The Greatest Prime Minister in Canadian History for Promoting Ethnic Diversity: Pierre Trudeau - Research Paper Example

The Greatest Prime Minister in Canadian History for Promoting Ethnic Diversity and Communities Was Pierre Trudeau Introduction: Looking into the long history of the world nations in general, it becomes crystal clear that such moments come in the ups and downs of circumstances that the motherlands witness grave problems that apparent seem to be insolvable, and create anarchy and chaos everywhere. At such uncomfortable state of affairs nations seek the support of genuine leadership that could steer their ship to the safe harbors. Hence, every nation produces few outstanding personalities, though once in a blue moon, which may lead their nations towards the way to glory, recognition, integrity and prosperity, and can change the very fate of their country by dint of their exceptional intellect, unflinching dedication, unabated courage and exemplary determination. These dynamic personalities determine the nation’s way of action and achieve the established goals with the help of steel nerves, dogged will and continuous hard work; the same is applied on ex Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau whose name is also among the list of national heroes, which remains the essential part of national history forever and ever. It is therefore that people not only love him and his policy in his life, but also his death was mourned all over the country with utter grief, and even his political opponents declared his demise as the great loss for the Canadian people. When ex-Prime Minister Pierre Elliott-Trudeau died in September 2000, Dufour submits, nearly every Canadian appeared deeply moved, even those who fiercely fought Trudeau’s political ideas during his lifetime: English Canadians from Ontario, but also from the West and from Quebec, Canadians from neither French or English origin and Aboriginals all over the country, French speaking Canadians outside Quebec. The emotion, the pain and the pride were sincere and surprisingly intense: everybody mourned the great Canadian man, the statesman who had changed Canada for the best forever. (2002: 5) It shows the magnitude of his sincerity and commitment to the national cause for which he had to undergo strongest opposition from his native province Quebec, but he was firm and resolute to keep his country integrated and united under Canadian Federation. He took very unpleasant and courageous steps to turn down the separatism from Canada. He allowed cultural traits and religious festivals all over the country and patronized the functions and cultural activities typically attributed and confined to one particular race or ethnic group. In order to combat with the ethnic hatred and racial prejudice, Trudeau made imperative alterations in the Canadian Constitution. Trudeau considered constitutional change his greatest achievement. After he left office in 1984 he twice came out of retirement to help defeat the Brian Mulroney governments attempts to give more constitutional powers to Quebec and the other provinces. ((Bliss, 2010: 11) Brief Life Sketch: Born and brought up in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Pierre Trudeau belonged to a wealthy and educated French-Canadian family. His parents paid particular heed to his learning and education, which made young Trudeau a highly cultural, well-groomed and learned scholar. He sought his education from three most reputed educational institutions including University de Montreal, Harvard University and London School of Economics, each of these centers of knowledge and wisdom left indelible imprints upon his personality and thoughts. Impressed by French philosophers like Rousseau, Jacques Maritain, Emmanuel Mounier and John Locke, he was determined to apply these philosophies in personal and professional life for the social, economic and moral uplift of his country. Consequently, he transferred this wide knowledge to his students while serving as professor at various institutions. Trudeau had also received education of Law and Finance from Harvard University, and Marxist and Socialist perspectives also influenced his views and ideas; both these philosophical schools of thought turned out to be very supportive in respect of eliminating class stratification and so called nationalist movements from his society. Trudeau maintained strong belief in social justice and equality at all scales and levels of political and cultural establishments. Being a lawyer and jurist himself, he always pursued for justice and impartiality on the concrete foundations of egalitarianism. His life was full of challenges, where he stood as firm as rock to turn down the possibilities of the prevailing injustices and prejudice from the very face of his social set up. He was strictly against of displaying any biased behavior on the basis of race, region, religion, ethnicity, class, status, gender or sexual orientation. On the contrary, he patronized liberty and freedom of thought and action. Being a Catholic, he was not expected to support such controversial issues like abortion and homosexuality etc, yet he vehemently voted in favor of these issues and helped out in legalizing both abortion and gay rights in Canada through the parliament, though he had to face the music from the orthodox Christian, Jew and Muslim subjects. His liberal policies not only earned name and fame for him, but also his country earned the reputation of a liberal and progressive state at international arena. Actually Trudeau was strictly against the division of the Canadian nation in the name of regionalism and ethnicity. It is therefore he played very dynamic role in the eradication of nationalist