Editing Pierre Trudeau (section)

== Second premiership (1980–1984) ==
{{Main|Premierships of Pierre Trudeau#Second premiership (1980–1984)}}
[[File:Pierre Elliot Trudeau-2.jpg|thumb|Prime Minister Trudeau in 1980]]

The Liberal victory in 1980 highlighted a sharp geographical divide in the country: the party had won no seats west of [[Manitoba]]. Trudeau, in an attempt to represent Western interests, offered to form a coalition government with [[Ed Broadbent]]'s NDP, which had won 22 seats in the west, but was rebuffed by Broadbent out of fear the party would have no influence in a majority government.{{sfn|English (2009)|p=446-7}}

=== 1980 Quebec referendum ===
The first challenge Trudeau faced upon re-election was the [[1980 Quebec referendum|1980 Quebec sovereignty referendum]], called by the Parti Québécois government of René Lévesque. Trudeau immediately initiated federal involvement in the referendum, reversing the Clark government's policy of leaving the issue to the Quebec Liberals and [[Claude Ryan]]. He appointed Jean Chrétien as the nominal spokesman for the federal government, helping to push the "Non" cause to working-class voters who tuned out the intellectual Ryan and Trudeau. Unlike Ryan and the Liberals, he refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the referendum question, and noted that the "association" required consent from the other provinces.{{sfn|English (2009)|p=454}}

In the debates in the legislature during the campaign leading up to the referendum, Lévesque said that Trudeau's middle name was Scottish, and that Trudeau's aristocratic upbringing proved that he was more Scottish than French.<ref name="CBC_Reflections_20010923">{{Cite AV media| publisher = Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Melbar Entertainment Group| people = McKenna, Terence (Director), [[Ann-Marie MacDonald]] (Contributor), Michael Bliss (Contributor), [[Jean Chrétien]] (Contributor), [[Joe Clark]](Contributor)| series = Biography| title = Reflections: The Trudeau Legacy| date = September 23, 2001}}</ref> A week prior to the referendum, Trudeau delivered one of his most well-known speeches, in which he extolled the virtues of federalism and questioned the ambiguous language of the referendum question. He described the origin of the name as Canadian.<ref name="CBC_Reflections_20010923" /> Trudeau promised a new constitutional agreement should Quebec decide to stay in Canada, in which English-speaking Canadians would have to listen to valid concerns made by the Québécois.{{sfn|English (2009)|p=459}} On May 20, sixty percent of Quebeckers voted to remain in Canada. Following the announcement of the results, Trudeau said that he "had never been so proud to be a Quebecker and a Canadian".{{sfn|English (2009)|p=459}}

=== Economy and oil ===
In the government's first budget, delivered in October 1980 by Finance Minister Allan MacEachen (a long-time Trudeau loyalist), the [[National Energy Program]] (NEP) was introduced. One of the Liberals' most contentious policies, the NEP was fiercely protested by the Western provinces and was seen as unfairly depriving them of the full economic benefit of their oil and gas resources, in order to pay for nationwide social programs and make regional transfer payments to poorer parts of the country. Sentiments of this kind were especially strong in oil-rich [[Alberta]], where unemployment rose from 4% to 10% following passage of the NEP.<ref name="Stamp">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Stamp |first=Robert M. |title=Alberta (Economy section) |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |date=April 23, 2019 |publisher=Historica Canada |edition=online |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/alberta}}</ref> The western provinces blamed the devastating oil bust of the 1980s on the NEP, which led to what many termed "[[Western alienation]]". Alberta premier Peter Lougheed entered into tough negotiations with Trudeau, reaching a revenue-sharing agreement on energy in 1982.{{sfn|Trudeau (1993)|p=?}} Estimates have placed Alberta's losses between $50&nbsp;billion and $100&nbsp;billion because of the NEP.<ref>{{cite journal |first = Mary Elizabeth |last = Vicente |title = The National Energy Program |journal = Canada's Digital Collections |publisher = Heritage Community Foundation |year = 2005 |url = http://www.abheritage.ca/abpolitics/events/issues_nep.html |access-date = April 26, 2008 |archive-date = April 24, 2005 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050424231001/http://www.abheritage.ca/abpolitics/events/issues_nep.html |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{citation |first = Robert |last = Mansell |last2 = Schlenker |first2=Ron |last3 = Anderson |first3=John |title = Energy, Fiscal Balances and National Sharing |publisher = Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy/[[University of Calgary]] |year = 2005 |url = http://www.iseee.ca/files/iseee/ISEEEResearchReportNov1805.pdf |access-date = April 26, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080626113516/http://www.iseee.ca/files/iseee/ISEEEResearchReportNov1805.pdf <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = June 26, 2008 |url-status = dead }}</ref>

