Pierre Elliot Trudeau's Charter Rights And Freedom In Canada

Pierre Trudeau first brought out the official language act of Canada in 1969. He presented the Canadian population with the beliefs that Canada should have

Pierre Elliott Trudeau was a remarkable man who has made a significant impact in the Canadian society. Trudeau was voted to be the fifteenth Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979. Trudeau has put a lot of effort into making Canada a better place and he was truly passionate. His actions spoke louder than words and he proved to a lot of Canadians how he was the best Prime Minister of the Post- war Era in a lot of people’s eyes. Back then, a lot of people liked and supported him and his actions, that’s why he has been re-elected and continued being Canada’s Prime Minister from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984. Trudeau’s ambitious attitude and determination has brought him to all the successes he had made during the fifteen

The Canadian Constitution ensures duality of French and English in language. The Constitution (1867) states that both French and English "have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and Government of Canada," (Section V). However, the French language is a definite minority throughout most of Canada, with Quebec as an exception. In 1977, Bill 101 was passed through legislature, which defined French as the official

The Official Languages Act is an act that is also established by Pierre Elliott Trudeau and significantly transitioned Canada effectively. The Official Languages Act is a law that was established by the government in which gives both French and English Canadians equal value in Canada. It allows both the English and French languages to be officially spoken in Canada. The Official Languages Act also gives citizens the right to express their culture freely. “It is vital to me that [the constitution] does give protection to the kind of linguistic equality that this government has put into the statutes (The Official Languages Act.).” The Canadian Constitution Act accepts the Official Languages Act which makes it a part of the Canadian Charter

Under the sweeping authority of the act, 465 Canadians were so rounded up. A day later, on Saturday October 17th, the body of Pierre Laporte was found stuffed in the trunk of a green Chevrolet. In Ottawa, government sources said the FLQ assassinated Laporte because War Measures was enacted. The tension that night was palpable. John Turner, the minister of justice, looked distraught. In his office, Trudeau ministers Gerard Pelletier and Jean Marchand were weeping openly at the death of an old friend and colleague. Early in December 1970, police discovered the location of the kidnappers holding James Cross. He was released after his FLQ captors were given safe passage to Cuba. Four weeks later Paul Rose and the kidnappers of Pierre Laporte were found in the corner of a country basement. They were tried and convicted for kidnapping and murder. The October Crisis was the first time in Canadian history the state itself, both in Ottawa and in Quebec City, was held to ransom by extremists and terrorists. It was also the first time, in peace time, that Ottawa invoked War Measures. It was a drastic step to take and one laced with very dangerous side effects. In the guilt-by-association atmosphere engendered by War Measures hysteria, the terrorism and extremism of the separatist FLQ tarnished all separatist movements in Quebec. Also, Rene

Trudeau fought for Canada to be a country of many languages and cultures, he did this by introducing The Official Languages Act. In 1969 Trudeau established The Official Languages Act, this made English and French the official languages of Canada. It required all federal institutions to provide services in English and French. The Act was passed on the recommendation of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism on 7 September 1969. The act was to ensure respect and equality of all rights and privileges as to their use in all federal institutions. The act supported the development of English and French linguistic minority communities and advanced the equality of English and French languages within Canada’s society. Trudeau truly lead Canada to success and wanted the nation to become more diverse. Trudeau noted, “Bilingualism means you can speak to the other; duality means you live in one language and the rest of Canada will live in another language.” Trudeau strongly pushed for Canada to be Bilingual and thought it would make Canada stronger as a country. Trudeau felt that Quebec had to be less isolated and that it would allow French Canadians to maintain their culture while playing part in a key role in Canada. It was because of Pierre Elliott Trudeau that Canada kept peace amongst everyone and continued to be a united country. Trudeau made Canada better by bringing

Pierre Elliot Trudeau was arguably one of the most vivacious and charismatic Prime Ministers Canada has ever seen. He wore capes, dated celebrities and always wore a red rose boutonniere. He looked like a superhero, and often acted like one too. Some of the landmark occurrences in Canadian history all happened during the Trudeau era, such as patriating the constitution, creating the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the 1980 Quebec Referendum. However, it is Trudeau’s 1969 “white paper” and the Calder legal challenge which many consider to be one of his most influential contributions to Canadian history.