movements raised and organized by the people belonging to his native Quebec province, and crushed it with an iron hand through reforms, bills, acts and referendum. It is therefore the historians unanimously accredit him for the culmination of Quebec nationalism and promotion of ethnic diversity during his reign as Prime Minister in 1970s. Iglauer (2001: 15)) quotes Trudeau where he aims to build a society where each person could be in a position to fulfill himself to the extent of his capabilities as a human being, a society where inhibitions to equality would be eradicated. By this he simply means providing individual freedom and equality of opportunity, health, and education to every Canadian, and thus the process of creating a homogenous society could be accomplished. In 1967, Trudeau was appointed Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of Canada; in this capacity, he championed the omnibus bill to reform the criminal code of Canada, modernizing a number of clauses (abortion, divorce and homosexuality etc) that were sorely in need of change. (Bélanger, 2000) He had maintained high aims for introducing multiculturalism in Canada in his address to the parliament in 1971, which was the essential part of his enlightened policy of keeping Canada united. His speech shows that he was ambitious for implementing a comprehensive strategy for multiculturalism within the framework of bilingualism, which according to him, would be commendable to the government as the most suitable means of assuring the cultural freedom of Canadians. Such a policy, in Trudeau’s viewpoint, could be beneficial not only in breaking down discriminatory attitudes and cultural jealousies, but also would strengthen national unity and integrity subsequently. National unity, he asserted, must be founded on confidence in ones own individual identity; out of this can grow respect for that of others and a willingness to share ideas, attitudes and assumptions. He opined that a vigorous policy of multiculturalism was the only thing that could help in creating the initial confidence, which could form the base of a society on the principle of fair play for all without any discrimination on any basis altogether. (Canadian Documents Collection, 2008: 2-9) Before embarking upon the topic under analysis, it would be advisable to briefly describe Canadian social set up, which is as following: Introduction to Canadian Society and Culture: Canada is the second largest country of the world in respect of the total area, which consists of 99, 84,670 square km. (National Statistics Canada) Though very large and vast in size and area, the country carries the people belonging to divergent racial, ethnic and regional backgrounds. Thus presence of multiple nations, communities and groups makes the country as an extremely diversified state where several racial and ethnic groups living as one nation. Canada is, Macionis argues, one of the most diversified countries of the world, as rival nations have been living there under one confederation in a peaceful state; and clashes on the basis of race, religion or ethnicity seldom take place in the country, which reflects the maturity of the peoples’ minds as well as the magnitude of their tolerance. Similarly, it also reveals the skill of a democratic government in respect of overcoming the problems create in the wake of multiculturalism. (2007: 391) Canada today is significantly different from the country that existed a few decades ago. One of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world, Canada was awarded the Nansen Prize in 1986 for the generosity she has shown to immigrants and refugees. Canada was the only country who received the award as a nation. (Muniandy, 2010: 4) Indigenous people make up an imperative part of the country, the ancestors of which had been living in Quebec province since the known Canadian history on earth. France was the very first European power to discover this part of the New World in 16th century, and an overwhelming majority of Quebec province is the descendent of the indigenous French population. On the basis of this realistic claim, the French population of Quebec province rejected to live under the British domination, and launched nationalist movement for the separation of their francophone majority from the English subjugation. Anglo-French Rivalry in the New World: Archaeological records reveal the very fact that European powers including Spain, Portugal, France, Denmark and Italy had been striving to capture all land and resources of the newly discovered world i.e. North America since 16th century onward in order to obtain financial and strategic gains and benefits. It was particularly the case with France and England, as both these mighty powers of Europe left no stone unturned in the struggle to let down and humiliate the other at every level and forum; colonialism in Asia, scramble for Africa and taking possession of so called New World was also the part of the military, economic and strategic rivalry between the two. It is therefore history is replete with several Anglo-French wars that challenged the very peace of Europe at large. Since there had been enmity between France and England on colonial issues, England was ambitious to confiscate all territories had been in French possession in the New World. It is also a bitter truth that the Greta Britain had to undergo severe resistance in many parts of North America, where she had to bear the losses in men and material in the last years of 16th and early years of 17th century, yet she was determined to snatch the land had already been in possession of French authorities. Thus, England had devised comprehensive schemes in respect of making advancements