The 1960’s and 70’s were a time of political turmoil and unrest in Canadian history. The October of 1970 in particular, is a period remembered for its violence and hate. The kidnapping of two Canadian politicians by the Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ), a terrorist group, changed Canadian society forever. The FLQ and the October Crisis ignited separatist feelings in French Canadians, changed the way the government handled national emergencies and altered Canadians’ opinions on key issues. The October Crisis is a truly significant moment in Canadian history for many reasons.
On October 5th, 1970 the British trade commissioner, James Cross, was kidnapped from his home in Montreal and this started the October Crisis. This kidnapping was done by a French Canadian Terrorist group known as the Front de Libération du Québec who wanted Quebec to be separate from Canada(Tetley 1). Three days later the Minister of Labour who was seen to be very involved in the Quebec government was also kidnapped on his front lawn(Tetley 1). During that time there were many supporters of the FLQ including politicians, workers of the press, and leaders of labor unions. All these people wanted to exchange the two hostages for members of the FLQ who had committed things such as bombings or murders.
A drastic approach some Quebeckers took happened during the October Crisis. It began on October 5, 1970, with the kidnapping of James Cross, a British trade commissioner in the city of Montreal, Quebec. This was carried out by a radical separatist group, Front de Libération du Québec, often shortened to FLQ. Later Pierre Laporte, the Minister of Labour, was kidnapped also. With these acts of terrorism plaguing Quebec, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau enacted the War Measures Act.
Today, Canada is seen as a multicultural and peaceful nation that has evolved over the course of history. This great nation would never have been possible without the impact that former Prime Minister, Lester B. Pearson left on this country. His achievements and insights profoundly affected and shaped Canada’s nation. First, peacekeeping is an important part of Canada’s heritage and a reflection of its fundamental beliefs that Pearson implemented after dealing with world changing situations and winning a Nobel Prize. Also, his contributions as a liberal leader as well as the flaws and controversy with Diefenbaker did in fact define this country. Lastly, Pearson created the Canadian identity by unveiling the new flag, bringing equality with
Canada has had several things that have made it a good country to live in. In the first half of the twentieth century, Canada fought in many battles during the World Wars that had a positive impact on the world. On top of that, there are many Canadians that made notable changes in Canada and the rest of the world. Lastly, Canadians have created technologies that are very important to the way we live today. After looking at these factors, it can be said that Canada is a country that its citizens should be proud of.
Before, a majority of Canadians only cared about their own problems and turned a blind eye to the Holocaust, after shifting their attitude Canada helped out by sending troops to Europe in WWII. It created a shift within civil society by making them promote their organizations even more to help establish strong bonds. As stated by Professor Dominique Clément “This ‘rights revolution’ represented an important shift not only in the relationship between citizens and the state but also within civil society.” WWII really promoted change in equality and human rights by helping Canadians realize the significance of their rights and values and then fixing their mistakes to gain
Canada is now known to be a diverse, multicultural, bilingual and inclusive nation largely as a result of his work. Pierre Elliott Trudeau also believed in an equal Canada for all, he is primarily the one to introduce rights and freedoms to the citizens of Canada. While some view Pierre Trudeau as impulsive, for enforcing the War Measures Act, Trudeau enacted this for the protection of Canadian citizens against radical extremist and his actions were more rational than impulsive for the situation that had suddenly occurred. Pierre Trudeau was one of Canada’s greatest Prime Minister’s, who’s impact fundamentally changed the course of the nation by introducing multiculturalism, for introducing the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and for paradoxically upholding democracy by strong action during the October Crisis.
There are countless leaders that changed Canada’s history in both good and bad ways. Some leaders and prime ministers are forgotten as history proceeds. Many tried shaping Canada’s history and changing its reputation. Canada had great leaders that made tremendous benefits to improve their country. However, a very kind man named Richard Bennett became a prime minister in the worse of Canada’s economics situation. Bennett was an interesting man to talk about and to study. Despite his reputation, I think that he should have more credit to what he did because he was the Prime Minister during the Great Depression.
Reign of Trudeau Canada has 23 different Prime Minsters that was in charge of Canada since 1871, but all of these men did not have a positive effect on Canada, while they were in office. Pierre Elliot Trudeau, the 15th Prime Minster of Canada was an exception. For 15 years of being Prime Minster, Trudeau was a great Prime Minster because he united a country which was historically divided and ushered it in a unique bilingually identity. During his time in the office, Trudeau made great advancements in social, political and cultural spheres of Canada.
Pierre Trudeau was born October 18 1919, he was the son of a wealthy French Canadian businessman and a mother of Scottish decent, this abled him to speak both French and English. He attended multiple schools after graduating high school and went on to study at the Jesuit Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, Harvard, university of Montreal and the London School of Economics.
Pierre Elliot Trudeau was the fifteenth Prime minister of Canada. He had numerous accomplishments that had many advantages to all of Canada which contain the official dialect demonstration of Canada where Trudeau made French and English the official dialects, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, and the progression of laws on premature birth, homosexuality and the legitimization of lotteries. These accomplishments are just a couple of what that Pierre Trudeau accomplished for Canada while his position in Parliament that was fundamental. Pierre Trudeau first drew out the official dialect demonstration of Canada in 1969. He gave the Canadian populace the convictions that Canada ought to have two authority languages, French and English.
During his time as Prime Minster, he accomplished multiple “things” for the country. Some examples are the Canadian pension plan, universal health care system, unified arm force, maple leaf flag. Most importantly however was the influence Pearson had on Canada’s nationalism, such ways as bring the two opposed people of Canada, known as Anglophones and Francophones together, and having a common ground. When Quebec revealed that it did not want to be ran by an English government, Pearson knew this problem could be solved by cooperation. During his first year and a half, Pearson had more meetings than Diefenbaker had in his six year
“Let us be French, let us be english, but most importantly let us be Canadian.” This is a quote by John A. Macdonald from about 150 years ago and he was the first Prime Minister of Canada and had a political career which spanned for almost half a century. He also set a legacy that keeps our country together and united. One of the major events that happened that I will discuss is responsible government because it was a big part of history, was important to the people and it was an executive or Cabinet that would be dependent on the support of an elected assembly. But even before responsible government was created there was a lot of conflict between the British and the French which led to a few important events.
He states that the Canada’s current economy unfairly treats the middle and working classes, as they work more than before and yet make less . Since Harper is the Prime Minister it is then his fault. Thus, Trudeau has us feel anger towards Harper, as the failed economy is due to Harper. How effective was this appeal.
Arthur Meighen, Minister of Justice was sent to review the situation. He permitted the RCMP to arrest ten of the strike leaders on June 16th. 6. In protest, a silent parade marched down Main Street to city hall on June 21st. Violence erupted between the strikers and the RCMP.