Pierre Trudeau Essay Example

Often more times than not, people cringe at the thought of politics, but there are the few whom desire the power to enforce change. Politicians rarely receive adoration from the general public, and they shoulder the country’s burdens, but none have been adored (hence the term Trudeau-mania) and have progressed like Pierre Trudeau. Trudeau grew up speaking French to his father and English to his mother and this combination is what defined him; Trudeau was not French or English, he was a true Canadian. Pierre Trudeau was not like most politicians, other politicians compromised and soothed; while Pierre Trudeau came into politics with his guns blazing while saying, “Just watch me”. The consequence of these actions led Pierre Trudeau to have a strong supportive following, and an equally strong army of critics. He was a controversial man, but not one Canadian can argue that Trudeau did not bring Canada to where it is today. Prime Minister Trudeau, almost singlehandedly, molded Canada into the image that he desired; a country that was bilingual, rational, and a just society that was founded upon the ideals of freedom and individual autonomy.

Of course, critics of Trudeau will bring forth the most dramatic event of his first government which was the “October Crisis” of 1970. In that year British diplomat James Cross and Quebec- Cabinet Minister Pierre LaPorte were kidnapped by a terrorist group, Font de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ). As a response Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act. The act is meant to perceive the existence of war, invasion or insurrection, real or apprehended, but in mundane terms it allowed the government extraordinary powers of detention, arrest, and censorship. Controversy over the appropriateness of these emergency measures has continued to the present. However this was an unprecedented event, and after that occasion Trudeau pledged to refine and limit the application, leading to the Emergencies Act of 1988.Also critics would bring forth the