Pierre Elliott Trudeau has rightly been described as one of Canada’s most controversial Prime Ministers. Elected in 1968, this former law professor and writer used his charisma and intellect to dominate Canadian politics for almost two decades. His long stint in power as prime minister is remarkable given Trudeau’s often unpredictable behavior and disastrous initiatives. Prime Minister Trudeau came into power during a very tumultuous time in Canada’s history. Forced to deal with crisis after crisis, he enacted many polarizing policies that were popular with some but despised by others. Frequently, he was forced to reverse much of his legislation due to his inability to recognize the effects of his policies on average Canadians. Although some …show more content…
As the Canadian economy began to slow down in the 1970s because of the oil crisis, the cost of living increased dramatically. Trudeau faced high inflation and unemployment rates. To help improve this situation, he introduced the Anti-Inflation Act in 1975 which limited increases in wages and prices. Instead of helping, this act made life more difficult for many Canadians. This policy rolled back wages or freezed wages for 4.2 million hardworking Canadians and on October 16th, 1976, over a million of these Canadians went on strike, bringing Canada to a standstill. By 1978, the policy was widely regarded as a failure and Trudeau was forced to phase out his price and wage controls. This policy undoubtedly proves that Prime Minister Trudeau was unable to foresee the impact that his reckless policies would have on everyday Canadians. He further demonstrated his inability to run an advanced economy when he Introduced the National Energy Program in 1979. Its introduction followed the Iranian Revolution which resulted in oil prices rising 150%. The goal of the National Energy Program was to redistribute Alberta’s oil wealth to poorer parts of the country which …show more content…
This severely hurt Alberta’s economy with many foreign companies selling off their energy assets in Canada and this in turn, eliminated many jobs. Thousands of Albertans who became unemployed were unable to pay their mortgages and the real estate market crashed due to the NEP. Trudeau again was unaware of the consequences his Soviet-like policy would have and the anger it would incite. Peter Lougheed, the Premier of Alberta, like most Albertans, was angry and fought back at Trudeau stating: “If my voice is trembling, it’s because I am terribly angry, to the point where I would be happy to fight for our freedom and I literally mean with a rifle.” He announced that he would reduce Alberta’s oil production and cut shipments to the rest of Canada as he believed that the NEP was subsidizing the Eastern provinces. Consequently, Trudeau was compelled to revise his NEP so that the price of Canadian oil was would rise to the world price. The NEP was dismantled in 1984 when Prime Minister Mulroney came to power. Trudeau’s NEP did nothing but leave a legacy of anger towards Ottawa and destroyed what little support Trudeau and his political party, the liberals, had in the province of Alberta. A final example of Trudeau’s
Programs such as the Canadian pension plan, universal health care and student loans, all exist because of Lester B. Pearson. Mr. Pearson wanted to help Canadians by introducing programs that would support them both finically and physically. He proposed the pension plan to aide seniors once they retire, a pension plan provides partial income replacements for seniors who retire at the age of 65. This program was very effective hence it still continues to help seniors around Canada today. After the CPP was introduced Canadian seniors received additional income which helped them improve their living conditions, helped them pay for expenses and overall helped them lead a better life after retirement which was a lot considering the living situations during that that time period.
The severe economic conditions of the depression brought down and impacted numerous countries including Canada. When Bennett was running for prime minister he had no idea of the economic disasters that would be approaching and was unable to discover or utilize any effective methods to deal with them. During the 1930 election Robert campaigned to combat the aggressive measures of the great depression and when he was elected for the conservative party he immediately distributed $20 million toward helping the unemployed citizens of Canada. Unfortunately, the depression conveyed and produced many problems that no one was capable of adequately handling. Bennett attempted to strengthen Canadian trade by preferential tariffs, but unfortunately it
The article also talks about why people were unhappy with Harper. First was feelings against Islam or some people would consider Islamophobia. He wanted to make a ban on the Niqab which is the veil worn by some muslim women. One major issue to Canadians is the rise in muslim immigration (which might be our fault) and the paranoia of terrorism.
Throughout Canadian history, Canada had always been socially divided. Between the English speaking majority and the French speaking majority. One of Trudeau’s main objective was to erase this separation between these two parties. Firstly, in order to ease tension between the French speaking majority, Trudeau placed a “Official Language Act” in 1969 . This was the first act that English and French the
The tension between provincial and federal government is a continual struggle for power in Canadian politics. On April 16th, 1981, the highly debated April Accord was signed by the Gang of 8 and proposed to Trudeau as an amending formula for the Constitution. On the surface, it appeared to demonstrate a united front within the provinces in the Gang of 8. However, there is much controversy over whether the accord was an authentic solution to the amending formula or a way to stall negotiations since Trudeau would not approve it. Thus, the April Accord represents the political tension between the Gang of 8 and Prime Minister Trudeau.
He states that the Canada’s current economy unfairly treats the middle and working classes, as they work more than before and yet make less . Since Harper is the Prime Minister it is then his fault. Thus, Trudeau has us feel anger towards Harper, as the failed economy is due to Harper. How effective was this appeal.
