Pierre Trudeau's Impact On Canada

“In my political philosophy, I think that there is sometimes room for violence” (Trudeau, 1972, 67). This quote shows a glimpse of the true nature and political approach of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Pierre Trudeau served his time as Prime Minister of Canada from 1968-1979 and again from 1980-1984. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau had a negative impact on Canada during his time as Prime Minister of Canada during the twentieth century. First, it took the succeeding Prime Ministers 30 years to fiscally restore the country from when Trudeau almost made the country go bankrupt, nearly splitting the country in the process. Secondly, Prime Minister Trudeau knew and fully understood the conditions and treatment of Indigenous people in Canada but

Firstly, he created the 1969 White Paper, which aimed to assimilate Indigenous people into Canadian culture. “He [Trudeau] and Jean Chrétien, his minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development at the time, proposed in a White Paper in 1969 that the special legal relationship between First Nations and the government of Canada be severed and all Indigenous Peoples fully integrated into Canadian life” (Blake & Donaldson, 2021). The 1969 White Paper was met with vigorous opposition from Indigenous leaders all across the country and it sparked the beginning of a new era of Indigenous political organizing in Canada. Trudeau soon recognized that his largely assimilationist policy was not likely to convince anyone that it was either workable or just. Subsequently, he fully understood the conditions and treatment of Indigenous people in Canada and did not do anything to help them; “Trudeau understood fully the conditions in which many Indigenous Peoples lived in 1969. Yet, he found the notion of treaty rights between two groups within the same society or special status for any group at odds with his notion of common and equal citizenship” (Blake & Donaldson, 2021). Even though he understood what was happening to the Indigenous people in Canada, he turned a blind eye. “He found the notion of treaty rights between two groups within

To begin with, the enactment of the National Energy Program was not in and of itself a negative concept. The oil producing provinces in Western Canada saw the National Energy Program as a way to keep energy prices low in order to supply Eastern Canada with the energy they needed. “Producing provinces in the West saw the NEP as another strategy to keep energy prices depressed in order to benefit the energy-hungry provinces in the East” (National Energy Program (1980–1984) - Natural Gas - Alberta's Energy Heritage, n.d.). This shows that the National Energy Program didn’t negatively impact all parties involved, however, it did start some tensions between Eastern and Western Canada. Secondly, Eastern provinces in Canada felt they were being painted as the greedy ben in the National Energy Program. “To Albertans, the NEP policies hardly seemed fair; they were tired of being painted by Trudeau’s Liberals as being greedy and un-Canadian” (National Energy Program (1980–1984) - Natural Gas - Alberta's Energy Heritage, n.d.). Eastern provinces, especially Alberta, were upset at being painted as greedy, since their money cycled through the nation's entire economy just like every other province's money. This made the tensions between Eastern and Western Canada grow even more. Lastly, in reaction to the National Energy Program, many