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Pierre Elliot Trudeau 1919-2000
The Right Honorable Pierre Elliot Trudeau was the Prime Minister of Canada for most of the years between 1968 and 1984. He died on Thursday, September 28, 2000 from prostate cancer. He was born in Montreal, Quebec on October 18, 1919 and given the name Pierre Philippe Yves Elliot Trudeau.
The son of a French speaking father and English-speaking mother, he possessed that ideal Canadian talent known as perfect bilingualism. It was his love for Canada and his home province of Quebec that finally drove him into politics in the 1960’s. He was bilingual and believed that all Canadians should be, too. He was a Canadian nationalist and felt that politics would be the way that he could do battle with separatist elements and keep Quebec in Canada.
Mr. Trudeau quietly entered politics in the fall of the year 1965. A law professor at the University of Montreal, he had been a critic of the Liberal Party for fifteen years before deciding to join them and run for a seat in Parliament in the upcoming national elections. He won a seat in the riding of Town of Mount Royal on his first attempt.
He was soon given the portfolio of justice minister and made his mark on the nation with his famous “omnibus bill”. The new law decriminalized homosexual activity, other sexual activities previously deemed illegal and vulgar, and allowed for therapeutic abortions when the mother’s health was threatened. The bill also allowed for the Breathalyzer test to be used on suspected drunk drivers. This new outlook was a watershed in Canadian legal history. Mr. Trudeau’s famous quote to reporters was “There is no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation.”
In 1968, then Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson retired and Mr. Trudeau decided to run for the leadership of the Liberal Party. Mr. Trudeau won a leadership race that was contested by a large slate of aspirants, a leadership convention where he won every ballot. A wealthy 48-year-old bachelor, he incited “Trudeaumania” wherever he appeared. He represented fresh new hope and ideas. His style was a marked contrast to the stodgy Canadian politics of the past. Later that same year he became Prime Minister of Canada in a general election.
Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s first years in office were exciting and star studded. His promise of a new “just society” was on everyone’s mind and lips. In 1969 he was photographed with John Lennon and Yoko Ono on their “Give Peace a Chance” tour. He was also known in Hollywood as the man who was dating Barbara Streisand in 1970.
Those heady days were interrupted when the FLQ (Front de liberation du Quebec) kidnapped a government minister and a British diplomat. The FLQ were a separatist-terrorist group with the aim of overthrowing the Canadian Government in Quebec. Mr. Trudeau reacted quickly by outlawing the FLQ and proclaiming the War Measures Act in order to apprehend suspected terrorists without warrant. One of the kidnap victims was murdered and the terrorists were exiled. Some went to Cuba.
In 1971 Pierre Trudeau married the twenty-two year old Margaret Sinclair. After three children (all boys) and a stormy relationship, the marriage ended in 1977. In 1979, after three consecutive election victories for the Liberals, they lost the election of that year to the progressive Conservatives under their new leader, Joe Clark. Mr. Trudeau resigned for a short time but returned to lead the Liberals to another victory in 1980.In that same year there was a referendum held on Quebec independence and Mr. Trudeau campaigned hard for the “no” side, which won easily.
His greatest achievements came during this last term as he repatriated the constitution, which had been in England, and entrenched the Charter of Rights and freedoms as part of the new constitution. In the negotiations between the ten provinces and the Federal Government, Quebec’s Parti Quebecois could not be satisfied so the constitution was signed by all of the provinces except Quebec. This has been a thorn in Quebec’s and Canada’s side here ever since.
Pierre Elliot Trudeau left politics in 1984. He retired to a quiet life working in a legal office and rarely made public appearances. He devoted most of his free time to his three sons, whom he doted on. He came out of retirement briefly in 1988 to voice his objections to the Meech Lake Accord. This accord was another effort to get Quebec’s signature on the constitution. He saw it as an agreement that weakened the federation and such was his influence in the country that the accord was defeated.
He could be seen daily walking the streets of Montreal on his way to and from work. Close friends say that he was never the same after his youngest son Michel died in an avalanche while skiing in British Columbia in 1998. The last year of his life he had been suffering from Parkinson’s and prostate cancer and had a stroke.
His two remaining sons, Justin and Sasha, along with his former wife Margaret, were at his bedside when he died. He would have turned 81 in October 2000. He was the first Canadian born Prime Minister in the 20th century.
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