This first budget was one of a series of unpopular budgets delivered in response to the oil shock of 1979 and the ensuing [[early 1980s recession|severe global economic recession]] which began at the start of 1980.<ref name="BLS_Moy_1985">{{cite journal |last1=Moy |first1=Joyanna |year=1985 |title=Recent Trends in Unemployment and the Labor Force: 10 Countries |journal=Monthly Labor Review |volume=108 |issue=8 |pages=9–22 |url=http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1985/08/art2full.pdf |access-date=February 20, 2020 |archive-date=September 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928163228/https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1985/08/art2full.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="independent_Hammes_2005">{{cite journal |title=Black Gold The End of Bretton Woods and the Oil-Price Shocks of the 1970s |first1=David |last1=Hammes |first2=Douglas |last2=Wills |journal=The Independent Review |volume=9 |number=4 |pages=501–511 |url=https://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_09_4_2_hammes.pdf |date=2005 |issn=1086-1653 |jstor=24562081 |access-date=May 15, 2022 |archive-date=March 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319021952/https://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_09_4_2_hammes.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In his budget speech, MacEachen said that the global oil price shocks— in [[1973 oil crisis|1973]] and again in [[1979 oil crisis|1979]] — had caused a "sharp renewal of inflationary forces and real income losses" in Canada and in the industrial world...They are not just Canadian problems&nbsp;... they are world-wide problems."<ref name="Budget_1980" /> Leaders of developed countries raised their concerns at the Venice Summit, at meetings of Finance Ministers of the [[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF) and the [[OECD|Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] (OECD).<ref name="Budget_1980">{{citation |url=http://www.budget.gc.ca/pdfarch/1980-plan-eng.pdf |title=Budget 1980 |date=October 28, 1980 |access-date=January 27, 2015 |first=Allan J. |last=MacEachen |location=Ottawa, Ontario |publisher=Department of Finance Canada |archive-date=August 20, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150820003334/http://www.budget.gc.ca/pdfarch/1980-plan-eng.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[Bank of Canada]] wrote that there was a "deeply troubling air of uncertainty and anxiety" about the economy.<ref name="Budget_1980"/><ref name="Bank_of_Canada">{{citation |url=http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/rates/inflation_calc.html |publisher=Bank of Canada |title=Inflation calculation |access-date=February 20, 2020 |archive-date=May 10, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070510124111/http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/rates/inflation_calc.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="canada_bubble">{{citation |url=http://canadabubble.com/charts/bank-of-canada-interest-rate-history.html |title=Bank of Canada Interest Rate History |work=Canada Bubble |access-date=May 15, 2022 |archive-date=July 8, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708113116/http://canadabubble.com/charts/bank-of-canada-interest-rate-history.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>"Uncertain Country." Canada: A People's History. CBC Television. Prod & Dir: Susan Dando. Aired: TVO: CICI, Toronto. January 10, 2005.</ref>

