Trudeau, Pierre Elliott,
Politician, writer, constitutional lawyer, prime minister of Canada 1968-79 and 1980-84 (b at Montréal 18 Oct 1919). Trudeau was born into a wealthy family, the son of a successful French Canadian businessman and a mother of Scottish ancestry. Educated at the Jesuit Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, U de M, Harvard and London School of Economics, he also travelled extensively in his youth.
Upon his return to Québec from a year's travels in 1949, he supported the unions in the bitter ASBESTOS STRIKE, a formative event in postwar Québec society. In 1956 he edited a book on the strike, to which he contributed an introduction and conclusion criticizing the province's dominant social, economic and political values.
Political Reformer
After serving briefly in Ottawa as an adviser to the Privy Council Office in 1950-51, Trudeau returned to Montréal and devoted his energies to opposing the Union Nationale government of Maurice DUPLESSIS and agitating for social and political change. With other young intellectuals he founded the review CITÉ LIBRE. In this and other forums, Trudeau sought to rouse opposition to what he believed were reactionary and inward-looking elites. In the process, he picked up a reputation as a radical and a socialist, although the values he espoused were closer to those of liberalism and democracy.
After the Liberal victory in the 1960 provincial election, the QUIET REVOLUTION fulfilled some of Trudeau's hopes for change. At the same time, it revealed a deep rift between Trudeau and many of his former colleagues who were moving toward the idea of an independent Québec. A law professor at U de M by the 1960s, Trudeau became a sharp critic of the contemporary Québec nationalism and argued for a Canadian FEDERALISM in which English and French Canada would find a new equality.
In 1965 Trudeau, with union leader Jean MARCHAND and journalist Gérard PELLETIER, joined the federal LIBERAL PARTY and was elected to Parliament. Trudeau was later appointed a parliamentary secretary to PM Lester PEARSON, and was named minister of justice in 1967. In the latter post, he gained national attention for his introduction of divorce law reform and for Criminal Code amendments liberalizing the laws on abortion, homosexuality, and public lotteries. He also established a reputation as a defender of a strong federal government against the nationalist demands of Québec.
Leader and Prime Minister
He was persuaded to contest the Liberal leadership in 1968 and was elected on the fourth ballot; on 20 Apr 1968 he was sworn in as Canada's fifteenth prime minister. In the ensuing general election - which was dominated by "Trudeau-mania" - his government won a majority, and thus he began a period in office which was to last longer than that of any other prime minister, save Mackenzie KING and Sir John A. MACDONALD.
The most dramatic event of his first government was the OCTOBER CRISIS of 1970, precipitated by the kidnapping of British diplomat James Cross and of Québec Cabinet minister Pierre LAPORTE by the terrorist FRONT DE LIBÉRATION DU QUÉ BEC (FLQ). In response, Trudeau invoked the WAR MEASURES ACT, with its extraordinary powers of arrest, detention and censorship. Shortly after, Laporte was murdered by his abductors. Controversy over the appropriateness of these emergency measures and their effect on liberal democracy in Canada and Québec has continued to the present.
Less dramatic, but of lasting significance, was the OFFICIAL LANGUAGES ACT, a central feature of Trudeau's new federalism. At the same time, he began to improve the position of francophones in Ottawa. A growing antibilingual backlash in English Canada, however, was one result of these policies. Western Canada's growing alienation against a perceived lack of interest in western economic problems and in western perspectives on national issues also began in his first term.
An important initiative in government brought about under Trudeau's direction was the attempt to centralize and nationalize decisionmaking under nondirect control of the PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE and by CENTRAL AGENCIES such as the PRIVY COUNCIL OFFICE and the TREASURY BOARD.
Minority Government
Although very much along the lines of administrative reorganization in Washington and in other Western capitals, these changes proved controversial, leading critics to charge inefficiency and the undermining of the role of Parliament and Cabinet. In the 1972 election, Trudeau came close to losing office and was forced to form a MINORITY GOVERNMENT with the support of the NDP.
In 1971 Trudeau, hitherto a bachelor, married Margaret Sinclair, daughter of a former Liberal Cabinet minister. Their tempestuous marriage, beset by many well-publicized differences, finally ended in separation in 1977 and divorce in 1984, with Trudeau retaining custody of their 3 sons, Justin, Sasha and Michel.
