Editing Pierre Trudeau (section)

== Legacy ==
Trudeau remains well regarded by many Canadians.<ref>[http://www.ekos.com/admin/articles/torstar-16-02-2002b.html "Trudeau tops 'greatest Canadian' poll". ''Toronto Star'', February 16, 2002] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928005551/http://www.ekos.com/admin/articles/torstar-16-02-2002b.html |date=September 28, 2007 }}</ref> However, the passage of time has only slightly softened the strong antipathy he inspired among his opponents.<ref>"The Worst Canadian?", ''[[The Beaver (magazine)|The Beaver]]'' 87 (4), Aug/Sep 2007. The article reports the results of a promotional, online survey by write-in vote for "the worst Canadian", which the magazine carried out in the preceding months, and in which Trudeau polled highest.</ref><ref>[[Brian Mulroney]], who was Prime Minister at the time of the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords, and one of the chief forces behind them, sharply criticized Trudeau's opposition to them, in his 2007 autobiography, ''[[Memoirs: 1939–1993]]''. [https://www.ctvnews.ca/mulroney-says-trudeau-to-blame-for-meech-failure-1.255159 CTV News: Mulroney says Trudeau to blame for Meech failure; September 5, 2007] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601092222/https://www.ctvnews.ca/mulroney-says-trudeau-to-blame-for-meech-failure-1.255159 |date=June 1, 2022 }}</ref> Trudeau's strong personality, contempt for his opponents and distaste for compromise on many issues have made him, as historian [[Michael Bliss]] puts it, "one of the most admired and most disliked of all Canadian prime ministers".<ref>Bliss, M. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20150925095626/http://www.prime-ministers.ca/trudeau/intro.php "The Prime Ministers of Canada: Pierre Elliot Trudeau"]}} Seventh Floor Media. Retrieved: September 24, 2015.</ref> "He haunts us still", biographers [[Christina McCall]] and [[Stephen Clarkson]] wrote in 1990.<ref>Clarkson, S. and C. McCall (1990). ''Trudeau and Our Times, Volume 1: The Magnificent Obsession''. McClelland & Stewart. {{ISBN|978-0-7710-5414-3}}</ref> Trudeau's electoral successes were matched in the 20th century only by those of [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Whitaker |first=Reg |title=Pierre Elliott Trudeau |encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]] |date=June 2, 2017 |publisher=[[Historica Canada]] |edition=online |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/pierre-elliott-trudeau}}</ref><ref>Behiels, M. [https://targetedindividualscanada.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/competing-constitutional-paradigms.pdf "Competing Constitutional Paradigms: Trudeau versus the Premiers, 1968–1982"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220909033133/https://targetedindividualscanada.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/competing-constitutional-paradigms.pdf |date=September 9, 2022 }} Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy. Regina, Saskatchewan. Retrieved: September 24, 2015.</ref>

Trudeau's most enduring legacy may lie in his contribution to [[Canadian nationalism]]{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}, and of pride in Canada in and for itself rather than as a derivative of the [[Commonwealth of Nations|British Commonwealth]]. His role in this effort, and his related battles with Quebec on behalf of Canadian unity, cemented his political position when in office despite the controversies he faced—and remain the most remembered aspect of his tenure afterwards.

Many politicians still use the term "taking a walk in the snow", the line Trudeau used to describe how he arrived at the decision to leave office in 1984. Other popular Trudeauisms frequently used are "[[just watch me]]", the "[[Finger (gesture)|Trudeau Salute]]", and "[[Fuddle duddle|Fuddle Duddle]]".

''[[Maclean's]]'' 1997 and 2011 scholarly surveys ranked him twice as the fifth best Canadian prime minister, and in 2016, the fourth best.<ref>{{cite magazine |url = http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/canadas-best-prime-ministers/ |title = Canada's best prime ministers |magazine = [[Maclean's]] |date = June 10, 2011 |access-date = August 25, 2015 |author = Hillmer. Norman and Stephen Azzi }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last1=Azzi|first1=Stephen|first2=Norman|last2=Hillmer|date=October 7, 2016|title=Ranking Canada's best and worst prime ministers|url=https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/ranking-canadas-best-and-worst-prime-ministers/|access-date=June 2, 2021|website=Macleans.ca|language=en|archive-date=July 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709080506/http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/ranking-canadas-best-and-worst-prime-ministers/|url-status=live}}</ref> The CBC's special on ''[[The Greatest Canadian]]'' saw him ranked as the third greatest Canadian of all time, behind Tommy Douglas and [[Terry Fox]], from the over 1.2 million votes cast by watchers of the program.