Amongst the policies introduced during Trudeau's last term in office were an expansion in government support for Canada's poorest citizens.<ref name="Penniman1988">{{cite book |last = Clarkson |first = Stephen |author-link = Stephen Clarkson |editor-last = Penniman |editor-first = Howard Rae |title = Canada at the Polls, 1984: A Study of the Federal General Elections |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pC3wqzDBlCcC&pg=PA98 |access-date = November 28, 2014 |year = 1988 |publisher = Duke University Press |location = Durham, NC |isbn = 978-0-8223-0821-8 |pages = [https://archive.org/details/canadaatpolls1980000unse/page/98 98–99] |chapter = The Dauphin and the Doomed: John Turner and the Liberal Party's Debacle |lccn = 87027252 |url = https://archive.org/details/canadaatpolls1980000unse/page/98 }}</ref> By the time Trudeau left office in 1984, the budget deficit was at $37 billion (fiscal year [[1984 Canadian federal budget|1984–1985]]). Trudeau's first budget (fiscal year [[1968 Canadian federal budget|1968–1969]]) only had a deficit of $667 million. Inflation and unemployment marred much of Trudeau's tenure as prime minister. When Trudeau took office in 1968, Canada had a debt of $18&nbsp;billion (24% of GDP) which was largely left over from World War II. When he left office in 1984, that debt stood at $200&nbsp;billion (46% of GDP), an increase of 83% in real terms.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.csls.ca/data/ipt2006.pdf | title=GDP figures | publisher=Centre for the Study of Living Standards | date=2006 | access-date=January 25, 2018 | archive-date=October 6, 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061006013324/http://www.csls.ca/data/ipt2006.pdf | url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Patriation of the constitution ===
In 1982, Trudeau succeeded in patriating the Constitution.<ref name="NYT_Kaufman_20000929_Eulogy" /> In response to a formal request from the Canadian Houses of Parliament, with the consent of all provinces except Quebec, the British Parliament passed an act ceding to the governments of Canada the full responsibility for amending Canada's Constitution.<ref name="ConstAct1982">{{cite web| url = https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-13.html#h-57| title = ''Constitution Act, 1982'', Part V and s. 52(3).| date = August 7, 2020| access-date = June 24, 2021| archive-date = September 4, 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210904091100/https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-13.html#h-57| url-status = live}}</ref> Earlier in his tenure, he had met with opposition from the provincial governments, most notably with the Victoria Charter. Provincial premiers were united in their concerns regarding an amending formula, a court-enforced Charter of Rights, and a further devolution of powers to the provinces. In 1980, Chrétien was tasked with creating a constitutional settlement following the Quebec referendum in which Quebeckers voted to remain in Canada.{{sfn|English (2009)|p=459}}

After chairing a series of increasingly acrimonious conferences with first ministers on the issue, Trudeau announced the federal government's intention to proceed with a request to the British Parliament to patriate the constitution unilaterally, with additions to be approved by a referendum without input from provincial governments. Trudeau was backed by the NDP, Ontario Premier [[Bill Davis]], and New Brunswick Premier [[Richard Hatfield]] and was opposed by the remaining premiers and PC leader Joe Clark. After numerous provincial governments challenged the legality of the decision using their [[Reference question|reference power]], conflicting decisions prompted a [[Patriation Reference|Supreme Court decision]] that stated unilateral patriation was legal, but was in contravention of a [[constitutional convention (political custom)|constitutional convention]] that the provinces be consulted and have general agreement to the changes.

After the court decision, which prompted some reservations in the British Parliament of accepting a unilateral request,<ref>{{Cite journal |first = Andrew |last = Heard |title = Canadian Independence |year = 1990 |place = Vancouver |publisher = Simon Fraser University |url = https://www.sfu.ca/~aheard/324/Independence.html |access-date = August 25, 2010 |archive-date = February 21, 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090221150147/http://www.sfu.ca/~aheard/324/Independence.html |url-status = live }}</ref> Trudeau agreed to meet with the premiers one more time before proceeding. At this meeting, Trudeau reached an agreement with nine of the premiers on patriating the constitution and implementing the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'', with the caveat that Parliament and the provincial legislatures would have the ability to use a [[Section Thirty-three of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms|notwithstanding clause]] to protect some laws from judicial oversight. The notable exception was Lévesque who, Trudeau believed, would never have signed an agreement. The objection of the Quebec government to the new constitutional provisions became a source of continued acrimony between the federal and Quebec governments, and would forever stain Trudeau's reputation amongst nationalists in the province.

