Pierre Elliott Trudeau

the very honourable Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau , C.P., D.C., C.H., C.R., M.A., LL.L, LL.D., M.S.R.C , more known under the name of Pierre Elliott Trudeau (October 18th 1919 with Montreal - September 28th 2000 in Montreal), was a Canadian Politician . He exerted the functions of twice Prime Minister of Canada: April 20th 1968 with the June 3rd 1979, then March 3rd 1980 with the June 30th 1984.

It strongly marked the Canadian policy by various interventions. Its character blazing and intellectual was used to raise the recognition of the Canada on the world scene. Under Trudeau, Canada establishes relations with the communist China in 1970. As a Minister for Justice under To ballast Pearson, it put before the Bill Omnibus which legalized the Divorce, the Avortement and the Homosexualité; it abolishes as the Law against the Sodomie, noting as the State does not have businesses in the rooms to lay down nation . It was also responsible for the policies of the Multiculturalisme and the Bilinguisme.

Youth

Pierre Elliott Trudeau was born on October 18th 1919 with Montreal from a French Canadian contractor, Charles-Emile Trudeau, and of a lady of the English Canadian middle-class, Grace Elliott. Elder from a family of three children, Trudeau was born little from time after his/her father had founded the Automobile Owner' S Association : it is thus not in opulence, but in the financial tensions and fear of see the company sinking in the bankruptcy which he lived the first years of his life. It made its primary studies with the Querbes academy, then went to the Collège Jean-with-Brébeuf for its secondary studies. During these years, the network of service station of his/her father thrived until it sells it for the sum of a million dollars with the Imperial Oil . As from this moment, Trudeau could live in a financial comfort some.

During these years, Pierre was a fragile and timid child, not having developed yet the self-confidence and the eccentricity which would make its mark of the years later, at the time of his political career. His/her father knew as it was hard at the time to thrive for a French Canadian. He thus undertook to make his son coriace and malignant, the incentive to practice the Swedish gymnastics, the stick, the hockey and to put questions embarrassing with the adults, in order to exteriorize it. Pierre was accustomed to the exuberant character of his father and cut an increasingly important place in his universe.

In April 1935, Charles-Emile Trudeau died at the 47 years age, following a pneumonia. Pierre, then 15 years old, was deeply upset by it. He adopted an outrageous behavior then, insolate, causing and unforeseeable with his friends, to undoubtedly mask his distress. With its family, there remained the polished and discrete teenager who he had always been. Like being detached from his father, he forsook the popular activities which he practiced young person to launch out in courses of diction and sports solitary.

At the exit of Brébeuf, it was registered with the faculty of Droit of the Université of Montreal. Unfortunately, it found the courses tedious and useless, which led it to say that the study of the right to the Quebec in the the Forties carried out only to a poor life among people unable to align two ideas . It finishes however its courses and undertook to practice the right as trainee. It would then have joined the secret society of the Frères hunters [http://grandquebec.com/histoire/societ-freres-chasseurs/].

Its disinterest of the occupation of lawyer combined with the unpleasant social climate which reigned at that time in Quebec (it was the Second world war and the crisis of the conscription) led it to leave Canada in September 1944. Then 24 years old, Trudeau decided to make a control in political economy with the Université Harvard with the Massachusetts. After the war, it was registered with the Private school of political sciences of Paris. After one year, disappointed quality of the courses which were not worth those of Harvard, it went in England to study with the London School off Economics. It there followed the courses of the top-ranking executive of the English Workers party, Harold Lasky, and became thanks to this professor a fervent supporter of the socialist ideas. Then, still not finding its place in the company, he undertook a voyage around the lasting world which he crossed in particular the China to bicycle.