Before the Charters of Rights and Freedoms were introduced to our Constitution we had to follow the BNA Act also known as The Constitution Act of 1867, which was passed by the British parliament. “This Constitution distributed power between Federal and Provincial governments” (Reference3). Later on in 1960s, the Federal government passed the Canadian Bill of rights “The Bill spoke of Fundamental freedoms, Legal rights and equality rights before the law” (Reference4). This Bill couldn’t do as much because it was no more powerful than any other law, and it was only applied for Federal laws. For many years’ Canada’s Prime Ministers were looking for ways to bring the Constitution home. Prime Minister Trudeau also wanted to add the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to the Constitution. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guaranteed all Canadians to have Fundamental Freedoms, Legal Rights, Equality Rights, Mobility Rights, and the main one Democratic

Trudeau’s approach to the situation provided Canadians security and safety. During Trudeau’s time in office, Quebec separatism was becoming an alarming issue. A terrorist organization, Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ), was formed in an effort to separate Quebec from the rest of Canada. The extremist brought havoc to Quebec and demanded separation from the “Anglo”(English speaking). On October 5, 1970, the FLQ kidnapped British trade commissioner James Cross. They demanded the release of FLQ members, the payment of $500,000, the publication of the FLQ manifesto and an airplane ticket to either Cuba or Algeria. After, the FLQ went on to kidnap Quebec Cabinet Minister of Labour and Immigration, Pierre Laporte, on October 10, 1970. In retaliation and for the security of the people, Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act. The War Measures Act, called in military personnel in Quebec to restore order, provide security and to help bring an end to the FLQ. With these circumstance the War Measures Act was appropriate action taken, as it brings security to the people of Quebec. Furthermore, it is key to remember the FLQ was a terrorist organization and it was important that Trudeau eliminate the threat they posed to Canadians. Ricci writes in his novel Pierre Elliott Trudeau, “FLQ had been implicated in six deaths and in more than two hundred bombings in Quebec, including

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

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects the civil, legal, and democratic rights of civilians. It also gives the aboriginals, the long forgotten and harshly treated inhabitants of Canada, their legal rights and freedoms. If it wasn’t for Trudeau, we would be living in a non-democratic society full of prejudice and

(mapleleafweb.com). Canada’s new constitution is considered one of Canada’s building blocks to become the successful and sovereign nation it is today, and along with it came the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The constitution assessed many issues Canadians had been facing since the British North American Act (BNA) in 1867; it removed almost all aspects of Canada previously being a British colony and gave the nation its long awaited full independence. (Christiano 17-18). The constitution also provided all Canadians with a proper definition of Canadian citizenship and solidifying Canada’s unity as a nation. The goal of the constitution as described by Jean Chrétien was to “reflect a society that was more than a community of communities and indeed was one where the bonds of citizenship were strong” (Axworthy 292). The passing of the constitution was a huge success for the Trudeau government and was arguably the most important event in Canadian history since confederation in

The FLQ had many intellectual ideas that forced Trudeau to make the necessary actions towards the crisis. There were three intentions of the FLQ kidnappings of James Cross and Pierre Laporte. The FLQ wanted to obtain the release of 23 FLQ members jailed for bombings and other violent offences. The group wanted to cause confusion, fear and gain publicity and sympathy for their aims of having Quebec become an independent state, and their third motive was to trigger insurrection and capitulation. (Tetley, p. 39) These intentions of the FLQ caused harm and chaos to the government and the public, and

The Quebec Act was created in 1774, to create a permanent administration in Canada to replace the Government. Another reason it was created so that the French Canadians could have a new ruler, but in return, they could keep their religious beliefs. The Quebec Act effected who lived in the area when they got a new leader, and all the people that came from France were happy to know that they could keep all their beliefs. These people were scared to lose their religion, but soon found out that they could keep their beliefs and could still have their

Pierre Trudeau—who I consider the greatest Canadian in history—was Canada's 15th Prime Minister. Born on October 18th, 1919, Trudeau came from a wealthy family in the suburbs of Outremont along with two younger siblings. Born of Scottish and French descent, he grew up fluent in French. As adolescence, Trudeau graduated from the prestigious Jesuit preparatory school Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf; then, got a law degree at the University of Montreal. In 1965, the Liberal party invited Trudeau and two colleagues to run for particular seats. Because of his charismatic and flamboyant personality, he became a “fan favourite”, i.e., well liked among voters and became Minister of Justice. Not long after, in 1968, Trudeau was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada.