Why is pierre trudeau a role model

The events in Iran these past few days and the tragic loss of so many Canadians are a stark reminder of this reality. We are not insulated from the instability in the Middle East. To achieve a more peaceful, stable, equitable world, we must go beyond diplomacy and defence and ensure a strong commitment to development.

We need to start seeing development not just as a tool in the foreign policy toolkit, but as a defining pillar of what we are able to achieve on the world stage. What better occasion to highlight this idea than in recognition of the man who understood this better than most: Pierre Trudeau. Because of Canadians commitment to a better world. These stories continue when we meet the hundreds of former IDRC scholars and grantees around the world who are now leading their countries and international organizations.

And that is the image that Canadians hold dear. It is the story we tell ourselves of our commitment to a better, more peaceful world, and it is what we are continuing to try to achieve.

So why should we enthusiastically embrace liberal internationalism in a time of global turmoil and uncertainty? I just came from a portfolio where one of my primary responsibilities was defending our democracy against malicious foreign actors. The threats are real. We are living in a moment where worldviews are confronting each other and our story will be shaped by how we react. Because the rules-based international order is under threat, we, as Canadians, need to live by and lead with, our values.

Not just because it is the right thing to do around the world, but because it is the right thing to do for Canadians. I understand that for some, this is an uncomfortable concept, placing our development work and agenda within our own self-interest—but it is crucial for us to see it this way. Because the issues we face here at home will not be solved through diplomacy or defence alone—development is the key to unlocking these challenges.

Whether it is climate change, migration and refugee flows, global health pandemics, food security, etc. We cannot ignore the changes on the horizon, and if we want to shape the response and we want to protect what we have here at home, we must be active players globally, particularly in development.

This means building on the long-standing Canadian traditions of standing up for human rights, for justice and for democracy. For working on the hardest issues that many choose to avoid, in the toughest places and being Canadian about it, so that we can reach those most in need. We are transforming the way we do development. It forces us to tackle the root cause of poverty and instability: inequality.

And it grounds our development programming in the fundamental belief that all people—regardless of gender or sexuality, race, religion or creed—have the same inalienable human rights. Even more importantly, we cannot aspire to gender equality if we ignore sexual reproductive health and rights. In August I took a trip to Ethiopia. I was in a small village outside of Mekele, and we stopped at the local health clinic.

There were a half-dozen women there to greet us. We talked about the vaccination program and nutrition for children and how these have made significant health improvements in their community. However, one result of these policies was a growing anti- bilingual backlash in English Canada.

These changes were very much in line with administrative reorganizations in Washington, DC, and in other Western capitals. But they proved controversial in Canada; critics claimed they were inefficient and undermined the role of Parliament and cabinet.

In the election, Trudeau came close to losing office. In , Pierre Trudeau married Margaret Sinclair; the daughter of a former Liberal cabinet minister. The media followed every move made by the famous couple.

Their tempestuous marriage was beset by many well-publicized differences. They separated in and divorced in After restoring a Liberal majority in , Trudeau faced the effects of inflation. In an atmosphere of economic crisis, various remedies were tried; these included mandatory wage and prices controls in This economic crisis was compounded by political challenge in A few months later, on 21 November, Trudeau announced his resignation as leader of the Liberal Party.

However, three weeks after this announcement, the Progressive Conservative government was defeated in the House of Commons. A new general election was called. Trudeau was persuaded by the Liberal caucus to return as leader. On 18 February — three months after his retirement — he was returned once again as prime minister with a majority. See also Elections of and His personal intervention in the Quebec Referendum campaign on sovereignty-association was significant.

In the wake of that victory, Trudeau pushed for an accord on a new Canadian constitution. Trudeau was unable to gain provincial agreement on a new constitution. This was followed by one of the most epic federal-provincial battles in Canadian history.

It culminated in the final compromise; the proclamation of the Constitution Act, on 17 April The new constitution included entrenched minority language and education rights; as well as a charter of individual rights.

Trudeau had fulfilled a goal he had set himself upon entering public life. Continued inflation , high levels of unemployment , and large federal deficits cut into his popular support. But it further alienated the energy -producing regions in Western Canada.

A continuing problem that plagued his entire time in office was that of Canadian-American relations. Trudeau often played an ambiguous role with regard to the US; but during his last term in office, he moved toward a more nationalist position in economic relations with the US. He began to criticize US foreign and defence policies more freely than in the past.