Trudeau returned to Quebec in 1949. Maurice Duplessis was then Prime Minister for Quebec and the province was industrialized while depending on the American investments. On its return, an illegal strike burst with Asbestos (the minors of the Amiante required better work conditions) and Trudeau decided to accompany Gerard Pelletier, his friend who went to Asbestos to follow the events on behalf of the newspaper the Duty . Very quickly, Pierre took party for the demonstrators by virulent speeches which drew the attention of the trade-union chief Jean Marchand and were worth to him to be briefly held by the local police. Then, its passion for the policy led it to postulate for a post of civil servant with Ottawa, station which it obtained, becoming thus civil servant attached to the private council during one year (until in 1951).

Then, of return to Quebec, he united with Free Cité *, a review attacking Duplessis and the preserving catholic clergy of Quebec. The principal author of this review was Gerard Pelletier. This last will become one of the largest collaborators and friends of Trudeau. This last thus published in Free Cité and the newspaper the suggesting Duty several articles of the social reforms and a greater equality. Then, in 1956, it coordinated the publication of the book the strike of Asbestos . Three years later, it accepted the medal of the president of the Université of Western Ontario for the best erudite test of the year: Nap Obstacles to Democracy in Quebec . The same year, Duplessis dies and, on June 22nd 1960, the provincial liberal of Jean Lesage seize the power. Trudeau became professor of constitutional Law then but, very quickly, it launches out in policy by being presented in the form of a liberal candidate . With the elections of 1965, it was elected appointed of Mount-Royal. Pearson (the Canadian Prime Minister at the time) chooses it then to be its parliamentary secretary. In 1967, it became, always under Pearson, Minister for Justice. In December, it filed in a bill legalizing the Avortement, the Divorce and the Homosexualité. In press conference, he pronounced, to justify his point of view, a quotation which will remain famous: The State does not have anything to make in the rooms lay down nation . In 1967, Pearson organized a constitutional conference of the Prime Ministers where Trudeau, as a federal minister for Justice, largely dominated the debates, which increased its popularity. When Pearson took its retirement later a few weeks, Trudeau gained, although with difficulty (with the 4th turn against Robert Winters), the race with the cheffery of the Liberal party of Canada, becoming by the fact even the fifteenth Prime Minister of Canada.

Trudeau and Québécois souverainism

As soon as he was elected Prime Minister, Trudeau endeavoured to make of Canada a true pluralist country where various ethnicities could live in harmony. One of the notorious gestures that it made in this direction was to adopt the law on the official languages, officializing by the fact even the bilingual character of Canada by obliging the federal institutions to offer services in English and French to the size of the country and creating the station of police chief to the official languages.

In spite of the efforts of the federal liberal to transform Canada into true multiethnic federation, the Inhabitants of Quebec started to assert the Indépendance of their province. More the extremists formed the Front of Release of Quebec (FLQ), a network extremist promoting the Québécois sovereignty by radical acts. In October 1970, they removed the British diplomat James Richard Cross and carried out the provincial Minister for work, Pierre Laporte. They made also handmade bombs which they deposited in the letter-boxes of the anglophone districts of Montreal, thus aiming a very federalistic symbol, the station. At the request of the Prime Minister for Quebec, Robert Bourassa and of the mayor of Montreal, Jean Flag, Trudeau then had to apply discussed the law to the measures of war, thus allowing the armed to patrol in the streets, to impose a Couvre-feu and to stop suspects without mandates. These measurements, severe, were disputed and considered to be nonnecessary by the Québécois majority.

One of the keenest adversaries of Trudeau has without any doubt be Rene Lévesque. Provincial former minister liberal, it founded the Parti Québécois with which it gained the elections of 1976. The Québécois Party being of allegiance souverainist, several skirmishes proceeded between the two men at the time of the federal-provincial conferences. Rene Lévesque founded the Loi 101, proclaiming by the fact even French only Official language in Quebec.

