Pierre Elliott Trudeau: The Great Beginnings By : No o r Ya s s ein Certain things, you either love or hate. There seems to be no in-between. The same can go for people, especially in a field like politics where the tensions (and stakes) run high. Pierre Elliott Trudeau was a great leader whose lasting legacy lies mostly in social justice reform. However, his legacy is being both glorified and forgotten as he mostly began (rather than finalized) the reformation of issues which were not well-established at the time. Having been in office for so long, Pierre Trudeau was known to many as the “elder statesman” of the West – a nickname wellearned. He was the third-longest-serving Prime Minister in Canadian history, behind only William Mackenzie King and Sir John A. MacDonald, and was involved in politics for many years prior. Trudeau started a remarkable amount of life-changing processes, many of which continue today. The first of these processes was gaining constitutional independence. His efforts allowed Canada to be more in charge of its own destiny. Similarly, another process which he spearheaded was that of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It began a process of constitutionalizing the rights of women and, later on, LGBTQ+ rights, among others, all across the country, and helped to protect those rights from the instability of the political process. He also spearheaded the Divorce Act of 1968, which allowed married couples to divorce without proof of adultery. Both the Charter and Divorce Act were ground-breaking for their time, and their impact is felt today. THE OBSERVER
P HOTO BY BE T T MANN/ GET TY IM AG ES
If we broaden our view and look at the international stage, the impacts of Trudeau’s legacy can still be felt. He turned Canada into a country that could be seen and could act separately from Britain, no longer being under its influence and control. This further solidified Canada’s independence from the Queen when it came to governance and passing laws, thus introducing a new country to the global arena. Trudeau worked to ensure Canada had its own place on the international stage, establishing diplomatic relations with countries like China (before the U.S. did), while still remaining a part of NATO. Through these initiatives and his social justice reforms, Canada became an example of what could be. Having previously worked closely with Lester B. Pearson, he began implementing things that Pearson had introduced, and encouraged dialogue between North-South countries, as well as between more industrialized and wealthy countries and less well-developed countries. However, not everything under Pierre Trudeau’s government was received well. His focus on social justice reforms at a time of economic recession caused significant uproar. While his accomplishments (such as constitutional reform) had significant positive and long-term effects, his prioritization of social justice at a time when many were suffering economically angered a lot of people. It was difficult for people who had more pressing and immediate needs to accept his focus on long-term issues, particularly when the solutions didn’t have an immediate positive PAGE 12
