Pierre Trudeau

Two very significant events for Canada occurred during Pierre Trudeau's final term in office. The first was the defeat of the referendum on Quebec sovereignty, called by the Parti Québécois government of René Lévesque. In the debates between Trudeau and Lévesque, Canadians were treated to a contest between two highly intelligent, articulate and bilingual politicians who, despite being bitterly opposed, were each committed to the democratic process. Trudeau promised a new constitutional agreement with Quebec should it decide to stay in Canada, and the "No" side (that is, No to sovereignty) ended up receiving around 60% of the vote.

Trudeau had attempted patriation of the Constitution earlier in his career with the Victoria Charter, but ran into a combined force of provincial premiers on the issue of an amending formula. After he threatened to go to London alone, a Supreme Court decision led Trudeau to meet with the premiers one more time. Further, officials in the United Kingdom indicated that the British parliament was under no obligation to fulfill any request for legal changes made by Trudeau, particularly if Canadian convention was not being followed. Trudeau reached an agreement with nine of the premiers, with the notable exception of Lévesque. Quebec's refusal to agree to the new constitution became a source of continued acrimony between the federal and Quebec governments. Even so, the patriation was achieved; the Constitution Act, 1982 was proclaimed by Queen Elizabeth on April 17, 1982. Read Less

His citation reads:

Lawyer, professor, author and defender of human rights this statesman served as Prime Minister of Canada for fifteen years. Lending substance to the phrase "the style is the man," he has imparted, both in his and on the world stage, his quintessentially personal philosophy of modern politics.

Through hours of archival footage and interviews with Trudeau himself, the recent documentary Memoirs details the story of a man who used intelligence and charisma to bring together a country that was very nearly torn apart.

Trudeau's life is depicted in two CBC Television mini-series. The first one, Trudeau (with Colm Feore in the title role), depicts his years as Prime Minister. Trudeau II: Maverick in the Making (with Stéphane Demers as the young Pierre, and Tobie Pelletier as him in later years) portrays his earlier life. Read Less