A great Prime Minister should always do what is right for Canada, no matter what obstacles he or she faces. Looking at the fifteen years he was in power, Pierre Elliot Trudeau did exactly that. For instance, he implemented the Official Languages Act and made bilingualism law.
In another case, he put an end to the October Crisis by putting into effect the War Measures Act. Finally, Trudeau amended the Constitution which gave Canadians a Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Pierre Elliot Trudeau was a successful Prime Minister who accomplished his goals despite facing enormous opposition.While accomplishing his goal of a bilingua, Pierre Elliot Trudeau encountered enormous opposition. In 1969, the Official Languages Act was passed by parliament and bilingualism became law. According to Sauerwein, “The Act asserted both French and English had to be spoken at federal institutions” (Sauerwein 71).
Trudeau’s commitment to bilingualism was fueled by his desire to give French Canadians an equal place in Canadian society. One of his chief arguments was that there was prejudice towards francophones in the employment of civil service workers.As observed by Gwyn, “in the mid-1960’s, francophones were 27 percent of the national population, but held only 10 percent of all civil service posts” (Gwyn 35). As part of the new act, bilingualism became a requirement for all civil service workers. Trudeau’s ideology was that these new rules would ensure equal treatment, but unfortunately, not everyone felt this way.
For nine days in June 976, all Canadian airlines grounded their planes. Air traffic controllers had gone on strike, worried that their jobs were threatened by this new policy.Unbelievably, this problem was only minor compared to the prejudicial nightmare Canada was becoming. “On the streets, people were buying T-shirts that showed a beaver (representing Canada) strangling a frog (representing Quebec)…” (Gwyn 34).
This growing criticism of bilingualism eventually led to the election of Rene Levesque, leader of the Parti Quebecois, as premier of Quebec. The Parti Quebecois, a party with separatist ideals, were now a threat and Canada realized that they were to blame.They quickly turned to Trudeau, and were now completely onboard with the idea of bilingualism. “Parents in every province were now pushing their children into French immersion courses and schools” (Gwyn 38). Pierre Elliot Trudeau accomplished his goal of bilingualism, despite facing enormous opposition. In his triumphant victory over the October Crisis, Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s opposition was tremendous.
In 1970, the October Crisis erupted when two government officials were kidnapped by the Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ).The first was British Trade Commissioner James Cross who was taken from his Montreal home on October 5th. According to Munroe, “Ransom demands from the Liberation cell of the FLQ included the release of 23 ‘political prisoners,’ $500,000 in gold, broadcast and publication of the FLQ Manifesto, and an aircraft to take the kidnappers to Cuba or Algeria” (Munroe) When the government refused to agree with these terms, the FLQ kidnapped Quebec cabinet minister, Pierre Laporte. On October 12, Trudeau called in the army to protect parliament from attack, a decision some felt was too drastic.
When a reporter questioned why he would use the army in such a way, Trudeau replied, “There’s a lot of bleeding hearts out there who just don’t like to see people with helmets and guns. All I can say is go ahead and bleed, but it’s more important to keep law and order in society than to be worried about weak-kneed people who don’t like the look of an army” (“Pierre Trudeau: just watch me”). On October 16th, after a request from the Quebec premier, Pierre Elliot Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act. As a result, the police now had the power to search or detain suspects without warrant.Many Canadians were opposed to this, and felt that it was wrong for Trudeau to strip them of their civil liberties. As a form of retaliation, the FLQ killed Laporte and his body was later found in the trunk of a car at the airport in St.
Hubert, Quebec. After raiding a hideout of FLQ members, the police eventually identified the location of James Cross and he was released unharmed. Despite criticism towards his forceful actions, Trudeau had made a peaceful end to the October crisis. As Pierre Elliot Trudeau strived to patriate the Constitution, the opposition was a huge threat. “The Statute of Westminster (1931) and theSecond World War (1939-1945) secured Canada's independence. However, Canada continued to retain its links to Great Britain, since its Constitution could only be modified by the British Parliament” (Roch).
Trudeau wanted to put an end to British control by modifying the Constitution. In the last few weeks of the 1979 election campaign, Trudeau was struggling and decided it was time to present his plan. As he put it in a Toronto speech, “a Constitution made in Canada, by Canadians, for Canadians” (Lewis 16). The idea was not popular among Canadians and Conservative leader Joe Clark became the youngest Prime Minister in Canadian history.
This did not last very long though as a vote of non-confidence occurred after the government proposed tax increases. “As a result of his government's defeat, Clark called a general election for Feb. 18, 1980. Trudeau led the Liberals in the campaign.
He climaxed an amazing political comeback when the Liberals won a majority of the seats in the House of Commons. Trudeau became prime minister again on March 3” (Granatstein). In September 1980, Trudeau and the Provincial premiers met to negotiate patriating the Constitution, but these negotiations failed.The provinces were in disagreement because they feared that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms would limit their powers.
As a result, the federal government presented a resolution to patriate the constitution without the provinces involvement, and it was brought before the Supreme Court. “On September 28, 1981, the Supreme Court issued its judgment: The federal government had the right to proceed with the unilateral patriation of the Constitution, but it was preferable if it could first work out an agreement with the provinces” (Roch).This agreement was quickly reached and the resolution was presented to London. On April 17, 1982 Queen Elizabeth II proclaimed the Constitution Act of 1982 and Canada now had its own Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Even though some of Canada’s most powerful people were against him, Trudeau still fulfilled his dream of a new Constitution. Pierre Elliot Trudeau was a successful Prime Minister who accomplished his goals despite facing enormous opposition.
Firstly, this is shown when Trudeau made bilingualism law by invoking the Official Languages Act.In another situation, Trudeau used the War Measures Act as a means of ending the October Crisis. Lastly, he gave us a Charter of Rights and Freedoms by patriating the Constitution. Jean Chretien once said that Trudeau was “a man of extraordinary courage, a complex man whose love for Canada was pure and simple. He set in motion forces of change that are still shaping the soul of a people and a nation. It was his passion for Canada that defined him.
It was his dream of a just society that captured the imagination of a country” (Alavi).