The ''[[Constitution Act, 1982]]'', including the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'', was proclaimed by Queen [[Elizabeth II]], as [[Monarchy of Canada|Queen of Canada]], on April 17, 1982. With the enactment of the ''[[Canada Act 1982]]'', the British Parliament ceded all authority over Canada to the governments of Canada. The ''Constitution Act, 1982'', part of the ''Canada Act 1982'', established the supremacy of the Constitution of Canada, which now could only be amended by the federal and provincial governments, under the amending formula established by the ''Constitution Act, 1982''.<ref name="ConstAct1982" />

The Charter represented the final step in Trudeau's liberal vision of a fully independent Canada based on fundamental human rights and the protection of individual freedoms as well as those of linguistic and cultural minorities. [[Section Thirty-five of the Constitution Act, 1982|Section 35]] of the ''Constitution Act, 1982'', clarified issues of aboriginal and equality rights, including establishing the previously denied aboriginal rights of [[Metis (people)|Métis]]. Section 15, dealing with equality rights, has been used to remedy societal discrimination against minority groups. The coupling of the direct and indirect influences of the Charter has meant that it has grown to influence every aspect of Canadian life and the Charter's notwithstanding clause has been infrequently used.

=== Resignation ===
By 1984, the Progressive Conservatives held a substantial lead in opinion polls under their new leader [[Brian Mulroney]], and polls indicated that the Liberals faced all-but-certain defeat if Trudeau led them into the next election.

On February 29, 1984, a day after what he described as a walk through the snowy streets of Ottawa, Trudeau announced he would not lead the Liberals into the next election. He was frequently known to use the term "walk in the snow" as a trope; he claimed to have taken a similar walk in December 1979 before deciding to take the Liberals into the 1980 election.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/trudeaus-third-walk-in-the-snow/|title=Trudeau's third walk in the snow|publisher=[[Ottawa Citizen]]|date=February 27, 2014|access-date=April 24, 2020|archive-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806085725/https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/trudeaus-third-walk-in-the-snow/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Trudeau formally retired on June 30, ending his 15-year tenure as prime minister. He was succeeded by John Turner, a former [[Cabinet of Canada|Cabinet minister]] under both Trudeau and Lester Pearson. Before handing power to Turner, Trudeau took the unusual step of appointing Liberal [[Senate of Canada|Senators]] from Western provinces to his Cabinet. He advised [[Governor General of Canada|Governor General]] [[Jeanne Sauvé]] to appoint over 200 Liberals to [[patronage]] positions. He and Turner then crafted a legal agreement calling for Turner to advise an additional 70 patronage appointments. The sheer volume of appointments, combined with questions about the appointees' qualifications, led to condemnation from across the political spectrum.<ref name="Mulroney 1991">''Mulroney: The Politics of Ambition'', by [[John Sawatsky]], Toronto 1991, McFarlane, Walter, and Ross publishers.</ref> However, an apparent rebound in the polls prompted Turner to call [[1984 Canadian federal election|an election for September 1984]].

Turner's appointment deal with Trudeau came back to haunt the Liberals at the English-language debate, when Mulroney demanded that Turner apologize for not advising that the appointments be cancelled—advice that Sauvé would have been required to follow by convention. Turner claimed that "I had no option" but to let the appointments stand, prompting Mulroney to tell him, "[[You had an option, sir]]–to say 'no'–and you chose to say 'yes' to the old attitudes and the old stories of the Liberal Party."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/archives/|title=CBC Archives|website=www.cbc.ca|access-date=April 24, 2020|archive-date=January 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190111045125/https://www.cbc.ca/archives|url-status=live}}</ref> (Mulroney himself soon engaged in his own series of patronage appointments.)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/is-patronage-the-oil-that-keeps-our-democracy-turning |title=Is patronage the oil that keeps our democracy turning? |work=National Post |date=June 1, 2012 |access-date=December 24, 2024}}</ref>

In the [[1984 Canadian federal election|election]], Mulroney's PCs took slightly more than half the votes cast and 73 percent of the seats,  winning the largest majority government (by total number of seats) and second-largest majority (by proportion of seats) in Canadian history. The Liberals, with Turner as leader, lost 95 seats – at the time, the worst defeat of a sitting government at the federal level (by proportion of seats).