Pierre Trudeau Pierre Elliot Trudeau was the Prime Minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and again from 1980 to 1984. During his time he impacted Canada in variety of ways and became one of most important political figures in Canadian history. With his political actions, and unique personality among the Canadian public,made him an unforgettable figure.
Pierre Elliot Trudeau was born on October 18, 1919 in Montreal Quebec. The son of a successful French Canadian businessman and lawyer. Trudeau grew up in Outremont; he grew up in a very prestigious neighborhood. His mother Grace Trudeau, was of a French and Scottish decent. Both of Trudeau’s parents were Catholics, they enlisted him in Jesuits college which impacted his childhood and his education
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His government become more independent from US politics and reduced its engagement with NATO. Trudeau pushed for French Canadians rights by making French one of the official languages in Canada.(Pierre Elliot Trudeau,Encyclopedia). This illustrates the political view and actions that Trudeau has as prime minister. Trudeau wanted Canada to be united and by making French an official language of Canada and becoming more independent in Canada and less dependent on US made …show more content…
The crisis involved members of the terrorist organization Front de liberation du Quebec (FLQ) . They started placing bombs in random public places. The majority of these terrorist were nationalist from Quebec to achieve the goal separation from the federation. These attacks resulted the abduction James Cross a British diplomat and Pierre Laporte, a minister in the provincial government. These had some demands which included a ransom of $500,000.Trudeau refused to meets these demands since it would only lead to more attacks and greater demands. “The War Measures Act gave police the power to arrest people without warrant, and 497 were arrested”(Wikipedia) the night after the act Laporte was murdered . With the act and tough actions he made an end to all terrorist activities and freed James Cross. This described how Trudeau played a huge role on the protection of
French and English Canadians wanted. Laurier wanted to promote national unity in order to protect
Pierre Elliot Trudeau was the fifteenth prime minister of Canada. He had many accomplishments that benefited all of Canada which include the official language act of Canada where he made French and English the official languages, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, and the liberalization of laws on abortion, homosexuality and the legalization of lotteries. These are only a few of the many accomplishments that Pierre Trudeau achieved for Canada while his position in Parliament that was important.
Pierre Trudeau was Prime Minister from April 20, 1968, to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980, to June 30, 1984. He was known as a womanizer and a super star. This was extremely odd for a Canadian politician getting this much attention especially in this time period. While he was an entertainer and a bachelor, he was also a very smart man. He began his journey into joining the liberal party and was appointed Lester B. Pearson’s parliamentary secretary and later became
Canada has had many prime ministers that have contributed and held back Canada in shaping Canada’s identity over the past century however nobody has came close to helping as Mackenzie king who protected Canada during world war 2, brought Canada through the great depression with industrialization, and he helped create national unity and independence. Canada would not be the same country it is today without the fine leading of mackenzie king.
In 1980, he and his party, Parti Quebecois, called a referendum on the topic of Quebec sovereignty. He asked the Quebecois to present his government with a mandate to negotiate with Canada for a new agreement based on sovereignty-association. This meant that Quebec would become independent from Canada politically but stay closely associated with Canada economically. The partnership would mean free trade between Quebec and Canada; both nations would have the same currency and both would have the same tariffs on imported goods. Prime Minister Trudeau promised the negotiation of a new constitution that would recognize Quebec as a distinct society in Canada and an equal partner in confederation. Then, during the referendum, only 40% of the Quebecois actually voted for sovereignty-association. This referendum caused a rift between the people in Quebec because it led to Trudeau making an opposing argument that split Quebecois opinions. They remained divided on the issue as shown by the close vote for the referendum, which shows the separation in views. Additionally, the referendum not only caused tensions among fellow Quebecois, but also between the Quebecois and English Canadians. Quebec was trying to separate from Canada in order to distance itself from other Canadian cultures and preserve its own. So the fact that
Pierre Trudeau is one of Canada’s most renowned Prime Ministers. He was in office April 20, 1968, to June 4, 1979, and later on March 3, 1980, to June 30, 1984,.¹ An event that Pierre Trudeau is well known for is the enactment of the War Measures Act during the October Crisis. This decision to invoke the War Measures Act during the October Crisis has led to a great deal of controversy on whether the act was justified. The October Crisis was a series of events in October 1970, these events began with the kidnappings of James Cross and later Pierre Laporte by the group known as the FLQ (Front de libération du Québec) the group’s main goals were to create an independent Quebec.2 The group resorted to terrorist acts in order to achieve those goals, this later led to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invoking the War Measures Act. The War Measures Act was a federal statute adopted by parliament during WWI and has been used 3 times; during WWI, WWII and during the October Crisis. The act gives major power to the Canadian government to uphold security during times of great distress.3 Pierre Trudeau was justified in enacting the War Measures Act during the October Crisis. One reason that Pierre Trudeau was justified in invoking the War Measures Act is that the FLQ was essentially a terrorist organization responsible for the deaths and injuries of countless people. Since the group was formed in the early 1960’s, the terrorist group’s acts had only worsened from mailbox bombings to
Pierre Trudeau is the greatest Canadian of the twentieth century due to the fact that he declared Canada’s independence from Great Britain, he abolished the death penalty, and he created the Official Languages Act, making our nation entirely bilingual.
