Thinkers and political figures
Portrait: Photograph, 1975, via Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab) · CC0
Pierre Trudeau
- Country
- Canada
- Era
- 1919–2000
- Tradition
- Liberal federalism
Canadian prime minister for fifteen years, who decriminalised homosexuality and abortion, made bilingualism and multiculturalism official policy, patriated the constitution with a Charter of Rights — and suspended civil liberties during the October Crisis.
Documented positions
Documented positions come from the sources listed. Similarity is this project’s inference from those positions, and is a much weaker claim.
- Decriminalised homosexual acts and liberalised abortion and divorce law, saying "the state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation"
- Made English and French official languages and adopted multiculturalism as formal federal policy
- Patriated the constitution in 1982 with an entrenched Charter of Rights and Freedoms
- Invoked the War Measures Act during the 1970 October Crisis, suspending habeas corpus and detaining hundreds without charge
- Opposed Quebec sovereignty consistently, campaigning against it in the 1980 referendum
- Created a national energy programme asserting federal control over oil pricing, bitterly opposed in Alberta
- Expanded federal transfers, regional equalisation payments and public health financing
Where it sits on each dimension
Wealth and inequality
Evidence: Documented
The state in the economy
Evidence: Well documented
Personal liberty
Evidence: Documented
Tradition and change
Evidence: Well documented
Nation and the world
Evidence: Well documented
Religion and the state
Evidence: Well documented
Power and its limits
Evidence: Documented
Crime and punishment
Evidence: Documented
Dimensions left unscored, for want of evidence: Environment and growth
Sources
- Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Federalism and the French Canadians · 1968
- Government of Canada, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms · 1982
Last verified: