The Essential Trudeau

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.

Pierre Elliott Trudeau was a politician, writer, constitutional lawyer, and prime minister of Canada (1968-79, 1980-84). It was his forthright approach and candid opposition to the dominant ideology and what passed for conventional wisdom that won him strong support as well as criticism. During his years in Ottawa, as justice minister and prime minister, he introduced controversial measures ranging from wage-and-price controls and restrictions on foreign investment, to expanded rights for homosexuals. Some of his major accomplishments include the 1980 defeat of Québec separatism, official bilingualism, the patriated Constitution, and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He is also known for his opposition to the much-publicized Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords. Trudeau was awarded the Albert Einstein Peace Prize for his efforts in 1983-1984 to reduce nuclear weapons and lower the level of Cold War tensions.

Trudeau published a number of books with McClelland & Stewart including: Memoirs (1993), The Canadian Way: Shaping Canada’s Foreign Policy (with Ivan Head, 1995), Against the Current: Selected Writings (edited by Gérard Pelletier, 1996), and The Essential Trudeau (edited by Ron Graham, 1998).

When Pierre Elliot Trudeau died in 2000, a nation mourned the loss of one of our greatest prime ministers and most celebrated patriots.