Trudeau himself was a liberal. One of the core beliefs of liberal ideology is that of individual rights, meaning that
Pierre Trudeau has had an impact on the Canadian legal system and society by bringing more of an attraction to lower status groups, having an influence on others, and changing laws in Canada. Many Canadians believe Trudeau did not have a positive effect on Canada but as the minister of justice and the prime minister of Canada, he has succeeded in his attempt of making Canada a safer and established country for all. Under the social welfare measures in 1968, Trudeau made the Divorce Act a federal law which previously was a provincial jurisdiction. Pierre Trudeau’s first move as prime minister was giving French and English equal status in Canada and making them the languages of parliament for debates and records. After failing at many attempts
In the midst of the October Crisis Pierre Trudeau handled the time of terrorism well. In this essay one will see how Trudeau handled the crisis excellently by examining the first domestic use of the War Measures Act which led to improvements on the Act, ensuring that Quebec did not become its own independent country, and how Canada stood behind and supported Quebec and Pierre Trudeau through the acts of violence led by the FLQ.
Tommy C. Douglas, a politician, Baptist minister, premier of Saskatchewan and first leader of the NDP party was the greatest Canadian. His family had provided a strong background for politics. When he had moved to Canada in 1919, he witnessed the Winnipeg General Strike. From there on, he became a Baptist Minister and the Premier of Saskatchewan in 1944.
During the 15 years as prime minister of Canada, Pierre Elliott Trudeau treated Quebec equally which helped Quebec stay united with Canada. Pierre Elliott Trudeau stated that "I am trying to put Quebec in its place — and the place of Quebec is in Canada."(Pierre Elliot Trudeau, "Quotes by Prime Minsters- Pierre Trudeau”). Quebec place is in Canada because Quebec had a major impact for Canada confederation. This is why Pierre Trudeau said this to the country. Pierre Trudeau passed a bill that was called Official Languages Act in 1969, that made English and French the official languages of Canada.The act declared that “the English and the French languages are the official languages of Canada, for all purposes of the Parliament and Government of Canada and possess and enjoy equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and Government of Canada.” (Cruxton, Bradley and Douglas Wilson, “The Official Language Act 1969”) Until that time, only 14 percent of the high rank government jobs were held by French Canadian, even though they made 25 percent of Canada population. Pierre Trudeau believed that the Official Languages Act was the only way to keep the French heritage in Canada and to treat the Quebec people equally like English Canadians. Trudeau’s ability to keep French and English Canadians
Canadian to be treated as an equal. Culturally, Trudeau wanted to celebrate and unite the
Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau decided to implement a solution to finally stop the French Canadians and English Canadians from constantly fighting with each other. Therefore, he developed and passed the Official Languages Act, which was an act that would finally recognize the equal status of English and French throughout the federal administration, and ensure that all federal institutions provide their services in English or French at the customer's choice. This act allowed for French Canadians to no longer be seen as a minority in Canada and to finally be recognized for who they are. Having Prime Minister Trudeau work very hard to pass this act showed French Canadians that the Federal Government had finally recognized all the injustices directed towards them, and that there was no longer any need for fighting between French and English Canadians. The importance of this event is that finally, French Canadians were seen and identified as actual “Canadians”, and this act is an apology from the Federal government towards the French Canadians for all the injustice that had happened to them in the past. The Official Languages Act was a way to show French Canadians that the culture of the French was in no danger of disappearing (Patriquin,“Canada’s language wars are over”), one of the
"I didn't know at first that there were two languages in Canada. I just thought that there was one way to speak to my father and another to speak to my mother." -- Louis St. Laurent. As the second French Canadian prime minister of Canada, Louis St. Laurent had a very influential role to Canada. St-Laurent became prime minister in 1948, after a selection authorized by a Liberal Convention. He was a well-respected prime minister and was given the name "Uncle Louis" for reshaping and improving Canada as an international well-known country. Actions and policies, including the Trans-Canada Highway Act, the joining of Newfoundland and the St. Lawrence Seaway, were introduced by St-Laurent to impact Canada into a more developed country with a