to occupy the area enriched with precious metals for boosting up the British economy, as well as for expanding the agricultural activities in the vast land of the new region, so that her subjects could escape food crisis for the future years to come. England was seeking to get a toe hold in the so-called New World despite the fact the French had already staked their claim on the present day Quebec province of Canada. (Tisdale, 2006: 31) Hence, the French had already established their foot in the region while their English rivals were lagging far behind them in the fields of trade and commerce with the indigenous population of New World. The British traders had to wait in respect of subjugating the indigenous people in order to promote their goods and commodities in the region. While the English colonies were growing along the Atlantic seaboard, French fur traders and explorers were extending long but thinly supported strands of ownership deep into the heart of North America. La Salles exploration of the Mississippi to its mouth in 1682 gave France a claim to a vast area bordering the American Colonies from the Great Lakes and the Ohio River valley southward to the Gulf of Mexico. (History of Canada) France kept on threatening British ambitions in North American for decades, though England allocated her military might for bringing France to terms subsequently. The rivalry and subsequent brutal fighting continued for long in the North Eastern America. Wars were fought between the two European powers to capture more and more territories of the New World for decades and ended in the final victory of England in 1763, and the French influence from the region was completely culminated permanently. Ethnic Rivalry in Later Years: Both French and indigenous Red Indians were strictly against the British control over the region, and they raised revolts time and again against the English domination particularly in Quebec province during 18th and 19th centuries. The British authorities suppressed these revolts in a crushing way, which aggravated the state of affairs in the region. Though Austro-German military alliance brought England and France close to each other in Europe, and they joined hands to successfully fought two Great Wars as allies, yet their alliance could not mitigate the grievances of the crushed French subjects belonging to Quebec province of Canada. Consequently, the future Canadian generations had to harvest the crop of enmity in the form of political and social destabilization in present day Canada. The situation became more intense during the start of the second half of last century, where the demand for separate homeland for the French-Canadians of Quebec got immediate popularity in all corners of the state. It was the leadership of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, which solved the issue of separatism by applying exceptional brilliance and painstaking efforts even putting his reputation as the son of Quebec at stake. Quebec Separatism: As it has already been discussed in above lines, the basic motive behind the ray of Quebec separatism was the passion for French nationalism in the hearts and minds of the French-Canadian population of Quebec province, which was vehemently against the British political, cultural and socioeconomic control over the French territories of Canada. They were determined to declare French as the official and commercial language of the province, and all formal communication at offices and educational, cultural, religious and economic institutions must have been conducted in French language. The indigenous French were of the opinion that since Quebec was originally discovered and colonized by the French, but surrendered to the English following the French and Indian Wars and Treaty of Paris of 1763, the English had no right to impose their religious beliefs, norms, traditions, linguistics and cultural values on them. Though the Quebecois were allowed to keep their religion and language in daily use while interacting with one another, but they could not hold public office unless they converted to Protestantism, which for the Catholic Quebecois was out of the question. As the Quebecois had always resented the English conquest of Quebec, this situation was bound to intensify the state of resentment and tension between the two groups. (Global security.org) Hence, the British appeared to be cruel and prejudiced in respect of their treatment with the Francophone population of North Eastern regions of Canada, as they intended to impose their faith and language on them at any cost. In addition, the Quebecois also displayed their utter resentment on keeping their province backward, illiterate and under-developed in comparison with the remaining parts of the country. It was the reality beyond suspicion that the fast growing industrialization and urbanization processes being observed in the country could not show any clue of developments in the province of Quebec all together. The political leadership, according to the Quebecois, was responsible for the ill fate of the province. Though Quebec also provided brilliant leadership to the country, yet it turned out incapable to bring the effects of developments to the province. Maurice Duplessis, twice elected Prime Minister of Canada, was also a Quebecois nationalist and economic conservative, and had been elected with high hopes of developments in the province, but he did never bother to industrialize and urbanize his native land at all. He remained in office from 1936 to 1939, and then from 1944 to 1959, yet over one and half decade continuous stay at the helm of the governmental affairs could not urge him introduce reforms and development programs in his inhabitant