In these years, Trudeau devoted more and more time to the international stage. Then, in —84, he persuaded leaders in both the eastern and western blocs to negotiate the reduction of nuclear weapons and to lower Cold War tensions. See also Disarmament. The referendum, with an ambiguous question, was scheduled for 20 May The No side initially stumbled badly and Trudeau finally entered the field in early May after polls showed the Yes side pulling ahead.

With an The next day the prime minister announced to applause from all sides of the House of Commons that he intended to move forward with constitutional changes, among them patriation, an amending formula, and a charter of rights and freedoms. He had a new and dynamic constitutional team, including Pitfield, Lalonde, and Michael J. At the federal—provincial meeting which took place in September , the premiers were divided among themselves, with most insisting on greater decentralization.

Trudeau had hoped for a better provincial response. They enthusiastically agreed. Provincial governments opposing the plan went to the courts and to the British parliament in London, where approval for patriation was required.

In a still-controversial decision rendered on 28 Sept. Both Trudeau and his adversaries claimed victory; the court had forced a compromise. They had agreed in April to a plan that permitted patriation and an amending formula involving compensation for provinces that opted out of future amendments.

Quebec, in these discussions, did not insist on a veto, an instrument that had created many earlier constitutional quarrels. The federal government rejected this provincial plan; it nevertheless remained alive when the premiers and federal representatives met in November.

Bitterness would linger long, but patriation went forward. It included the Constitution Act, , which contained the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, recognition of the rights of aboriginal peoples, respect for the multicultural heritage of Canadians, a procedure for amending the constitution, and amendments to the BNA Act of The clause irritated Trudeau, but it was a small price to pay for the act that was proclaimed by Queen Elizabeth II in Ottawa on 17 April The charter would have far more impact on Canadian law and society than even Trudeau had anticipated.

A bold attempt by finance minister MacEachen to revise the Canadian taxation system in April had failed in the face of unrelenting attacks by business and accounting interests. But the major target of the business press and the Conservative opposition was the National Energy Program, which was an ambitious attempt to respond to the rapid rise of energy prices after When introduced in the budget of , the National Energy Program was presented as a means of securing the supply of a scarce resource that all expected would soar in price in succeeding years.

In , however, the price of oil began to drop and the National Energy Program fell apart, but not without leaving enduring memories of its confiscatory ways in Alberta and in the Canadian business community. Such concerns were shared in Washington, where Ronald Wilson Reagan had become president in January Ford had been instrumental in having Canada join the wealthy countries represented in the Group of Six.

The American Republican and the Canadian Liberal developed a fine personal relationship and would ski together with their families during their retirement. Reagan, however, represented a different strain of Republicanism and Trudeau found it difficult to take him seriously, treating him like an amiable but dull student at their meetings.

He accomplished little but, perhaps, he soothed his conscience. In —82 the Canadian economy had gone through its worst recession since the depression of the s and the slump had left deep wounds. In June Martin Brian Mulroney, a year-old, fluently bilingual Montreal lawyer, replaced Clark as Conservative leader and the Liberal caucus became nervous. Turner seemed an attractive alternative to Trudeau in the view of many Liberals and media commentators.

The growing scepticism about government intervention, which Reagan and Thatcher represented, made major social innovations difficult. He may also have considered that it was time to rest on the laurels he had gathered. Besides the constitution, there were other positive achievements to relish. In the federal public service bilingualism was firmly enshrined. Above all, there were his three boys. On the evening of 28 Feb. The next day he announced he would resign.

In one last brilliant appearance at the Liberal convention in June, Trudeau roused the crowd to cheers and then left most in tears as he said farewell. Then he became silent. He joined a Montreal law firm, moved into an art deco home that he had bought during his first retirement in , and travelled often. But in Mulroney and the premiers agreed to the Meech Lake Accord, which Bourassa, who had returned as Quebec premier, claimed would bring his province into the constitutional framework from which it had been excluded in The die was cast for its death in June when Wells adjourned the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador without a vote.

Trudeau retreated once more only to reappear when the Mulroney government and most premiers, reeling from the collapse of the Meech agreement and the rise of separatist sentiment in Quebec, brought forward the Charlottetown Accord in The accord had the support of the three federal parties as well as that of the provincial premiers, but this time there would be a nationwide referendum on 26 Oct.

