Trudeau, Pierre Elliott (b. 18 Oct. 1919, d. 28 Sept. 2000). Prime Minister of Canada 1968–79, 1980–4 Born in Montreal (Quebec), he was educated at the Universities of Montreal and Harvard, and at the London School of Economics. On his return to Canada, he became a strong
trade union supporter in the 1949 asbestos strike, which launched him as a social and political critic. A law professor at the University of Montreal, he welcomed the
Quiet Revolution, though he firmly rejected the conclusion of many of his contemporaries that this should lead to Quebec's sovereignty. Instead, he advocated acknowledgement of
Quebec's nationalism within Canadian society. He entered Parliament in 1965, and was soon appointed Parliamentary Secretary to
Pearson, before becoming Minister of Justice in 1967. In his brief period of office he liberalized laws on abortion and homosexuality, and became known as a strong supporter of federal rights against the particularist demands of Quebec.
In 1968, Trudeau became leader of the
Liberal Party, and Canada's second-longest serving, and perhaps most controversial, Prime Minister. In 1970, the Quebec Cabinet Minister Pierre Laporte was abducted (and later killed) by the terrorist
Front de Libération du Québec (Quebec Liberation Front). In response, Trudeau invoked the
War Measures Act, with its controversial limits on personal freedoms. In an attempt to satisfy Quebec nationalism, he made French the second official language throughout Canada, thus triggering resentment within the western provinces, which began to feel that their concerns were being ignored because of the government's constant preoccupation with Quebec. From 1973, he tried to cope with Canada's economic difficulties caused by the world recession, but in 1976 his attention was again forced towards Quebec, when the separatist
Parti Québecois took over the provincial government there. He narrowly lost the 1979 elections and resigned as Liberal leader.
Only three weeks later
Clark's budget was defeated and a new election called, which Trudeau won. His successful intervention in the 1980 Quebec referendum on sovereignty galvanized him into trying to solve Canada's (and thus Quebec's) constitutional status once and for all. He ended all the remaining judicial and legal prerogatives over Canadian affairs resting in London, and proclaimed a Charter of Rights and Freedoms. After protracted negotiations with the provincial governments, the Consitution Act was passed on 17 April 1982 (see
Canadian Constitution, Patriation of). However, the act was not ratified by Quebec, and thus served more to underline than solve the country's constitutional problems.
Trudeau's economic policies failed to cope with high inflation and unemployment. In foreign policy, the advent of
Reagan and
Thatcher as the dominant Western leaders on the international scene pushed him into a role of irksome opposition, advocating a north-south dialogue between industrialized and developing countries, as well as the reduction of nuclear arms. Increasingly unpopular in Canada from 1981, he resigned on 30 June 1984 to make way for
Turner. He retired from active politics, though he spoke in opposition to the
Meech Lake Accord.