region. Duplessis had assured the Quebecois regarding their socioeconomic uplift provided he was elected the premier, but he remained pro-English-Canadian throughout his tenure. (Dirks, 1991: 113) Thus his stay as the premier of Canada mere aggravated the miseries and deprivations of the French Quebecois at large. His predecessor Premier Diefenbaker was also supported by the Quebec province with the same reformation hopes as they had affiliated in the person of Duplessis. But he did not pay due heed to the province and his Quebecois ministers were also at lower portfolio in the cabinet, which aggravated tensions in the province. (Bothwell, 1998: 100-101) Consequently, the movement to protect and safeguard the Quebecois religious beliefs, cultural norms and language heritage moved into the political arena with Liberal Premier Jean Lesage’s Quiet Revolution, which included reforms to the social and educational infrastructure, controls on corruption, nationalization of power companies, and limiting the Catholic churchs influence on politics, all designed to modernize Quebec society. (Global security.org) However, he paid least attention to the Quebec problem, which resulted into the intensity in the surge of separatism in the province subsequently. New elections were called in the country and Lester Pearson was elected the new prime minister of Canada. Pearson had rightly acknowledged the nature and magnitude of Quebec issue, which he attempted to resolve by applying biculturalism and bilingualism under a powerful but co-operative federalism. However, his policies were superseded by a firm federal response to provincial demands and by the Québec governments attempts to usurp federal roles in international relations. When, during his centennial visit, French President Charles de Gaulle uttered the separatist slogan "Vive le Québec libre" ( i.e. Long Live Free Quebec) to a crowd in Montréal, Pearson issued an official rebuke and de Gaulle promptly went home. (Bothwell, 1978: 21) It affirms the very point that racial and ethnic prejudice certainly exists in every nation, group and community of the world at large. It was the time when the serge of a separate and independent homeland was at its climax in the province. The Quebecois were determined to break the shackles of British domination at any cost. They rebelled against the federation in order to win their just rights in French speaking territories. However, the return of Union Nationale to power enkindled sense of optimism in the hearts of the inhabitants of the province. Though the party was not in favor of regionalism, nor it had claimed to support the separatist movement, yet it was adherent of the policy of provincial and regional autonomy, so that the people living in any part of the state could lead their lives in the light of their religious, social, economic, cultural and lingual backgrounds. Somehow, the people still maintained serious reservations regarding whether they could be able to be set free from British domination or not. As a result, the extremist separatists launched a terrorist campaign in the province by exploding bombs and kidnapping high officials at both state and provincial levels. At this precarious state of affairs, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau rose to the occasion to settle the problem forever. Though he himself a French-Canadian Quebecois by origin, Trudeau was a thorough patriot, who could never allow partition or dismemberment of any part of his country. Being a brilliant statesman, an intellectual jurist and a true leader of national level, he always analyzed the problem with the eye of a Canadian rather than a Quebecois. It is therefore his is rightly stated to be the greatest Prime Minister of Canada in respect of promoting ethnic diversity in the country. He was of the view that French-Canadians should not confine themselves to one single province only. On the contrary, they had equal claims on every inch of the country. Hence, he took the bold step of implementing bilingualism all over the country. Trudeau also believed that the government of Canada should not support the culture of any one ethnic group but instead that Canada should be officially multicultural. (Bliss, 2010: 7) Another imperative step taken by Trudeau is the identification of the actual problem of the Quebec people. He very rightly argued that adopting one’s cultural traits and affiliating with one’s ethnicity did not prove him having least patriotic feelings for Canada. Though his predecessor premiers of the countries had acknowledged the very problem from its very roots, yet they paid to attention to solve the issue. Hence, Trudeau’s predecessors did not make any sincere efforts in promoting ethnicity in the country to save their vote bank in other parts of Canada. Unlike prime ministers who believed in politics as a way of finding compromises, Trudeau felt that he had to confront and defeat his enemies. He would not compromise his principles. His governments made many mistakes and Trudeau was often deeply unpopular, but most Canadians respected him for his convictions and ability. (Bliss, 2010: 5) The theorists are of the view that ethnic and racial discrimination was at full swing in Canada since 1960s onward, and the Canadians were more interested in identifying themselves on the ethnic basis rather than on country basis. It would be confronting to believe that Canada remained Canada because the great mass of the Canadian people wanted to be Canadian. History will, however, not bear out such an easy explanation of the country’s political survival over the years. The truth is that among the great mass of the Canadian population, up almost to the Second World War, there