Pierre Trudeau is the former Prime Minister of Canada (15th Prime Minister of Canada), who served from 1968 to 1979 and then from 1980 until 1984. Trudeau was one of the most popular Prime Ministers in history. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Canadian politicians of all time, Pierre Trudeau was also a statesman, businessman and academic.
Trudeau became a lawyer, intellectual, professor and politician in Quebec politics. In the 1960s, he participated in Canada’s Quiet Revolution – democratic reform that led to parliamentarization and decentralization. He is the father of the current Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau.
1. It seems to me it would be pretty awful if Canadians came to choose political leaders not for their political ideas and actions but because of their adherence or their devotedness to one faith or another.
2. I think that the only ultimate guide we have is our conscience, and if the law of the land goes against our conscience, I think we should disobey the law.
3. The state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation.
4. If you live in a society where those who govern society and determine its path do not respect freedom of speech and, freedom of religion, freedom of choice, freedom of assembly, and if there is no democratic process and no way to change the order of things by reason and peace and love and so on, and if, as a result of that, certain ideas in which you believe are being crushed, then I think the only way you can defend yourself against this violence is in using violence of your own.
5. We must now establish the basic principles, the basic values and beliefs which hold us together as Canadians so that beyond our regional loyalties, there is a way of life and a system of values which make us proud of the country that has given us such freedom and such immeasurable joy.
6. Our hopes are high. Our faith in the people is great. Our courage is strong. And our dreams for this beautiful country will never die.
7. In my political philosophy, I think that there sometimes is room for violence.
8. You just cannot cut a country in two any more than you can cut a human being in two. If you do, you do not have two human beings; you have a corpse.
9. There is no such thing as a model or ideal Canadian. What could be more absurd than the concept of an “all-Canadian” boy or girl? A society which emphasizes uniformity is one which creates intolerance and hate.
10. A country, after all, is not something you build as the pharaohs built the pyramids and then leave standing there to defy eternity. A country is something that is built every day out of certain basic shared values.
11. The past is to be respected and acknowledged but not to be worshipped. It is our future in which we will find our greatness.
12. If Canada is to survive, it can only survive in mutual respect and in love for one another.
13. Canada will be a strong country when Canadians of all provinces feel at home in all parts of the country and when they feel that all of Canada belongs to them.
14. Americans should never underestimate the constant pressure on Canada, which the mere presence of the United States has produced. We’re different people from you, and we’re different people because of you. Living next to you is in some ways, like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered the beast is if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt. It should not, therefore, be expected that this kind of nation, this Canada, should project itself as a mirror image of the United States.
15. Canada regards herself as responsible to all mankind for the peculiar ecological balance that now exists so precariously in the water, ice and land areas of the Arctic archipelago. We do not doubt for a moment that the rest of the world would find us at fault and hold us liable should we fail to ensure adequate protection of that environment from pollution or artificial deterioration.
16. Bilingualism is not an imposition on the citizens. The citizens can go on speaking one language or six languages, or no languages if they so choose. Bilingualism is an imposition on the state and not the citizens.
17. The next time you see Jesus Christ, ask Him what happened to the just society He promised 2,000 years ago.
18. I recognize that, in some cases, it’s more important to have freedom and justice than to have peace.
19. I believe a constitution can permit the co-existence of several cultures and ethnic groups with a single state.