The Ravings of An Old Man; by Dave Jaffe. Chapter Two, part two. Thank You Mr. Trudeau Senior. Part Two.

       Thank You Mr. Trudeau Senior by Dave Jaffe. Part Two.
 


    Pierre Elliott Trudeau's time as Canada's prime minister had its tough times. All governments do bad things and/or make mistakes and Trudeau's governments was no different. In the fall of 1970 Trudeau proclaimed a War Measures Act  during the time when the terrorist Front de Liberation de Quebec kidnapped a British diplomat and murdered a Quebec cabinet minister.
     "Just watch me," Trudeau said when asked how far he would go in suspending civil liberties. Hundreds of people in Quebec had their homes searched by police and dozens were arrested. Yet Trudeau crushed the FLQ and it never reappeared. Trudeau also did a complete U-turn on wage and price controls.In 1974 he ran against the Conservative leader Bob Stanfield who was proposing a ninety day or three month freeze on wages and prices. The Liberals easily won the 1974 election as millions of unionized Canadians deserted the N.D.P. and voted Liberal.
     Then in late 1975 Trudeau's Liberal government brought in not a three month freeze on wage and price controls but a three year freeze on wages and prices. "Our members lost millions of dollars in wages," Len Guy, then head of the B.C. Federation of Labour said in 1977. Also Trudeau's National Energy Program blew up in his face when the oil rich province of Alberta saw many of its oil rigs close down as the Liberal government of Canada tried to grab part of Alberta's share of oil royalties .
   When his time in power ended in the early 1980's, Trudeau appointed  many of his Liberal allies to cushy patronage jobs. "This is an orgy of patronage," one outraged observer said at the time. "What happened to the Trudeau who in 1968 called for 'A Just Society'?"
   Still, for someone like me Trudeau's time in power was very good. I moved into a housing co-op where I still live to-day. This co-op was develop during Trudeau's time in power. I also benefitted from the more generous unemployment insurance scheme that Trudeau brought in in the early 1970's. And the Quebec sovereigntist party the Parti Quebecois didn't win any sovereigntist referendums. Still, many Quebeckers benefitted from its time in power too. The first PQ government headed by Rene Levesque  did many progressive things. It immediately let the abortion provider Dr. Henry Morgentaler out of prison.
     It also banned businesses and unions from making any contributions to elections. Soon the federal government and other provinces, except for B.C. followed suit. The first PQ government also banned scabs in all management -labour disputes This  ended a terrible practice in Quebec labour history. It also brought in no-fault auto insurance and passed laws to preserve farm land. It also did many other progressive things. Its language law led to over 125,000 English-speaking people leaving Quebec. Yet Quebec's population did increase in the long run.
   Overall Trudeau's time in power benefitted Quebec and Canada. I'm glad he came along. "Quebec" people in Quebec said in the 1950's, "c'est ne pas un province comme les autres" Translation? Quebec isn't a province like the other ones. This is true and Pierre Elliott Trudeau wasn't a prime minister like many other ones. I'm glad he wasn't.