Once more, Trudeau emerged to offer criticism. He objected to collective rights and the hierarchy of those rights that gave francophone Quebecers special status. When the referendum was held, the accord was defeated in Quebec and failed to obtain the necessary level of support in English Canada.

But his health was deteriorating rapidly. The death of his son Michel in an avalanche in British Columbia on 13 Nov. For a while, he questioned his Catholic faith. He refused treatment for prostate cancer and his memory began to fade. Before he died in Montreal on 28 Sept.

His body lay in state in Ottawa and then travelled by train along the Ottawa River as thousands came to the tracks to pay their last respects. Most of his obituaries in were generous in their praise, but Trudeau may be the Canadian prime minister who divides us most. Certainly he divided those journalists and academics who, when polled in on the post-war prime ministers by the journal Policy Options Montreal , disagreed most strongly on his achievements and failures.

Elsewhere historian Michael Bliss has ranked him very highly as an inspiring leader who saved Canada while political scientists Ken McRoberts and Guy Laforest have argued that his dream has died and that his attempts to realize it cost Canada and Quebec greatly. Yet even those who doubt his accomplishments agree that his presence in Canadian public life was remarkable. His cabinet colleagues have remarked on his fairness and the respect he demonstrated for them in cabinet meetings.

Yet he avoided close personal contact even with devoted ministers such as Marc Lalonde. Moreover, many problems he encountered might have been avoided had he been more open to criticism and less abrasive in personal relations.

His other successors as Liberal leader, John Turner and Paul Martin, in many ways framed their political approach in opposition to that of Trudeau. Still, Trudeau remains the Liberal leader and even the prime minister against whom his successors are measured.

In the classic formulation of French academician Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon, echoed by historian Ramsay Cook, the style was the man himself. John English. Library and Arch. Canada LAC Ottawa is changing its system of numbering manuscript collections. Collections described in this bibliography are cited under the new numbers; they can still be accessed under the old numbers.

The Trudeau fonds, a vast collection, is the product of numerous accessions, the most significant being the private papers that were transferred to LAC after his death. These documents include his extensive private correspondence, drafts of articles and letters, and an abundance of personal material. Also at LAC are some records from his period as justice minister, held in the Dept. Cabinet conclusions are available online subject to access legislation.

There are important Trudeau records in the United States. Ford Library in Ann Arbor, Mich. Kingston, Ont. Although his Memoirs Toronto, are disappointing, Trudeau was probably the most prolific of prime ministerial authors. His most important book from the s is the compilation of essays, The asbestos strike , trans. James Boake Toronto, for which he wrote the first chapter and conclusion.

Some of the major articles he wrote prior to were collected in Federalism and the French Canadians , intro. Saywell Toronto, Owen Toronto, describes their trip to the China of Mao Zedong. Evidence suggests that Head is the primary author. After Trudeau became prime minister, some of his associates gathered his writings and speeches.

The most important of these compilations is Against the current: selected writings — , ed. George Tombs Toronto, Others include Approaches to politics , intro. Ramsay Cook, trans. Owen Toronto, , and Conversations with Canadians , foreword I. Head Toronto, Foreign-policy speeches and related documents are found in Pierre Elliott Trudeau: lifting the shadow of war , ed. Crenna Toronto, , while constitutional matters are the focus of With a bang, not a whimper: Pierre Trudeau speaks out , ed.

Donald Johnston Toronto, Alan Brown Toronto, and Years of choice, — , trans. Alan Brown Toronto, ; [R. Roux, Nous sommes tous des acteurs 1v. Sharp, Which reminds me …: a memoir Toronto, Cook is very insightful, Pelletier highly perceptive, and Robertson sharply critical. Among the academic studies, especially valuable is J. Andrew Cohen and J. Granatstein Toronto, Browne and Michelle Weinroth Montreal and Kingston, His effect on the Canadian imagination is presented in B.

John English et al. Ottawa, This award-winning study was based upon extensive interviews of friends, enemies, and colleagues. Hubert Bauch Toronto, An unusual and valuable book is Pierre: colleagues and friends talk about the Trudeau they knew , ed. Nancy Southam Toronto, William Johnson Toronto, The second volume by the Nemnis is Trudeau transformed: the shaping of a statesman, — , trans. General Bibliography.