The true confrontation arrived with the advertisement of the referendum on sovereignty association. November 1st, 1979, the government pequist published his white paper, true platform chief clerk, and announced the behavior of an imminent referendum. Claude Ryan, then chief of the Official opposition with Quebec and chief of the provincial Liberal party, then concludes with Lévesque that the federal one should not intervene in the countryside and that Ryan would be thus the chief of Not. Unfortunately, rather than to prepare seriously, the provincial liberals composed a document named a new Canadian federation on which they wanted to be based for the countryside chief clerk. The Liberal party of Quebec thus made poor figure in the parliamentary debates. When the official countryside started, the victory of Yes seemed assured.

The federal liberals, vis-a-vis the incompetence of Ryan, agreed that they were to act. Trudeau discussed lengthily with Ryan and the convainquit to forget its beige book (nickname given to the document a new Canadian federation ). Then, it named Jean Chrétien, then Minister for Justice, person in charge of the referendum. This last created a team of crisis management installed at the Office of the provincial federal relations (BRFP). Gradually, Chrétien took the control of the camp of Not. The federal counter-attack could start.

A long campaign of door with door and impassioned speeches began then. The camp of Not had the advantage of being able to count on the Prime Ministers for the anglophone provinces, which affirmed one by one that it was not question that them province has any association economic (as Lévesque suggested it) with independent Quebec: one would regard it as a foreign country. The federal ministers intervened also illegally during the countryside in favor of Not. For example, Monique Bégin, Minister for national Health and the social Wellbeing, made accompany by one inserted bilingual the check of family benefit accepted by several Canadian families: " Not thank you: that says bien". A slogan which was with double direction for the Inhabitants of Quebec. The mid-April, Trudeau benefitted from the Speech from the throne to sabotage the arguments of Yes and to launch a call to the federalism. Then, it launched out in a round to Quebec where it pronounced three of its greater speeches.

This response of Not, combined with the monumental errors that were going to make Lise Payette, minister pequist, and Rene Lévesque, made change the wind of edge. Indeed, Lise Payette militated for a long time to withdraw the Sexisme school handbooks. During the program, it showed this sexism by reading an extract of a school handbook of second year telling the history of Yvette, a flexible little girl and without ambitions. But, very quickly, it was carried and told how it, had already been a Yvette. She also says that Claude Ryan was the type of man who wished to see the women remaining of Yvettes. Then, and it was its greater error, it declared: " In any event, it married a Yvette. "

Dye stick Bissonnette, leader-writer with the daily newspaper the Duty reacts with vehemence to its insults to the women of Quebec by publishing a shingling article where she showed Lise Payette of sexism: the latter had attacked the wife of Ryan (a very socially implied woman) by the means of her husband. She wrote:

" Through it, it is not Claude Ryan only Lise Payette insults but all these women whom it has responsibility of defend …  When women applaud these low blows, it is their own dignity, their own solidarity which they bury and little of progress towards the respect that they obtained during the last années." .

Following this monumental boob of the camp souverainist, Not attracted more than 5.000 women to a brunch with the Château Frontenac. Large federalists such Jeanne Saved and Therese Casgrain denounced this élitiste attack there.

Trudeau made its last speech on the referendum on May 14th in the center Paul Sauvé. It defended the Canadian federalism passionately, showing Lévesque to mislead the souverainists and to be illogical. Then it was denied the insult that this last had addressed six days to him earlier:

" And one must also say NOT to the contempt because it is there that they arrived from there. Me was repeated that Mr. Lévesque said that part of my name was Elliott and that, as Elliott is an English name, it was perfectly comprehensible that I militate on the side of Not, because I am not as Québécois as those which will vote Oui. That, my dear friends, it is contempt. I.e. the Inhabitants of Quebec which will vote Non are not as good Inhabitants of Quebec as the others and as perhaps one or two blood drops foreigner runs in their veins, whereas the blood of holding of Yes is pure… Of course, my name is Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Yes, Elliott, it was the name of my mother, see you. It was the name of Elliott which came to Canada there is more than two hundred years. It is the name of Elliott which settled with Saint-Gabriel-of-Torch, where you can still see their tomb with the cemetery, there is more than one hundred years. It is that, Elliott. My name is Québécois, my name is Canadian also, and then it is that my name. "

Trudeau concludes by announcing that at the following day victory Not, it would begin to renew the constitution, to make real changes.

" Here, I solonnellement address to all the Canadians other provinces. We put our seats concerned, us, appointed of Quebec, because we say to the Inhabitants of Quebec to not vote. And we say to you with you other provinces that we will not accept then whom this NOT is interpreted by you as an indication that all is well then that all can remain as it was before. We want change, we put our seats concerned to have change! "

May 20th, 1980 in Quebec, proceeded the referendum. 60% of the Inhabitants of Quebec voted Non and 40% Oui. Trudeau respected its promise to renew the federation. However, it did not take account of the aspirations of the Inhabitants of Quebec.

The repatriation of the constitution

May 21st, 1980, Trudeau declared with the House of Commons which it was going to repatriate and renew the Canadian constitution, A.A.N.B the evening even, Jean Chrétien flew away towards the provincial capital to probe the opinion of the provinces. It met only 9 Prime Ministers since Rene Lévesque, still upset its defeat chief clerk, refused to meet it. Trudeau designated Michael Kirby, a professor of data processing being unaware of all constitution, but skilful in art to make compromises, assistant executive BRPF. Thus, Kirby was to assist Chrétien.

June 9th, 1980, was held with Ottawa a conference of the Prime Ministers. Trudeau then presented the principal points to them which he wanted to incorporate in a new Canadian constitution: equality of the minorities compared to the english-speaking, not of particular status for Quebec, more capacities at the federal government to control the economy, etc Its proposal contained the repatriation of the current A.A.N.B, a preamble, a formula of amendment and a Canadian Charte of the rights and freedoms. Obviously, the provinces were outraged that the federal government asks more for capacities and refused from the start this proposal. The only compromise to which the two groups arrived was the setting-up of the permanent departmental Committee on the constitution. This committee met four times in the state without producing concrete results.

In September 1980, Trudeau again convened a constitutional conference of the Prime Ministers with an aim of convincing them to accept its project. The Ontario and the New Brunswick supported it, but the refusal of the eight other provinces made about impossible any negotiation. Trudeau thus announced, on October 2nd, that it would try to repatriate the constitution unilaterally. Thus, it expressed its intention to make vote with the House of Commons and the Sénat a resolution asking the Parlement of London to adopt the modifications which it proposed with a.A.N.B. Deputies asserted at once the behavior of parliamentary audiences on the subject. Trudeau thus had to create the Hays-Joyal commission, which slows down much its plan, but had at least the positive effect to legitimate the constitution and to prove its utility. Indeed, several groups of citizens came to the audiences to affirm the importance to incorporate this or that in the Charter of the rights and freedoms, thus proving its need.

Meanwhile, provincial the Prime Ministers plotted. They met on October 14th urgently. Richard Hatfield (Prime Minister of New Brunswick) and Bill Davis (Prime Minister for Ontario) was quickly forsaken since they were favorable to the measurement of unilateralism put of before by Trudeau. The 8 other provinces leagued together against the project to form what one called the band of the eight . They agreed on a strategy resting primarily on the dispute of the federal project in front of the courts and the British government.

It is in this context that a Canadian delegation went to London to expose their request to the Parliament. Margaret Thatcher (which was then Prime Minister of England) had previously ensured Trudeau of its support, but the opposition of certain British deputies slows down the project. The dissenting provinces benefitted from it to go to London to rejoin deputies with their cause. The Québécois Government named Gilles Loiselle, souverainist convinced, with the Quebec Housse . This last draws up a list of deputies likely to be opposed to the repatriation of the constitution and invited them to large banquets paid by Quebec. It went even until revealing confidential informations with Labor deputy so that it requests a study of the Canadian proposal by the committee of the external businesses. That led to the Kershaw commission, which one charged with analyzing the Canadian proposal. The federal ones, supporting that only their proposal was good and that the provinces did not have any reason to dispute it, boycotted it. This commission thus granted naturally its support to the provinces, by affirming that “the British Parliament could not unconditionally accept the constitutional validity of any request emanating of the Canadian Parliament without a broad approval of provinces.”. 7