=== Bilingualism ===
{{See also|Bilingualism in Canada}}
Bilingualism is one of Trudeau's most lasting accomplishments, having been fully integrated into the Federal government's services, documents, and broadcasting (though not, however, in provincial governments, except for full bilingualism in New Brunswick and some French language service rights in Ontario and Manitoba). While official bilingualism has settled some of the grievances Francophones had towards the federal government, many Francophones had hoped that Canadians would be able to function in the official language of their choice no matter where in the country they were.

However, Trudeau's ambitions in this arena have been overstated: Trudeau once said that he regretted the use of the term "bilingualism", because it appeared to demand that all Canadians speak two languages. In fact, Trudeau's vision was to see Canada as a bilingual confederation in which ''all'' cultures would have a place. In this way, his conception broadened beyond simply the relationship of Quebec to Canada.

=== Constitutional legacy ===

The ''Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' was one of Trudeau's most enduring legacies.<ref name="NYT_Kaufman_20000929_Eulogy" /> It is seen as advancing [[civil rights]] and liberties and has become a cornerstone of Canadian values for most Canadians. Court challenges based on the ''Charter'' have been used to advance the cause of women's equality, establish French school boards in provinces with majority anglophone populations, and provide constitutional protection to English school boards in Quebec. Court actions under the Charter resulted in the adoption of [[Same-sex marriage in Canada|same-sex marriage]] all across Canada by the federal Parliament.

=== Legacy in western Canada ===
Trudeau's posthumous reputation in the western provinces is notably less favourable than in the rest of English-speaking Canada, and he is sometimes regarded as the "father of [[Western alienation]]".  To many westerners, Trudeau's policies seemed to favour other parts of the country, especially [[Ontario]] and Québec, at their expense. Outstanding among such policies was the [[National Energy Program]], which was seen as unfairly depriving western provinces of the full economic benefit from 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]].<ref name="Stamp" /> In [[British Columbia]], [[Premier of British Columbia|Premier]] [[W. A. C. Bennett]] in 1970 argued that Trudeau's government is [[Quebec nationalist]]-oriented. He also implied that Quebec received special treatment from Ottawa as a result.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hunter |first1=Iain |title=Angry Bennett declares B.C. getting a bad deal |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2240411680 |access-date=March 25, 2023 |publisher=The Vancouver Sun |date=September 17, 1970 |id={{ProQuest|2240411680}} |archive-date=April 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230403234021/https://www.proquest.com/docview/2240411680 |url-status=live }}</ref>

More particularly, two incidents involving Trudeau are remembered as having fostered Western alienation, and as emblematic of it. During a visit to [[Saskatoon]], Saskatchewan on July 17, 1969, Trudeau met with a group of farmers who were protesting the [[Canadian Wheat Board]]. The widely remembered perception is that Trudeau dismissed the protesters' concerns with "Why should ''I'' sell your wheat?"&nbsp;– however, he had asked the [[rhetorical question|question rhetorically]] and then proceeded to answer it himself.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Wilson-Smith |first=Anthony |title=Chrétien Accused of Lying |via=The Canadian Encyclopedia |publisher=Historica Canada |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/chretien-accused-of-lying |magazine=[[Maclean's]] |date=December 23, 1996}}</ref> Years later, on a train trip through [[Salmon Arm, British Columbia]], he "gave the finger" to a group of protesters through the carriage window{{snd}} less widely remembered is that the protesters were shouting anti-French slogans at the train.<ref>Anthony Westell, ''Paradox: Trudeau as Prime Minister''.</ref>

=== Legacy in Quebec ===
Trudeau's legacy in Quebec is mixed. Many credit his actions during the October Crisis as crucial in terminating the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) as a force in Quebec, and ensuring that the campaign for Quebec separatism took a democratic and peaceful route. However, his [[War Measures Act#The October Crisis|imposition of the ''War Measures Act'']]—which received majority support at the time—is remembered by some in Quebec and elsewhere as an attack on democracy. Trudeau is also credited by many for the defeat of the 1980 Quebec referendum.

At the federal level, Trudeau faced almost no strong political opposition in Quebec during his time as prime minister. For instance, his Liberal party captured 74 out of 75 Québec seats in the [[1980 Canadian federal election|1980 federal election]]. Provincially, though, Québécois twice elected the pro-sovereignty [[Parti Québécois]]. Moreover, there were not at that time any pro-sovereignty federal parties such as the [[Bloc Québécois]]. Since the signing of the ''Constitution Act, 1982'' in 1982 and until 2015, the Liberal Party of Canada had not succeeded in winning a majority of seats in Quebec. He was disliked by the Québécois nationalists.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070213210244/http://www2.marianopolis.edu/quebechistory/readings/trudeau.htm Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Quebec and the Constitution], marianopolis.edu; retrieved July 7, 2011.</ref>