After restoring a Liberal majority in 1974, Trudeau faced the effects of inflation. In an atmosphere of economic crisis, various expedients were tried, including mandatory WAGE AND PRICE CONTROLS in 1975. This economic crisis was compounded in 1976 when the PARTI QUÉBÉCOIS under René LÉVESQUE was elected to office, party and man dedicated to Québec independence.
Defeat and Resurrection
In 1979 Trudeau and the Liberals suffered a narrow defeat at the polls. A few months later, he announced his intention to resign as Liberal leader and to retire from public life. Three weeks after this announcement, the Progressive Conservative government of Joe CLARK was defeated in the Commons and a new general election was called. Trudeau was persuaded by the Liberal caucus to remain as leader, and on 8 Feb 1980 - less than 3 months after his retirement - he was returned once again as prime minister with a parliamentary majority, thus accomplishing a remarkable resurrection.
Trudeau's last period in office as prime minister was eventful. His personal intervention in the 1980 QUÉBEC REFERENDUM campaign on SOVEREIGNTY-ASSOCIATION was significant. The defeat of the Parti Québécois's proposition was a milestone in his crusade against Québec separatism. In the wake of that victory, Trudeau pushed strongly for an accord on a new Canadian constitution.
Unable to gain provincial agreement, he introduced into Parliament a unilateral federal initiative to "patriate" the BNA Act to Canada with an amending formula and an entrenched CANADIAN CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS. There followed one of the epic federal-provincial battles of Canadian history, culminating in the final compromise and the proclamation of the CONSTITUTION ACT, 1982 on 17 Apr 1982.
With the inclusion of entrenched minority language and education rights, and a charter of individual rights, Trudeau had thus fulfilled a goal he had set himself upon entering public life (see CONSTITUTION, PATRIATION OF).
In other areas, his 1980-84 government was less successful. Continued inflation and high levels of unemployment, along with huge federal deficits, cut deeply into his popular support. His government's National Energy Program, one of the major government interventions in the economy since WWII, further alienated the energy-producing regions in Western Canada.
Foreign Affairs
A continuing problem that plagued his entire term of office was that of CANADIAN-AMERICAN RELATIONS. Trudeau often played an ambiguous role with regard to the US, but in his last period in office he moved toward a more nationalist position in economic relations with the US, and began to criticize its foreign and defence policies more freely than in the past. At the same time the policies of US Pres Reagan's administration were becoming more damaging to many of Canada's economic interests.
In these years Trudeau devoted more and more time to the international stage, first to encouraging a "North-South" dialogue between the wealthy industrial nations and the underdeveloped countries, and then in 1983-84 to a personal peace initiative in which he visited leaders in several countries in both the eastern and western blocs to persuade them to negotiate the reduction of nuclear weapons and to lower the level of Cold War tensions. These activities led to his being awarded the Albert Einstein Peace Prize.
At the same time, his government was responsible for the decision to allow US testings of the Cruise missile, which roused widespread opposition from Canadians concerned about the worsening nuclear arms race.
Resignation
Public opinion in Canada remained hostile to Trudeau and the Liberals from 1981 on. His personal style - sometimes charismatic, sometimes contemptuous of opposition, often mercurial and unpredictable - seemed to have become less of an electoral asset in difficult economic times. On 29 Feb 1984, Trudeau announced his intention to retire; on June 30 he left office, and his successor, John TURNER, was sworn in. In 1985 he became a Companion of the Order of Canada. His retirement has been relatively low profile, although in 1987-88 he went public to strongly oppose the MEECH LAKE ACCORD and the Charlottetown Accord. In 1993 Trudeau published his book Memoirs , based on a five-part miniseries by the CBC.
Trudeau's career as prime minister was one of electoral success, matched in this century only by Mackenzie King. Moreover, he served longer than every other contemporary leader in the Western world, becoming the elder statesman of the West. His achievements include the 1980 defeat of Québec separatism, official bilingualism, the patriated Constitution and the Charter of Rights.
Trudeau was unable, however, to alleviate the alienation of Western Canada or to end the conflict between federal and provincial governments. He left office much as he had entered it, a controversial figure with strong supporters and equally strong critics. That he was one of the dominant figures in 20th-century Canada is indisputable.
Author: REG WHITAKER |
