Word: trudeau
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Three days after succeeding Lester Pearson as Canada's 15th Prime Minister, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 48, went before Parliament last week and, in his first formal appearance as leader of the country, dissolved Parliament and called for new general elections on June 25. Thus, ignoring considerable party opinion that he should prove himself to the voters before going to the polls, Trudeau decided to push ahead and try to capitalize on the political momentum that propelled him almost overnight from the Justice Ministry in Pearson's government into his country...
...defending the constitutional status quo, though, Trudeau best reveals the modernity of his thinking. He sees nationalism in French Canada as having replaced the Church as the force of social counter-revolution. Several years ago he described the Quebec separatist movement as "the work of a powerless petit-bourgeois minority afraid to be left behind by the twentieth century revolution," and it is clear that he has now extended the analysis to include nationalists such as Mr. Johnson...
...Thus Trudeau's approach to Ottawa-Quebec relations is likely to be less diplomatic and cautious than was Pearson's. For Trudeau will attempt to do something that Pearson could never do: he will try to replace the Premier of Quebec as the leader of French Canada. This effort may well lead to a direct confrontation between Premier Johnson and Prime Minister Trudeau on the question of special status for Quebec. And if such a confrontation occurs, it could prove to be the turning point--one way or the other--in the 200 year history of French-English division...
...Ottawa saw the invitation as an attempt by deGaulle to confer national status on the provincial government in Quebec. A last-minute compromise may have saved the situation for now, but with the French President showing no signs of discontinuing his political support of Quebec nationalism, further De Gaulle-Trudeau clashes appear imminent...
...Trudeau's other immediate problem is finding a way to exploit the extraordinary burst of nationwide support which followed his election as Liberal leader. Because this kind of enthusiasm is certain to wane as the new P.M. is forced to make unpopular decisions, Trudeau is expected to call a general election at the first opportunity, in hopes of improving on his government's minority position in the House of Commons. Such a move may pay politically, but the burden of an election campaign will certainly add to the already considerable problems facing Canada's unconventional man in his first difficult...