for a few minutes in front of the flag-draped coffin.

On Monday October 2, Trudeau’s body was loaded on a train. Justin and Sacha accompanied it to Montreal where it lay in State until the funeral on Tuesday. Thousands of people lined Montreal’s streets on Monday and when the body of the former Prime Minister arrived at Montreal’s City Hall, the crowd burst into cheers. Trudeau laid in State in the Hall of Honor until Tuesday morning when he was moved to Notre Dame Basilica for the funeral.
At the funeral, many dignitaries gave eulogies but when an emotional Justin Trudeau began to speak, the crowd paid special attention. Justin spoke of a man who taught his children to respect people of every race, color and creed – a man who, though strict, showed his family what the word “father” really meant. Pierre Trudeau would have been proud of his eldest son, who left the podium and broke into tears, his head laid against his father’s coffin. Canada is proud of Justin Trudeau, who at moments during his speech sounded much like the man who fathered him. I am sure Canada will hear more from this young man in the future.

The Trudeau family suffered an unbearable loss on September 28, 2000, as did the Nation of Canada. Pierre Elliott Trudeau, meant different things to many people. Prime Minister, statesman, author, journalist, lawyer, outdoorsman, intellectual and professor.
Pierre Trudeau, the man who fought for unity within the borders of Canada, for peace with every country in the world and for the rights and freedom of all. You touched the lives of so many, Pierre. You will never be forgotten.