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Pierre elliott trudeau

The Legend, Pierre Elliott Trudeau

One of the most fashionable Prime Minister Canada has ever seen, known for his rockstar appeal, and Trudeaumania.  Pierre Elliott Trudeau was the fifteenth Prime Minister of Canada and ran in office from 1968-79 and 1980-1984. He began his path in politics in 1943 and devoted most of his life to changing the way Canadian laws worked. Pierre Trudeau had a positive impact on Canada because he formed the Charter of Rights and Freedom , his improvement of multiculturalism in Canada and bringing the Constitution home from Britain.

Pierre Trudeau dedicated his work after the defeat of the separatist movement in 1980  to the formation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms . Before Trudeau formed the Charter, Canada had nothing similar to it in place.  The only formal document protecting Canadians was the, 1960 Canadian Bill of Rights . Although important, none of these laws were part of the Constitution and therefore lacked the supremacy and permanence of the Charter (Foot). The formation of the Charter guaranteed the rights of Canadian citizens in both Federal and Provincial governments and helped many minorities groups and social welfare cases, “ Within the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms , section 15 states that every individual is to be considered equal regardless of religion, race, national or ethnic origin, color, sex, age or physical or mental disability” (Heritage). The Charter mandated all Canadians as equal, whether they were a citizen, newcomer, or a permanent resident. It also gave Canadians rights that are still in place today and helped Pierre with his other work on the decriminalization of homosexuality and abortion. Although they were not legalized until later on, with the creation of the charter they were not as looked down upon, and movements in the right direction were made as it was realized that some laws against those social welfare cases were violations to the Charter. So not only did the Charter help to protect all Canadians, but it helped to make positive impacts on other political issues and started a chain reaction of laws being reworked. During Pierre Trudeau’s time in office Canada had many unsecure issues. The majority were dealt with under the Charter, for example, the barrier between different cultures, because of this Pierre Trudeau dedicated a section of the Charter to multiculturalism.

Pierre Trudeau made major improvements to multiculturalism within Canada. There was always a very tense relationship between French Canadians and English Canadians, as the separatist movement within Quebec, created the October Crisis. Furthermore, many minority groups still did not feel as if they were equal and that Canadians who were born and raised in Canada were more superior.  In 1971 Trudeau announced the government’s dedication to working on the foundation of multiculturalism. He created the policy to promote, along with protecting diversity, recognize the rights of Aboriginal peoples and support using Canada’s two official languages (Burnet). Which led him to create the Ministry of Multiculturalism and the Canadian Consultative Council on Multiculturalism, two years later. Trudeau had no intentions on alienating out any race, culture, religion or ethnic group, but to celebrate and learn about them. He made it known that all cultures were part of Canada’s heritage and secured this when he put it in the Charter,  “ The Charter itself “ shall be interpreted in a manner consistent with the preservation and enhancement of the multicultural heritage of Canadians” (Burnet). Canada is made up of immigrants, as the 2011 census recorded, “ nearly 21 percent of Canadians (6, 775, 800 people) were born outside the country” (Burnet). Canada today is known for how many different cultures are accepted here, without Pierre Trudeau making the changes and improvement to Canada’s multiculturalism, Canada would not have the identity it does now. With all of the changes in the laws and the way Canada works stated above that Pierre Trudeau made, had to first be approved by Britain before the law was actually put into effect, however, that all changed in 1981.

