Pierre Trudeau
Trudeau's Memorable Leadership Styles
Quitting Is Leading Too
Pierre Trudeau was Canada's 15th Prime Minister. In 1974, Trudeau experienced a little trouble with the polls. After a few months, he announced that he was going to resign from the title of the liberal leader and the public life. Three weeks after this announcement, the Progressive Conservative government of Joe Clark was defeated in the commons and a new election was called. Soon after Trudeau was convinced by Liberal caucus to remain liberal leader. Three months after his retirement, Trudeau was a Liberal leader again by the majority of the votes. Sir Pierre had introduced key acts in his time. One of the most significant ones being the Official Languages Act. He also improves situations around Canada. Trudeau has shown great leadership by introducing other laws such as the divorce law and the criminal code amendments. He was also known as a defender, this was seen when he was the defender of a strong federal government against the nationalist demands of Quebec. Sir Trudeau has applied Nelson Mandela's "Quitting is Leading Too" leadership style. He retired and then when he realized the public demand and the need for his leadership, he was in office again.
Courage Isn't the Absence of Fear.. It's Inspiring Others to Move Beyond it
In 1970, the October crisis broke out. In which the Front De Liberation Du Quebec (FLQ) abducted British Trade Consul James Cross. Five days after, Pierre Laporte was also kidnapped. Robert Bourassa chose to react by invoking the War Measures act and giving the government the authority to arrest anyone without having to run a trial. By this point there was a lot of tension within the population and its human nature to get scared. Trudeau was also scared, but instead of shying away from the problem since it was the first serious obstacle to come in his way, Trudeau showed a determined public stance and inspired others to move forward. He promised everyone that everything was going to be alright. He told them that he would go as far as he needs to prevent this crisis from advancing. His exact words when questioned how far he would go were "Just watch me". Eventually Trudeau's government responded by implementing many procedural reforms to make important government meetings run more smoothly and efficiently, he significantly expanded the size of the Prime Minister's office, and expanded the Welfare state by creating new programmes. Trudeau's way of handling problems and stress reminds me of Nelson Mandela because he also remained calm just to assure everyone that everything was going to be okay. Even if he was unsure of the result.
October Crisis
Pierre Trudeau giving a speech during the October crisis.
Leadership
Picture on the left is of Pierre Trudeau as the 15th PM of Canada and on the right is the result of his amazing leadership. It is his own son, Justin Trudeau on the right as Canada's 23rd PM.
Poster
A poster of Pierre Trudeau. Provides basic information. Tells us that he was a Liberal.
Lead From the Back and Let Other Believe They Are In Front
In March 1988, Pierre Trudeau introduced the idea of bilingualism which is very significant to this day. He believed that bilingualism unites people, which is true, it does. He wanted to unite Quebec and make sure it remains a part of Canada. At the time Quebec was seeking independence to be a country of its own. However, Trudeau wanted everyone united. He wanted English and French to be the official languages of Canada. This was and still is very significant because people feel united and bilingualism really saved the country. Now this was a big step. Introducing a new language as an official language isn't an easy step for any leader. There were many people who opposed this but it was important for the greater good of the country. Pierre introduced the idea and this made people think they were all equal. This reminds me of Nelson Mandela. He united people by sometimes putting himself behind and letting others believe they were in the position of authority. Pierre Trudeau did the same. He allowed for French Canadians to stand in the front with the rest of the Canadians thus resulting in the unity of the country. Trudeau is definitely a good leader, he didn't just think of one side of the country ( English Canadians), instead he thought about everyone and their needs.
Bilingualism
This shows bilingualism.
Interaction
Trudeau with citizens of the country.
With His Son
Pierre Trudeau with Justin Trudeau who is the current Prime Minister of Canada.