Canadians suffered a lot of hardship during the Great Depression which resulted in them feeling helpless and angry. This anger and helplessness left the Canadian people looking for someone to blame for their suffering; that someone became RB Bennett. The poverty of the Great Depression as well as Bennett’s past actions caused the rejection of Bennett’s ‘New Deal’ in 1935. The fact that Bennett was a millionaire and suffered very little during the Great Depression made it extremely difficult for struggling Canadians to trust him as they “…felt his wealth made him unable to relate to the struggles of ordinary Canadians during the Great Depression”(Source #1 Bennett’s Background). After experiencing so much loss through the first few years of
A historical example of the use of enforcement and regulation of the poor is vagrancy laws. Emerging in England, vagrancy laws were prominent in 1349 after the Black Death resulted in a significant labour shortage (Esmonde, 2002). Legislation was enacted at this time to protect landowners by ensuring wages remained reasonable, making the refusal of work a criminal offence for the able-bodied, and restricting the solicitation of alms (Esmonde, 2002). According to Esmonde (2002), this was the beginning of criminalizing able-bodied individuals who were unemployed – the 'undeserving ', while providing relief to those unable to work due disability, age, or mobility – the 'deserving '.
Canada is now known to be a diverse, multicultural, bilingual and inclusive nation largely as a result of his work. Pierre Elliott Trudeau also believed in an equal Canada for all, he is primarily the one to introduce rights and freedoms to the citizens of Canada. While some view Pierre Trudeau as impulsive, for enforcing the War Measures Act, Trudeau enacted this for the protection of Canadian citizens against radical extremist and his actions were more rational than impulsive for the situation that had suddenly occurred. Pierre Trudeau was one of Canada’s greatest Prime Minister’s, who’s impact fundamentally changed the course of the nation by introducing multiculturalism, for introducing the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and for paradoxically upholding democracy by strong action during the October Crisis.
Social Welfare Policy and Child Protection – Strength and Limitations Since last two decades Canada being experienced softer and harder forms of neo-liberal economic impetus (McKeen, 2006). Many of these reforms targeted social benefits and divided marginalized people into deserved and undeserved category (McKeen, 2006). At a large level, social policies are shaped by the exploration of dominant ideas about a social issue. Existing political views and the interest of the dominant policy community are predominantly influencing policy making (McKeen, 2006). The mainstream discourses for solutions of social problems and policy outcomes are increasingly underrepresented and narrow down the focus of social welfare in Canada (McKeen, 2006).
Today, Canada is seen as a multicultural and peaceful nation that has evolved over the course of history. This great nation would never have been possible without the impact that former Prime Minister, Lester B. Pearson left on this country. His achievements and insights profoundly affected and shaped Canada’s nation. First, peacekeeping is an important part of Canada’s heritage and a reflection of its fundamental beliefs that Pearson implemented after dealing with world changing situations and winning a Nobel Prize. Also, his contributions as a liberal leader as well as the flaws and controversy with Diefenbaker did in fact define this country.
There are many takes on what occurred during the October crisis, and many untold stories. Each tale gives a new puzzle to understand what really happened. Prime Minster Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s decsion remains a controversy to this day with many opposing it, and some justifying it was the right thing to do. After a while, the War Measures Act was eventually replaced by the Emergency Act in 1988.
First, despite his “Five Cents Speech” during the great depression, King did have a clear understanding of the necessary steps to lead Canada out of depression. He believed that offering financial aid to the unemployed would only delay this crisis after which a greater downfall would follow. Using the money to generate job posts seemed to be the most practical solution, however, he never had the chance to implement his idea. Second, after his re-election followed by economic recovery, King promptly developed trade relations with the United States and pushed Canada to become America’s largest supplier of primary goods, such as lumber and wheat. In only a few years, he put an end to Canada’s poverty and instability and drastically increased the employment rate.
For a long time the debates had been going about how was the better prime minister of Canada. On the the top of most lists of best prime ministers are Mackenzie King and Sir John A. Macdonald. For example, according to the Expert Survey that was made in 2013 “Laurier came first, Macdonald second, and King third, but the difference in their overall scores was negligible”. Both prime ministers had a strong vision of the country that helped shaped Canada to become the country it is today(in 2015). Thesis: Sir John A.Macdonald was one of the founding fathers, but William Lyon Mackenzie King had to lead the country through the part of Depression and WWII, and they both have made different positive contributions to Canada and are highly respected
Canada enjoys the benefits of a “universal” insurance plan funded by the federal government. The idea of having a publicly administered, accessible hospital and medical services with comprehensive coverage, universality and portability has its own complex history, more so, than the many challenges in trying to accommodate the responsibility of a shared-cost agreement between federal and provincial governments. (Tiedemann, 2008) Canada’s health care system has gone through many reforms, always with the intent to deliver the most adequate health care to Canadians. The British North American Act, Hospital Insurance and Diagnostic Services Act, Saskatchewan’s Medical Care Act, and the Canada Health Act are four Acts that have played an important