'Our renaissance man'; Pierre Elliott Trudeau 1919 - 2000

Friday 29 September 2000 - Tributes pour in from around the world for the
man who will 'leave a hole in our consciousness'

Pierre Elliott Trudeau, the political giant who inspired, reshaped and at
times annoyed the nation, died yesterday three weeks short of his 81st
birthday.

Mr. Trudeau's sons issued a statement saying their beloved father and
Canada's prime minister for 15 years died at his Montreal home from
complications from prostate cancer and Parkinson's disease.

"Justin and Sacha Trudeau deeply regret to inform you that their father,
the Right Honourable Pierre Elliott Trudeau, passed away shortly after 3
p.m," said the brief statement.

Although it is expected that Mr. Trudeau will be given a state funeral, the
decision is up to his family.

A trickle of mourners began laying bouquets at his Montreal art-deco
mansion as news of his death started to spread across the country at
suppertime.

"If everybody felt like me, the whole city, the whole country, would be
crying," Carmela Campanelli said as she placed flowers on the doorstep of
Mr. Trudeau's Pine Avenue home.

"This is the only politician I've ever felt for," said Lionel Doe, a
27-year-old Montrealer, also placing a bouquet.

Mr. Trudeau's political legacy stretches far and wide, from the metric
measurement system to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms we use as the
touchstone by which we measure each other.

As justice minister in 1967, he liberalized laws on abortion and
homosexuality. And as prime minister he fought against Quebec separatism
and introduced official bilingualism.

His foes, who were many, believe that rather than enrich, many of his deeds
bruised and gashed the nation.

There is little disagreement, though, on this: much of what Canada is today
emanates from the Trudeau endowment.

And Canadians, whether they loved him or hated him, paid tribute to the
former prime minister as a man who left an indelible mark on the 20th century.

"He had the gene of Canada," an emotional Senator Serge Joyal, a longtime
friend, said last night. "His strong belief was that there is no more noble
job in society than the one that leads you to work for the freedoms of the
people.

"I think that Canadians probably feel orphaned today."

In Ottawa, the giant flag on the Peace Tower fluttered at half mast and the
House of Commons chamber where Mr. Trudeau spent two decades of his work
life shut down as word of his death cast a pall over Parliament Hill.

Politicians of all stripes, former and present, forgot their differences as
they joined in a eulogy to a man who was collectively described as a
decisive, iron-willed, passionate, charming, charismatic, funny, stubborn,
and an intellectually unmeasured giant whose legacy will be the sense of
pride he instilled in Canadians.

"He will leave a hole in our consciousness" Deputy Prime Minister Herb Gray
said in the foyer of the House of Commons.

"He was Canada," summed up Liberal House Leader Don Boudria, who was a
busboy in the Parliamentary restaurant when Mr. Trudeau was prime minister.

And across the country last night, many ordinary Canadians also grieved.
It's been 21 years since Canadians last buried a former prime minister,
with the death of John Diefenbaker in 1979.

Internationally, Mr. Trudeau's death is front-page news. Today's Boston
Globe, calls him "easily the most famous and controversial leader of the
this century" and likens his legacy to the that of John F. Kennedy.

"He projected a charisma not seen before or since in a nation whose leaders
are typically as drab and dreary as the Canadian winterscape."

The New York Times wrote: "In his heyday, Pierre Trudeau ran his country
with a panache that was aggressively and un-Canadianly immodest. And Mr.
Trudeau was as much about personal style as he was about political substance.

Condolences poured in from around the globe, including from British Prime
Minister Tony Blair and U.S. President Bill Clinton.

"As prime minister for nearly a generation, Pierre Trudeau opened a dynamic
new era in Canadian politics and helped establish Canada's unique imprint
on the global stage," Mr. Clinton said in a written statement. "I know his
passing will be felt by all Canadians."

Prime Minister Jean Chretien, on a business trip to Jamaica, returned home
when he heard of the death of his longtime friend. He will deliver an
informal eulogy today in the House of Commons.

"This is a very, very sad day for Canada," an ashen-faced Mr. Chretien said
as he broke the news to reporters aboard his plane as he landed in Montego
Bay. "Pierre Trudeau was a great prime minister, he was an exceptional
personality. I had the privilege of working with him for many years. He was
an incredible comrade in arms, a very deep thinker, and a man with a vision
that inspired all those who had an opportunity to hear him."

Born on Oct. 18, 1919, Joseph Phillippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau was
first elected to Parliament for the Montreal riding of Mount Royal in 1965.
Two years later he became the popular justice minister in the government of
Lester B. Pearson before winning the party leadership in 1968 and setting
off a wave of Trudeaumania that gripped the nation as he led his party to a
majority government.

He was a source of pride to a country basking in the afterglow of Expo '67.
His young, dashing, sexy and self-assured image capture the youthful and
independent spirit of the times.

"He is beautiful people," declared The Beatles' John Lennon after he and
Yoko Ono met Mr. Trudeau in 1969. "If all politicians were like Mr.
Trudeau, there would be world peace."

In the 1970s, a decade marked by Mr. Trudeau's controversial imposition of
the War Measures Act in Quebec, his broken promise of implementing wage and
price controls and Official Languages Act, he also married and later
separated from Margaret Sinclair, with whom he had three sons.

Their 1971 marriage enthralled and enchanted the nation. The philosopher
king and the alluring "flower child" princess. When the fairy-tale ended,
the enormously private Mr. Trudeau touched on the separation and divorce in
his memoirs with a single paragraph.

On the political front, Mr. Trudeau was widely lauded for making Canada
bilingual, his vision of a federalist Canada and, as justice minister, his
support for gay rights in which he uttered one of the most oft-repeated
Trudeauisms: "The state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation."

He retired from politics after a celebrated walk in the snow in 1984.

He also had his failures, most notably his dream of a united Canada, and
his beloved Constitution was marred by Quebec's refusal to sign. He also
alienated western Canada with his 1980 National Energy Policy that
triggered the battle over oil between Ottawa and Alberta. The province has
never recovered from its anti-Ottawa sentiment.

"Westerners who disagreed with Mr. Trudeau's policies still respect strong
public leaders and he was a strong public leader for the whole country,
including the West," said former Reform leader Preston Manning.

Former prime minister Brian Mulroney, another political foe and fellow
Quebecer, also put aside his differences.

"Although we had significant political disagreements at times, I have
always readily acknowledged his great skill and determination in seeking to
persuade Canadians of the value of his vision of Canada," Mr. Mulroney said
in a statement.

Mr. Trudeau also had a high profile in international political circles, as
was noted in tributes from foreign leaders.

In his final years, Canadians saw him publicly grieve his youngest son
Michel, who died in an avalanche in British Columbia. Friends said he never
really recovered from the 1998 accident.

Mr. Trudeau's death was not unexpected. The country began a death watch
three weeks ago when his sons released a brief statement saying their
father was ill. Friends said he had gone downhill steadily in the past few
months and his spirits were low.


Janice Tibbetts and Kate Jaimet
The Ottawa Citizen
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/national/000929/4601162.html

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