 Pierre Elliott Trudeau  was Justice Minister in Pearson’s gvt (1967)  won a majority gvt after only 1 month as PM (1968)  PM from April 1968 to June 1979, and again from March 1980 to June 1984  3 rd PM with French-Canadian ancestry ▪ strong Federalist ▪ opposed the separatist movement in Quebec

 Describes the time period of Trudeau’s majority election  Trudeau was unlike any other politicians; his physical appearance and attitude caused him to be a hot topic in social circles  much of Trudeau’s support came from youth  his popularity reminded people of Beatlemania

 In foreign affairs, Trudeau kept Canada firmly in NATO, but often pursued an independent path in international relations.  He established Canadian diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, before the United States did, and went on an official visit to Beijing.

 He was known to be a friend of Fidel Castro and Cuba.

 Trudeau was the first world leader to agree to meet John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono on their 'tour for world peace'.  Lennon said, after talking with Trudeau for 50 minutes, that Trudeau was "a beautiful person" and that "if all politicians were like Pierre Trudeau, there would be world peace."

 “The state does not belong in the bedroom of the nation.”  Legalized birth control and homosexuality, and made it easier to divorce  Federalism – a system of gvt in which power is divided  Canada has Federal and Provincial levels of gvt  areas of law are divided into these levels ▪ Examples: Health Care is under Provincial Jurisdiction and Foreign Affairs is under Federal Jurisdiction

 This system helps prevent the abuse of power in the gvt  Trudeau believed that Federalism would help preserve individual rights (Federal) and maintain a French Canadian identity (Provincial)

 Bilingualism - a gvt policy  Trudeau felt that French-English relations was a problem that needed to be fixed  believed that if the French felt valued outside of Quebec that relations would be better

 His solution: make French feel comfortable everywhere in Canada – all Crown Corporations, Federal Gvt agencies, and courts would be fully bilingual throughout Canada  In 1969 the Official Languages Act is passed by Parliament ▪ Canada becomes a bilingual country