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Source: CNN Date: September 28, 2000 Flamboyant former Canadian leader Pierre Trudeau dies MONTREAL, Canada -- Former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, the flamboyant liberal who captivated Canadians with his vision of a blingual, equitable society, died Thursday at the age of 80. The suave millionaire from Montreal was Canada's prime minister from 1968 until 1979, and again from 1980 until 1984. He made French an official language with English, and promoted the use of the metric system. In a country that had been averse to political celebrities, he came to power on a wave of "Trudeaumania" -- a phrase penned to define the craze Canadians developed for the balding bachelor from Montreal. Responding to the idea of separating his home province of Quebec from Canada, he told the Canadian people: "I am trying to put Quebec in its place, and the place of Quebec is in Canada." He remained in power for 16 years, except for a nine-month gap in 1979-80. He was a popular Liberal Party leader in his early years, but in 1970, when Quebec separatists kidnapped a provincial minister and a British diplomat, Trudeau invoked emergency war powers. "It's more important to keep law and order in society than to be worried about weak-kneed people." Challenged by a reporter asking how far he would go to keep the peace, Trudeau replied, "Just watch me." In the end, the kidnappers killed one hostage and held the other for two months. So strong was Trudeau's personality and influence that he was chosen Canada's newsmaker of the century in a Canadian Press-Broadcast News poll of editors and broadcasters in December 1999. A sharp, energetic figure, he wore sandals to Parliament, dated celebrities such as Barbra Streisand and actress Margo Kidder, flashed an obscene gesture to protesters, and once did a pirouette behind the back of Britain's Queen Elizabeth. In 1971, Trudeau married Margaret Sinclair, a woman nearly 30 years his junior. They had three sons, and a lot of problems, before a separation and eventual divorce. Put Charter of Rights in constitution Turned out by progressive conservative Joe Clark in late 1979, Trudeau returned three months later to replace him as prime minister, and helped defeat a national referendum on Quebec separation. Another political struggle led to what was his most profound legacy, enshrining the Charter of Rights into a new Canadian constitution in 1982. In the early 1980s, Trudeau was a high-profile player on the world political stage, often critical of the policies of Canada's large and powerful southern neighbor. But Canadians began to tire of both Trudeau's flamboyant personality and his policies, and in 1984, he retired. His ex-wife, since remarried and divorced again, and two adult sons survived him. The youngest son, Michel, died in an avalanche in 1998 at age 23, and Trudeau's grief was considered a factor in his hospitalization for pneumonia during the new millennium celebrations. Associates say he never fully regained his strength. He also was believed to be suffering from Parkinson's disease.