Jump to: Life of Pierre Trudeau| Political Career| Achievements| Conclusion
Introduction
Minister Pierre Trudeau is one of the world’s greatest political leaders who shall be remembered for the greatest work and contribution to modern day society. His leadership style was unique and he had the means to bring the best of it every time of his life. He is amongst the few personalities who have been able to attain immortality through effective leadership skills. Throughout his entire political career, Pierre Trudeau was able to bring out a unique power and skills through which he could break all the boundaries.
Many enthusiasts acknowledge and praise his intellect and leadership skills which were vital in maintaining national unity against large numbers Quebec separatists. Trudeau is also recognized for suppressing violent revolt in the Canada, and instituting the “ Charter of Rights and Freedoms” contained in Canada’s constitution (Fortes & Evans-Pritchard, 2005) . His critics indict him of economic mismanagement, severe arrogance, and disproportionately favoring the federal government in relation regional governments, particularly in trying to manage and control national wealth especially oil in Prairies. He died on September 28, 2000, and many have claimed that he was a hero, and his legacy c shall live long to give human beings the inspiration that he were able to achieve. This paper hence gives a description of his life and achievements in terms of its technical and political elements.
Life History, Education and Early Career of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau is known to be the 15th prime minister of Canada, from where he served for practically 16 years starting in 1968. He was a university professor before engaging in politics with the then popular Liberal party. Pierre Trudeau was born in October 18, 1919 in the city of Montreal to an immigrant father from France called Charles-Émile Trudeau and Grace Elliott, who was of Scottish descent. He was the second born with two other siblings named Suzette and Charles Jr.; who he remained close to through his entire political life. He was lucky to be born in a wealthy family and he was able to attend the prestigious private school called Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, where he became affiliated with Quebec nationalism concepts. In 1943 he was able to earn a law degree at the University of Montreal, where like other Canadian men he was recruited into the Armed forces as part of the government policy. After graduation, he enrolled in the Canadian Officers’ Training Corps, where he served till the end of the Conscription Crisis of 1944. After his short stint in the army, Trudeau pursued a master’s degree in Political economy at the prestigious Harvard University, from where he studied at Ecole des sciences politiques in France, followed by short training in the London School of Economics (Clarkson & Christina, 2000). All this took place between 1944 and 1949.
After school, Trudeau crisscrossed Asia and Europe touring countries like China, Jerusalem, Thailand, Pakistan, Germany, and Hungary. It’s in Jerusalem where Trudeau was arrested for being an Israeli undercover agent, a claim he termed vicious and politically motivated. Regardless of his short stint in Asia and Europe, Trudeau was principally based in Montreal and many people viewed him as an intellectual. His inborn charisma of joining politics where rekindled when he supported the Asbestos strike of 1949, from where he started to criticize the regional government of Quebec, marking the commencement of resistance to the conservatives that had long ruled and managed the province of Quebec. Throughout his early career, Trudeau was the most important figure in the resistance to the oppressive rule of the regional government of Quebec under Maurice Duplessis. As the founder and inaugural editor of “ Cité Libre”, a dissenting periodical , he was able to cement an intellectual basis that helped residents of Quebec to revolt against the repressive rule of Duplessis.
His socialist concepts and ideas, linked with close association with CFF (Co-operative Commonwealth Federation) and intellectuals like Frank Scott and Charles Taylor, made him to be accepted as a member of social democratic party which was the stepping stone of his political career. Regardless of these acquaintances, Trudeau shifted to liberal party in 1960s and one of the reasons of disserting the party was the differences in ideologies between him and the leaders of the party and the inability of the of the then leader Tommy Douglas, to attract new voters (Fortes & Evans-Pritchard, 2005). With huge participation in opposition, Trudeau was blacklisted both by the government of Quebec and United states because of his involvement with Russia and China. With influence, he was hired as an associate professor of law at the prestigious university of Montreal from the early 1961 to 1965. here his ideologies concentrated on the concept of liberalism which was in support of individual rights, a concept that was against Quebec nationalism. His life changed completely in 1965, when he together with his friends Gerard Pelletier and Jean Marchand were requested to run in the upcoming federal elections. Among the candidates proposed by the federal Liberal party, Trudeau was the least popular one in the group that later came to be known as the “ the three wise men” (Couture & Claude, 2000).
Trudeau Political Career
Trudeau political career became serious when he was successfully voted to the House of Commons in the elections of 1965 as a representative of Mount Royal. This year, 1965, then became a very significant period for both the state of Canada and Trudeau in that he was able to replace Alan McNaughton the house speaker from the parliament, a seat he held till his retirement in 1984. After a short stint in the parliament, he was appointed as a parliamentary secretary to then Prime Minister Lester Pearson, where he acted as his confidant and personal representative. In 1967, Pierre Trudeau was appointed by Lester has his Justice Minister a post where he his credited for reforming divorce laws and liberalizing regulations on homosexuality and abortion. When the prime minister announced his intentions to resign, Trudeau was encouraged to enter the contest for the party leadership.
His vigorous campaigns made him very popular and after the resignation of Lester, he was elected to be the leader of the liberal party and he was sworn as the prime minister two weeks later. After his election, Trudeau offered an olive branch to states that where politically different in terms of his ideologies and leadership skills and he espoused a unique democracy that was aimed in making Canada a “ Just Society” (Clarkson & Christina, 2000).
In 1974 he was re-elected as the prime minister under Liberal party platform, whose campaign slogan was to reduce unemployment. Though the elections where very tough, Trudeau emerged the winner. The country economy grew rapidly causing inflation hardships that made the House of Commons to pass a vote of no confidence to Trudeau’s government. After surviving the vote, the Liberal government was faced with more severe economic problems, and in the march of 1979, Pierre was forced to call a general election (Couture & Claude, 2000). With the economic troubles has an excuse, the Conservative party won the general election with its leader Joe Clark becoming the next prime minister. Few months in office the conservative government was ousted under a vote of confidence relating to issues relating to tax and Trudeau was back to politics again . Here he led the liberals to victory and in 1980 he was declared the 17th Prime Minister of Canada.
After a successful political career, Trudeau retired from politics in 1984 and was replaced by John Turner. After exiting politics, he joined Heenan Baikie, a Montreal law firm where he worked as a counsel.
Achievements of Pierre Trudeau as Prime Minister
Pierre Trudeau’s work of making Canada a just and a bilingual country are some of his achievements that made him regarded as an honourable and inspirational prime minister. He was very strict and acted forcefully when he was faced with huge problems that required strict measures. A good example is when James cross and Pierre Laporte were kidnapped and killed, here Trudeau was forced to invoke specific fundamental rights and police were given mandate to arrest and jail people without the due process of law . Another important feature with his contribution is that he was influenced by socialist theory. His ideologies led to the passing of the Official Languages Act, which gave equal rights to Franco Canadians thus making English and French Canada’s two official languages. Also it’s in his time where the first woman was appointed into the cabinet (Cohen &Andrew, 1999).
He initiated and shielded health care systems and development programs that made the country more balanced by bringing the gap between the rich and poor. He also put into practice many bureaucratic reforms, which made the Parliament and regional government to function more effectively. Also his personal focus on constitution led to the introduction of an act that led to the collapse of Québec separatism. In his final; political years, Trudeau is credited for drafting Notwithstanding Clause, that gave Canada sovereign rights and total political independence from the British. Every aspect of his work truly replicates to the truth concerning his done fields. For instance, he argues that every genuine life object may be tacit the same way as constructed sequence of proceedings and processes. With connection to this idea, he methodically uses and elaborates in his reality and process (Fortes & Evans-Pritchard, 2005). Further, he meditates that materialism in scientific revolution is less flourishing especially when dealing with factors of teleology and when trying to build up inclusive and incorporated representation of the universe wholly. His contributions towards the field of politics leave a mark on him and thus many live to remember him for his generous involvement and participation. His critics indict him of economic mismanagement, severe arrogance, and disproportionately favouring the federal government in relation regional governments, particularly in trying to manage and control national wealth especially oil in Prairies.
In spite of a very successful political life, in the last years of his life, Pierre Trudeau was diagnosed with prostate cancer and Parkinson’s disease, and he safely died in his sleep on the 28th day of September 2000. His body was buried in his family tomb at Saint-remi-de-Napierville Cemetory (Clarkson & Christina, 2000).
Conclusion
Minister Pierre Trudeau is regarded as one of the world’s greatest political leaders who shall be remembered for the greatest work and contribution to modern day society. He is one of the few individuals who have been able to realize immortality all the way through effective leadership skills. Throughout his entire political career, Pierre Trudeau was able to bring out a unique power and skills through which he could break all the boundaries. In conclusion, it’s apparent that Pierre Trudeau is a very important political figure in Canada because of the way he handled FLQ Crisis, his support of bilingualism and Constitution, and the drafting of the notwithstanding act are all clear demonstration of his importance.