developed no great sense of belonging to a national community. This was a population made up of people largely ethnically bound. The sense of group or collective identity of such people derived from their ethnic heritage. (Clark, 1981: quoted in Williams & May, 1993: 443) In simple words, the thinkers and intellectuals had rightly explored the existence of separatist movements prevailing secretly within the Canadian territories. The most organized and powerful separatism movement was launched by the French-Canadians during 1967 onward, i.e. one year before Trudeau’s coming at the helm of the government. It was the era when Canada had just recovered from economic downturn, but oil crisis had started spreading its awkward clutches on the country. At the one side Trudeau had to combat with financial crisis, and on the other side he had to confront with the nationalist movement in his native province of Quebec. He tried to convince his people to communicate their viewpoint through the Canadian platform rather than French, English or Chinese forums. He vehemently promoted ethnic diversity and cultural identity, but never allowed any separatism at any cost. One of the most imperative elements of Trudeau’s strategy in responding to Quebec was more straightforward: a strict adherence to a uniform federalism in which all provinces would have precisely the same status and role. Insisting that federalism cannot work unless all the provinces are in basically the same relation toward the central government, Trudeau declared on one occasion that, "I think particular status for Quebec is the biggest intellectual hoax ever foisted on the people of Quebec and the people of Canada. On another occasion, he used a vulgar French term to express his position more pithily. Coupled with this insistence on a uniform federalism was a determination that the federal government play a significant role in the lives of all Canadians (Quebecois included), whether it be through programs of transfer payments, such as Family Allowances, or major national undertakings, such as the National Energy Program. (Roberts, 1991: 7) Enactment related to bilingualism and multiculturalism was the step really hard nut to crack particularly for a politician who had to impose restrictions on the human rights of his own people in order to save the national integrity. Even the provincial government of Quebec that was formed in 1976 demonstrated strong opposition to the federation government led by Trudeau, but his foot never trembled even at the most unfavorable moment of time. At the eve when the nationalist Party Quebecois won majority in the province, there was every possibility of the intensification of separatist movement that could lead towards the independence of the Quebec province. People maintained serious reservation regarding the future integrity of Canada. (Metcalfe, 1982: 138) It was the leadership of patriotic minded Trudeau that overcame the disastrous state of affairs by dint of his extreme commitment and unflinching dedication to his country. On the one side, the Canadians were paying him great tribute for his worthwhile services to keep the nation united, and on the other side Trudeau was being criticized, censured and rebuked even by the Quebecois as the traitor of French-Canadians. However, he sacrificed his French-Canadian identity and deep relations with his native province just for the sake of a united and prosperous Canada. It is therefore Pierre Trudeau is rightly regarded as the greatest ruler to promote religious freedom, cultural independence and ethnic diversity in the Canada of multiple racial, regional, religious and ethnic groups and communities. References: Bélanger, Claude. Pierre Elliott (E.) Trudeau, Quebec and the Canadian Constitution August 2000 http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/readings/trudeau.htm  Bliss, Michael. Pierre Elliott Trudeau: Canada’s Fighting Prime Minister September 2010 http://www.cdnexperience.ca/read-the-series/21-pierre-elliott-trudeau-canada%E2%80%99s-fighting-prime-minister/ Trudeau was one of Canada’s most influential PMs 2010 Retrieved from http://www.sharenews.com/family/2010/09/29/trudeau-was-one-canada%E2%80%99s-most-influential-pms Bliss, Michael. Bothwell, R. Lester B. Pearson. The Canadian Encyclopedia 1978 Retrieved from http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0006175 Bothwell, Robert. Canada and Québec: One Country, Two Histories UBC Publishers 2nd Edition1998 98-105 Dirks, Patricia G. The Failure of lAction Libérale Nationale. Canadian electronic library: Books Collection McGill-Queens Press - MQUP, 1991 Dufour, Christian. Trudeau’s Canadian Legacy from a Quebec Perspective: New Canadian Nationalism Weakens Canada. http://www.canadian-studies.net/lccs/LJCS/Vol_18/Dufour.pdf Iglauer, Edith Pierre Trudeau: Champion of a Just Society. Americas (English Edition) 2001 3-15 McRoberts, Kenneth English Canada and Quebec: Avoiding the Issue Sixth Annual Robarts Lecture 5 March 1991 1-41 York University, Toronto, Ontario http://www.yorku.ca/robarts/projects/lectures/pdf/rl_mcroberts.pdf Muniandy, Punitha. Ethnic Diversity in Canada April 2010 http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/charter Williams, Alan F. & May, Cedric Social Groupings and Regionalism in Canada: Quoted in the USA and Canada 1993: 443 History of Canada Online Pierre Trudeau, on Multiculturalism Canadian Documents Collection, 2008: 2-9 Northern Blue Publishing. Retrieved from http://www.canadachannel.ca/HCO/index.php/Pierre_Trudeau,_on_Multiculturalism The History of Canada http://www.linksnorth.com/canada-history/quebecsep.html Quebec Separatism http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/quebec.htm Read More