One of Pierre Trudeau’s main accomplishments was bringing the Constitution home from Britain. Although Canada was not at the beck and call of Britain any more and directly made contact with the British instead of the governor general, Canada did not have control of their Constitution as it was still under the British Parliament. When Trudeau came up with the plan to make a new constitution his goals included: the British handing over the authority to give Canada’s constitution to Canada, a new Charter of Human Rights and making federal economic power larger. To accomplish all of this Trudeau dedicated his last few years in office to work on getting it all approved. Trudeau had promised in one of his speeches in 1980 to make sure he will bring the constitution home, “ We will immediately take action to renew the Constitution and we will not stop until we have done that” (Sheppard). For six decades the Canadian government had been trying to have Canada have complete independence and when everything was approved in 1981, it was a step in the right direction. On April 17, 1982, Queen Elizabeth the II met with Pierre Trudeau and signed over Canada their independence from the British Parliament. If Trudeau had not dedicated his last years in office into creating this Canada may not have gotten their Constitution in 1982 but rather much later or possibly not at all. His idea that he made into a reality gave Canada complete control of itself as an independent nation. Pierre Elliott Trudeau did a lot for Canada in his time as Prime Minister and without all his hard work Canada would not be as diverse, large, accepting and peaceful as it is today.

Pierre Elliott Trudeau helped to improve Canada in a positive way when he formed the Charter of Rights and Freedoms , accepted multiculturalism, and gave Canada control of their Constitution. He made sure all Canadians were seen as equal and were free to be themselves without fear of being prosecuted, for example with Bill C-150 or section 15 of the Charter. He allowed diversity among cultures in Canada and made sure that they were all accepted. However most importantly, he met with the Queen and gave Canada its independence. Without Pierre Trudeau we would not have the access to some of the rights we take for granted, have the ability to see all the different cultures that at least one of our parents came from, be able to appreciate all the diversity or have the honor of being a citizen to such an amazing, calm, independent country like Canada.

Work Cited

  • Burnet, Jean and Leo Driedger. “ Multiculturalism”. The Canadian Encyclopedia, 10 September 2014, Historica Canada. https://www. thecanadianencyclopedia. ca/en/article/multiculturalism. Accessed17 January 2019.
  • Foot, Richard. “ Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms”. The Canadian Encyclopedia, 03 October 2018, Historica Canada https://www. thecanadianencyclopedia. ca/en/article/canadian-charter-of-rights-a nd-freedoms. Accessed 16 January 2019.
  • Frum, David. “ David Frum: The Disastrous Legacy of Pierre Trudeau.” National Post , 23 Mar. 2011, nationalpost. com/full-comment/david-frum-the-disastrous-legacy-of-pierre-trudeau.
  • Heritage, Canadian. “ Rights of LGBTI Persons.” Canada. ca , Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, 10 Sept. 2018, www. canada. ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/rights-lgbti-persons. html.
  • Long, Linda. “ Abortion in Canada”. The Canadian Encyclopedia, 10 March 2017, Historica Canada. https://www. thecanadianencyclopedia. ca/en/article/abortion. Accessed 16 January 2019.
  • Marsh, James H.. “ Pierre Elliott Trudeau: The Second Father of Canada?”. The Canadian Encyclopedia, 05 November 2018, Historica Canada. https://www. thecanadianencyclopedia. ca/en/article/pierre-elliott-trudeau-feature Accessed 14 January 2019.
  • “ Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Bill C-150: A Rational Approach to Homosexual Acts, 1968–69.” Taylor and Francis Online , www. tandfonline. com/doi/abs/10. 1080/00918360903489085 .
  • “ Pierre Elliott Trudeau.” Britannica School , Encyclopædia Britannica, 23 Feb. 2017. school. eb. com/levels/high/article/Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau/73 534 . Accessed 14 Jan. 2019.
  • Sheppard, Robert. “ Patriation of the Constitution”. The Canadian Encyclopedia, 15 November 2018, Historica Canada https://www. thecanadianencyclopedia. ca/en/article/patriation-of-the-constitution . Accessed 20 January 2019.
  • Whitaker, Reg. “ Pierre Elliott Trudeau “. The Canadian Encyclopedia, 20 November 2017, Historica Canada. https://www. thecanadianencyclopedia. ca/en/article/pierre-elliott-trudeau . Accessed 14 January 2019.
  • Yasuda, Anita. Canada Past-Present-Future: Political Leaders . 2011.
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