Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Prime-Minister of “One Canada”

Abstract

A statesman of Canada, Pierre Elliot Trudeau (1918—2000), a Liberal Prime Minister in 1968—1979, 1980—1984, is the author of the “patriation” of the Constitution of 1982, which included a universal Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and of the law on official bilingualism. Trudeau defended the integrity of state from the threats of supporters of extremist forms of separatism that arose among the radical nationalists of the French-speaking province of Quebec, directing federal-provincial contradictions into the political and legal channel. Trudeau was inspired by the concept of “One Canada” and the philosophy of “Just Society”, combining the ideas of the supremacy of individual freedoms with the high responsibility of the state, social measures with equal linguistic and cultural development of Francophones and Anglophones as parts of a single political nation. Trudeau’s enduring legacy also includes the abolition of the death penalty, the end of the discrimination of homosexuals, the simplification of divorce proceedings, multiculturalism and anti-poverty measures. The foreign policy course also bore the imprint of Trudeau’s ideas of justice in a changing global world. He initiated the diversification of international relations, collaborated with socialist countries, defended detente and nuclear security, reducing Canada’s participation in NATO and removing nuclear missiles from the country’s territory.