I'm doing a project on him, and I've been watching some videos of him on youtube; it seems that every other comment is from a Quebecer claiming he "raped Quebec", "was the equivalent of Hitler to the Jews (to Quebec)", "was the worst prime minister", "masturbates to the Union Jack" and the like. However, to me, it seems he did a kit of things to promote bilingualism and Quebec; the Charter of Rights, mandating French be taught in English speaking schools, promoting unity, etc... For most of his term as prime minister, his party had the majority of seats in Quebec. Secondly (during his terms), public opinion polls in Quebec leant heavily his favor. Public opinion in Quebec even supported his evoking the War Measures Act to root out and destroy the FLQ; he also helped defeat seperatism in the 1980 referendum. If they loved him them so much then (even during his resignation), why do so many Quebecers hate him now?
2007-05-15 12:14:43 · 5 answers · asked by StaticS 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
They hate him because they feel that he "sold out" Quebec to repatriate the constitution.
When they were negotiating the terms of the constitution the Premier of Quebec was Rene Levesque who was from the PQ. It was doubtful that he would have agreed to the sign the constitution. There were various back room deals and negotiations (such as including the not with standing clause). but when Trudeau had all the other premiers in agreement he did not consult with Levesque again. It is called the night of the long knives in Quebec. There are a lot of good books written on it. I've included a link to wikipedia for you below.
Quebec has still not ratified the constitution and most Quebecers are still upset that they are not seen as a "distinct society".
I agree with you Trudeau did more for promoting bilingualism (especially in the civil service) and multiculturalism than any other PM. Other than his continually down sizing the military that started the huge decline in Canada's operational military he was a good PM.
2007-05-15 12:35:36 · answer #1 · answered by Budda_Budda 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Pierre Trudeau was probably the most interesting PM Canada has ever had. As for his impact, you will be looking at 15 years of him being the PM. The first "impact" was the October Crisis in 1970. Mr Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act to take care of "terrorist" actions from the FLQ. There is really no other PM that would have done such an extreme act to resolve the issues. Another impact is the Constitution that he brought to Canada in 1982. By getting this passed through both Canadian and British Parliament, this basically severed any form of responsibility for or jurisdiction over Canada from Britain. Another impact was dealing with the Equalization Payments for the provinces. This was affected with the Constitution Act that Trudeau introduced. This is one of the reasons that he is not that popular in Alberta. Then there was his actions that had an impact. He was a PM with a jet-setter attitude. He had given the finger to the camera on TV (which was broad casted across the nation) and still got re-elected, he curtsied behind the queen, and then there was Trudeau Mania. In either case, I am reminded of what my teacher said about him, "You will either love him or hate him. There is really no middle ground." With that being said, there is a good point about him; he was not liked by Richard Nixon, which was a good point.
2016-04-01 03:02:13 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Quebec is not the only province where he wasn't welcome .In his younger years he was said to be a member of the communist party. He had an audience with Mao tse tung way back in the 50's when only well known supporters of communism were allowed in. Fidel Castro was one of his close friends.In 1975 he[Trudeau] was on a state visit to Cuba with his wife margaret . From a balcony he shouted ' long live your President Fidel Castro'.Half the population of cuba would Leave if given a chance.so much for the workers Paradise . I have never been so ashamed to be a canadian. now his son , a Drama Teacher is taking a run at it.He 's a rockstar so they say.I suppose he's highly qualified in his own right.
2007-05-15 12:55:47 · answer #3 · answered by Shark 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Basically Quebec hates everyone eventually.
2007-05-16 10:27:42 · answer #4 · answered by rohak1212 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
because he cared about canada as a whole, rather than putting the interests of one, regional minority group over the rest of us.
As a general rule, if Quebec hates it, it must be good for Canada
2007-05-15 12:49:45 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