For anyone interested in Canada's political history in the second half of the 20th century, this collection of essays is essential reading. Subtitled The Trudeau Years, the book covers the period from 1968 to 1984 when Trudeau was prime minister, except for a short hiatus when Progressive Conservative Joe Clark was elected. The essays present the Liberal party view of national and international relations during the period, with a special focus on the persistent and vexatious Quebec question

Towards a just society: The Trudeau years

Trudeau, Pierre

Penguin

Book by Head, Ivan L., Trudeau, Pierre

The Canadian Way: Shaping Canada's Foreign Policy 1968-1984

History

Head, Ivan L.

World

MCCLELLAND STEWART

Against the Current: Selected Writings

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

Our Last Farewell: Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 1919-2000

Biographies & Memoirs

Memoirs

Pierre Trudeau was prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. This is his story, told in his own words. Take a look through the book. When you do, you will find that this remarkable memoir has many qualities. It is: PERSONAL As if he were sitting across the table from you, Pierre Trudeau reminisces about his life in an informal, direct way. He starts with his memories of his family, especially his mother and father, to whom the book is dedicated. There are memorable events from childhood here, such as a visit to complain to the principal on his second day at school. Later there is a lunchroom encounter with a high school bully and then, at the age of fifteen, real tragedy. “Aroused by the ringing of the telephone, I came out of my room to go downstairs and find out what was happening. But I froze on the landing when I heard the awful words: ‘Your father is dead, Pierre.’” PHILOSOPHICAL After an extensive education in Montreal, Boston, London, and Paris, Trudeau set off with a backpack to travel around the world. He tells how he went through one war zone after another, encountering armed bandits and being arrested in wartime Jordan as a Jewish spy. These adventures and further travels through India and war-torn China left with him a deep belief in the rights of the individual and the vital role of government in protecting these rights. He tells how his hatred of narrow nationalism reinforced his stand against requests for special treatment by successive Quebec governments. POLITICAL From the day he decided to go to Ottawa as a Liberal MP in 1965, Trudeau was clearly on a fast track. After becoming minister of justice in 1967 and tackling very controversial law reforms, he ran for the leadership and became prime minister in 1968 – the first Canadian leader born in the twentieth century. He talks about his use of “the Liberal machine” and all the electoral fights that followed over the year, providing interesting insights into his contests with national opponents such as Robert Stanfield, David Lewis, Joe Clark (a tougher opponent than the man who deposed him), Ed Broadbent, and Brian Mulroney, about whose virtues he is eloquently silent. PERSONALITY-FILLED As a leader whose time in office ran from the fall of Charles de Gaulle to the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev, Pierre Trudeau was able to exert his influence to break down the Cold War mentality. He enjoyed good personal rapport with such different leaders as Chou Enlai, Jimmy Carter, Fidel Castro, Helmut Schmidt, and François Mitterand. His relations with Richard Nixon and Margaret Thatcher were less warm, and he was less impressed by Ronald Reagan’s intellect than by the wisdom of the Queen. PATRIOTIC Whether they loved him or hated him, Canadians knew that in Pierre Trudeau’s time, the government stood up for Canada. He stood up to the domestic terrorism of the FLQ – and he makes no apologies here for his tough response to the October Crisis in 1970 – just as he stood up to the provincial premiers (including Réné Lévesque) who he believed were blocking the patriation of Canada’s constitution ten years later. PERTINENT The author’s preface ends with a word to you, the reader. “Whether you were a Liberal Cabinet colleague, a Canadian voter whose support we sought, or a young Canadian whose future we tried to improve, you are a part of this book.”

Pierre Elliott Trudeau always opposed the dominant ideology and what passed for conventional wisdom. This was true when he spoke out against the oppressive rule of Maurice Duplessis in Quebec. It was true in his years in Ottawa, as justice minister and prime minister, when he introduced controversial measures ranging from wage-and-price controls and restrictions on foreign investments, to expanded rights for homosexuals. It remained true in the years after his retirement, particularly when he has took issue with the more provocative expressions of Quebec nationalism and with federal initiatives such as Meech Lake and the Charlottetown Accord. Now neo-conservative ideas have taken over. Virtually every level of government in Canada is competing with the others to reduce the role of the state and eliminate constraints on business. Less government has come to mean a smaller role especially for the federal government. And the increased powers taken on by the provinces are being used, increasingly, to substitute private interests for the public good. The Canada that promoted equality, justice, and opportunity for all is under sustained attack. Never has the need for a clear statement of liberal principles been greater. In this volume, Ron Graham brought together a selection of excerpts from Trudeau’s writings, speeches, and interviews – many of them never before published in book form – to make a highly readable, lucid, and compelling summary of Trudeau’s political beliefs. To each chapter in this selection Trudeau provided an introduction and to many of the excerpts he added a new commentary. The result is a book of remarkable power: rational, timely, and eloquent.

The Essential Trudeau

Leaders & Notable People

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Books by Trudeau, Pierre