With the mid-February 1981, Jean Chrétien deposited a new version of the government project on the constitution following the recommendations of the Hays-Joyal commission. The modifications suggested inter alia guarantees higher than the individual freedoms are respected. The provinces, as for them, proud of their London success, reflect in swing the second phase of their strategy: the dispute in front of the courts. They chose three provincial courts to defend their cause: Court of Appeal of the Manitoba, supreme court of Newfoundland and Court of Appeal of the Quebec. It is Manitoba which decided in first, giving reason to the federal one. The joy of the trudeauists was however of short duration since on March 31st, the supreme court of Newfoundland declared that the federal government “was not entitled to present an amendment which would directly affect the provisions of a.A.N.B concerning the federal-provincial relations… without to have obtained the prior agreement of the provinces.”. Thus, since a court gave reason to the provinces, although the Court of Appeal of Quebec it also ruled in favor of federal a little later the federal government was constrained to ask the Supreme court of Canada to come to a conclusion about the constitutionality of the proposal for a unilateral repatriation of Trudeau.

During five days, at the end of April and at the beginning of May 1981, the judges listened to the various parties. Then, it took them five months to hand down their judgment. September 28th, the judges announced finally that with 6 votes against 3, they were in favor of the thesis of the provinces which any amendment requires their substantial agreement (and nonunanimous). However, they were with 7 votes against 2 of opinion that it was perfectly legal to dispatch the proposal of Trudeau to London although that is, according to them, politically illegitimate. In short, they had given reason partly and to the provinces and federal to encourage them to take again the negotiations. Trudeau thus agree to organize an ultimate conference, to try last once to arrive at an agreement with the band of the eight.

On Monday, November 2, 1981, opened in Ottawa a second constitutional conference of the Prime Ministers. However, this time, the two parties were ready to negotiate. For example, the Prime Minister for Ontario (which was for repatriation) agree to separate traditional right of Veto which had him and Quebec and which were included in the constitution project Canadian. The following day, he also proposed that the provinces accept the Charter of the rights and freedoms in exchange that the federal one accepts the formula of amendment innate Alberta (which obliged a unanimous vote of the provinces like pre-necessary to any constitutional modification). With its great surprise, Trudeau disallowed this proposal.

It is Wednesday that dynamics really changed. Indeed, Trudeau suggested with the provinces a national Référendum on the repatriation of the constitution (thing to which the provinces had been always opposed) and Rene Lévesque accepted. It took a few hours for the pequists to realize of the monumental error that their chief had made. This last had contravened a paramount rule of the band of the eight: to consult each other before changing position. For the 7 other dissenting provinces, it was as if Lévesque had concluded an agreement with Trudeau and they also hastened of parlementer with the federal one of fear of being put on side at the time of a possible agreement.

Christian prepared a new proposal which included the formula of amendment of Alberta, the possibility for the provinces of being withdrawn from a federal program to replace it by a provincial program, but without financial equalization of Ottawa and the right to education in their language with the minorities. Civils servant of all the delegations except that of Quebec met in the continuation of the Saskatchewan to haggle on certain points of the proposal of Christian. They are reflected all agreement and Trudeau, although reticent the beginning, granted to give its agreement when Davis invited it to announce the proposals to him on which had agreed the provinces. With Hull, where remained the Québécois delegation, one knew that something was woven in Ottawa, but the civils servant did not slip of it a word with Rene Lévesque. In the night from November 6th to 7th 1981, the Prime Ministers for the anglophone provinces got along in the absence of Lévesque on a federal proposal. The 7, all the Prime Ministers except Lévesque ratified the proposal of Christian. The Québécois delegation returned to it, feeling betrayed by the intrigues of the other provinces at the time of the preceding evening, which one was not long in calling the night of the long knives.

