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Pierre Trudeau Is Born
Pierre Trudeau was born in Montreal October,18 1919, to Charles-Emile Trudeau, a French Canadian buisness and lawyer, and Grace Elliot who was a French and Scottish decent. -
Pierre Trudeau attends Honored College/ Death of Father
Pierre attended the honored college Jean-de-Brebeuf ( a private French Jesuit school), where he supported Quebec nationalism. Trudeau's father died when Pierre was in his mid-teens. HIs father's death hit him and the family very hard. Pierre remained very close to his mother for the rest of his life. -
Outremont
In 1942 an Outremont by-election, he campaigned for thr anti-conscription Canidate Jean Drapeau ( later Mayor of Montreal) and was eventually expelled from Officer's Training Corps for lack of dicipline. -
Trudeau Earns Degree/ Excepted into Army Forces
Trudeau earned a degree in law at the Universite de Montreal. During his studies he was drafted into the Army, like thousands of the other Canadian men, as a part of the National Resources Mobilization Act. -
Natural Resources Mobilization Act.
He joined the Canadian Officers Training Corps and served with over drafts in Canada, as they were not really liable for over seas military service until after the Conscription Crisis of 1944 -
Continuing Studies
After the war Trudeau continued to do his studies, first in taking a master's degree in political economy at Harvard's University's Graduate School of Public Administration. He then studied in Paris, France in 1947 at the Insitut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris. Finally, he enrolled for a doctorate at the London School of Economics but had failed to finish his essay. -
Early Career
From 1951 Trudeau worked briefly in Ottawa, in the Privy Council Office of the Liberal Prime Minister Louis-Saint Laurent as an economic policy advisor. He wrote in his memoirs that he found this period in time very useful later on, when he entered in politics, and that senior civil worker Norman Robertson tried unsuccessfully to persuade him to stay on. -
La grève de l'amiante,
In 1956 Pierre edited an important book on the subject La grève de l'amiante, which argued that the strike he participated in was a seminal event in Quebec's history, marking the beginning of the resistance to the concervative contidtions -
Early Career
Through the mid 60's Trudeau was primarily based in Montreal and was seen by many as an intellectual. When Trudeau entered federal politics in ther 1960's he decided to join the Liberal Party of Canada rather than the New Democratic Party. -
Law professor enters Politics
In 1965 he was convinced to join the party in 1965, together with his friends Gerad Pellitier, and Jean Merchand. Trudeau and his two friends known as the "Three wise men" ran successfully in the election for the Liberals in 1965. -
Law Professor Enters Politics
An associate professor of law at the Universite de Montreal, Trudeau's views evolved towards a liberal position in favor of indicidual rights counter to the state and made him an opponent of Quebec nationalism. -
Law Professor Enters Politics
Upon, his arrival in Ottawa Trudeau was appointed as Prime Minister Lester Pearson's secretary, and spent much of the next year travelling , representing Canada at international meetings and events, including the UN. In this year he was appointed to Pearson's Cabinet as Minister of Justice. -
Justice Leader and Leadership Candidate
In 1968 at the Liberal Leadership convention Trudeau was elected as the leader on the fourth ballot, and was the new leader of the governing Liberals. -
Spiritually
Trudeau was a Roman Catholic and attended church throughout his life. While mostly private about his beliefs, he made it clear that he was a believer, stating, in an interview with the United Church Observer in 1971 believe in life after death, I believe in God and I'm a Christian." Trudeau maintained, however, that he preferred to impose things on himself rather than have them exposed from the outside. In this sense, he believed he was more like a Protestant than a Catholic of the era. -
Multiculturalism
Trudeau was credited with introducing Canada to a "Multiculturalism Policy" regognizing that while Canada was a country known of two offical languages. He created a system that included a "multicultural policy with bilingual framework". -
1972 Election
In the federal election of 1972 , Trudeau led the Liberal party and won a minority government with the New Democratic Party holidng the balance of power. -
Marriage and Children
Late in life (1972), while Prime Minister, he quietly married Margaret Sinclair, a young woman thirty years his junior. They were incompatible, for her image of Trudeau-as-romantic-playboy was based on false media hype; he was actually a workaholic and an intense intellectual with little time for family or fun. After his three children were born they separated in 1977 and were finally divorced in 1980. Their three children are Justin, Alexandre (Sacha), and Michel. -
1974 Election
In the month of may 1974 the House of Commons passed a motion of no confidence in Trudeau's gonvernment , defeating its budget bill. The election in 1974 saw Trudeau and the Liberals re-elected with a majority government with 141 of the following 264 seats. -
G7
Canada joined the G7 group of major economic powers in 1976, after being left out of the first set of general meetings. Trudeau wrote in his memoirs that the U.S. President Gerald Ford arranged this, and expressed great appreciation. -
A Legacy with Respect to Quebec
rudeau's legacy in Quebec wasmixed. Many creditehis actions during the October Crisis as crucial in terminating the Front de liberation du Quebec as a force in Quebec, and making sure that the campaign for Quebec separatism took a democratic and peaceful route. However, his imposition of the War Measures Act—which received majority support at the tim is remembered by some in Quebec and elsewhere as an attack on democracy. Trudeau is also credited by many for the defeat of the 1980 Quebec ref. -
Marriage and Children
When his divorce was finished in 1984, Trudeau became the first Prime Minister to become a single parent as the result of divorce. In 1991, Trudeau became a father again, with Deborah Coyne. This was his first and only daughter, named Sarah. -
Early Career
n his memoirs, published in 1993, Trudeau wrote that during the 1990's that he wanted to teach at the Univertite de Montreal. He was offered a position at the Queens University teaching political science. -
Death of a PrimeMinister
Pierre Elliott Trudeau died on September 28, 2000, and was buried in the Trudeau family crypt, St-Remi-de-Napierville Cemetery, Saint-Remi, Quebec. His body was laid in the state to allow Canadians to pay their last respects. His son Justin delivered the speach during the state funeral that led to widespread in the media that a career in politics was in his future. (Justin was elected to the House of Commons in late 2008). Several world politicians attended the funeral.
