Editing Pierre Trudeau (section)

=== Swearing-in and subsequent election ===
As the new leader of the governing Liberals, Trudeau was sworn in as prime minister on April 20. Although the term of the Parliament was not due to expire until November 1970, Pearson's government had almost fallen before the leadership contest could even take place after a tax bill was voted down in Parliament, leading to much confusion over whether this counted as a [[Matter of Confidence|matter of confidence]] in the government. [[Governor General of Canada|Governor General]] [[Roland Michener]] ultimately ruled that it did not, and the government subsequently won an actual confidence motion, but the incident made it clear that the minority government Trudeau had inherited would not realistically last the full parliamentary term, and that he would soon need to call an early election in order to win a parliamentary majority.<ref>Robertson, Gordon; ''Memoirs of a Very Civil Servant''; pp. 299–301</ref> Trudeau eventually called this election for June 25, 1968.

Trudeau's campaign benefited from an unprecedented wave of personal popularity called "[[Trudeaumania]]",<ref name="Collison">{{cite news |last=Collison |first=Robert |title=New books put Trudeaumania in fresh perspective |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2016/11/20/new-books-put-trudeaumania-in-fresh-perspective.html |url-status=dead |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]] |date=November 20, 2016 |access-date=August 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807152104/https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2016/11/20/new-books-put-trudeaumania-in-fresh-perspective.html |archive-date=August 7, 2017}}</ref>{{sfn|Zink (1972)|p=Backcover}}{{sfn|Canada.com}} which saw him mobbed by throngs of youths. His main national opponents were [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|PC]] leader [[Robert Stanfield]] and [[New Democratic Party of Canada|NDP]] leader [[Tommy Douglas]], both popular figures who had been premiers of [[Premier of Nova Scotia|Nova Scotia]] and [[Premier of Saskatchewan|Saskatchewan]] respectively  (albeit in Trudeau's native Quebec, the main competition to the Liberals was from the [[Ralliement créditiste]], led by [[Réal Caouette]]). As a candidate, Trudeau espoused [[participatory democracy]] as a means of making Canada a "[[Just Society]]". He vigorously defended the newly implemented [[universal health care]] and [[regional development]] programs, as well as the recent reforms found in the Omnibus bill.

On the eve of the election, during the annual [[Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day]] parade in Montreal, rioting [[Quebec separatism|Quebec sovereigntists]] threw rocks and bottles at the grandstand where Trudeau was seated, chanting "Trudeau au poteau!" ("Trudeau to the stake!"). Rejecting the pleas of aides that he take cover, Trudeau stayed in his seat, facing the rioters, without any sign of fear. The image of the defiant Prime Minister impressed the public. The next day, Trudeau handily won the [[1968 Canadian federal election|1968 election]] with a strong [[majority government]]; this was the Liberals' first majority since [[1953 Canadian federal election|1953]].{{sfn|CBC News (1968-06-24)}}{{sfn|Maclean's Magazine (1998-04-06)}}