Reprocess

Trudeau announces its imminent withdrawal of the political life to the beginning of the year 1984. However, it tends to cling to the capacity that it remains to him. Moreover, before leaving his station of Prime Minister, it names at several stations - liberal keys a great number of faithful to his cause.

Trudeau leaves officially the policy on June 30th, 1984. It turns over thus to Montreal, its birthplace, and is devoted to the practice of the Droit for various private companies. Moreover, he travels a little everywhere in the world, such as he did it all his life.

In 1987, when the Prime Minister for Canada, Brian Mulroney, presents to the Canadians the constitutional Accord of the lake Meech, Trudeau takes again the word on the public place. He criticizes with vehemence this agreement which, according to him, Canada would return completely impotent . It will make some in the same way at the time of the referendum on the constitutional Accord of Charlottetown, in 1992.

Pierre Elliott-Trudeau will remain however absent at the time of the second referendum on the independence of Quebec held on October 30th, 1995. Pierre Elliott Trudeau died on September 28th, 2000. Its national funeral took place in the Basilique Notre-Dame of Montreal, the October 3rd.

Other achievements

August 1st

The national energy program

In 1980, it gives its agreement to the installation of the national energy Programme intended inter alia promoting the oil self-sufficiency of Canada while supporting low price. This program also includes/understands the Nationalization Canadian credits of five oil companies of which GULF, British Petroleum and Texaco. The company, founded under the name of Pétro-Canada, will make it possible the government to have a foot in the oil sector. Pétro-Canada will be of good part privatized at the end of the Années 1990. This program will modify appreciably oil market with Canada, and will create conditions which will financially disadvantage the Western Canadian, who benefits from the repercussions of oil, with the profit of the consuming provinces.

Impact with the international level

Concerning the international policy, Trudeau will leave the " third voie" like heritage, i.e. the diversification of the partners in order to escape the imperialism states-unien. Trudeau visits, to the great displeasure the United States, a country like Cuba, and is the first leading North-American to join again the relations with the China. Its arrogance with the president Nixon also strongly characterized it throughout the world.

Abortion

Of Catholic confession, Pierre Trudeau expressed his party taken in favor of the Avortement. The pope Benoît XVI declared on this subject that such political representatives had excommunicated themselves of the Église.

Heritage

The legacy of Pierre Elliott Trudeau is the subject largely of evaluations varying according to the political convictions their authors. Strong resentments remain in its connection especially in the Western Canadian, where one regarded his policy as too favorable towards the Ontario, the Quebec and the nationalist inhabitants of Quebec; one either did not forgive him his national energy Programme, which one shows to have ruined the flourishing economy of the West in the Années 1970.

On the other hand, of many Québécois nationalists strongly disapprove the man as for his policies of repression vis-a-vis the movement souverainist. In the same way, several federalists (of which Claude Ryan) and nationalists (whose Rene Lévesque) disapproves the redefinition of the Confédération of 1867 that Trudeau in 1982 carried out with the provinces with a majority english-speaking, without the agreement of the only State representing the other nation founder of Canada, Quebec.

Despite everything, one generally intends oneself to say that it largely contributed has to modernize the country as much at the political level that legislative. Pierre Trudeau largely contributed to the vision which the Canadians have today of their country. It remains, well beyond the borders of its party, an inspiration for a whole generation of politicians.

Homages

After his death, one re-elected the international airport of Montreal-Dorval the Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau International airport of Montreal in his honor, which made to sourciller several people among the population of Quebec. Indeed, it was under its government which saw the day the airport of Mirabel, an ambitious project which was to replace the air terminal of Dorval like site of international transit and for which one expropria inordinately. Mirabel will be finally dedicated to the failure and will definitively close its doors with the passenger traffic in November 2004.

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