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Review Of Ron Graham's Essay 'The Last Act'

2747 Words11 Pages

Darien Kenny Christopher Dummitt CAST-1101H-A-W01-2024WI-PTBO Canada Images & Realities 10 March 2024 Essay: The Last Act: Pierre Trudeau, The Gang of Eight and the Fight for Canada The Last Act: Pierre Trudeau, The Gang of Eight and the Fight for Canada written by Ron Graham, goes over a multitude of factors that occurred within this era that changed Canada forever. Pierre Trudeau is known as one of the most prominent Canadian politicians of recent history with his creation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which Graham argues was a long, lengthy, and difficult process, with clashes from premiers to difficulties with the public. Graham emphasizes that the threat of Quebec independence, the ambitions of Western Canada, and the provinces' demands for more power created difficulties for Trudeau …show more content…

Additionally, Trudeau then was tasked with attempting to negotiate a settlement with the reluctant premiers, which argues that Trudeau's strategic maneuvers and the premiers' unyielding resistance reflect the clash between centralizing and decentralizing forces within Canada's political landscape. The disagreement over the language rights made the settlement process far more complicated than expected. The amending formula and the provisions on language rights became central points of contention, reflecting the deeply entrenched regional divisions and divergent views on federalism and individual rights. Trudeau was very passionate about his version of the Charter, and Graham argues that Trudeau used his abilities and background in his longstanding commitment to human rights and democratic freedoms, shaped by his experiences as a student and his efforts to combat oppression and discrimination in Quebec in the 1940s to push for said

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