36th Parliament, 2nd Session
EDITED HANSARD • NUMBER 125
CONTENTS
Friday, September 29, 2000
1005
![V](/web/20061117010547im_/http://www2.parl.gc.ca/common/images/b_stone1.gif) | THE LATE RIGHT HON. PIERRE ELLIOTT TRUDEAU
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![V](/web/20061117010547im_/http://www2.parl.gc.ca/common/images/b_stone1.gif) | Right Hon. Jean Chrétien |
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![V](/web/20061117010547im_/http://www2.parl.gc.ca/common/images/b_stone1.gif) | Mr. Stockwell Day |
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![V](/web/20061117010547im_/http://www2.parl.gc.ca/common/images/b_stone1.gif) | Mr. Gilles Duceppe |
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![V](/web/20061117010547im_/http://www2.parl.gc.ca/common/images/b_stone1.gif) | Ms. Alexa McDonough |
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![V](/web/20061117010547im_/http://www2.parl.gc.ca/common/images/b_stone1.gif) | Right Hon. Joe Clark |
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![V](/web/20061117010547im_/http://www2.parl.gc.ca/common/images/b_stone1.gif) | Hon. Don Boudria |
![V](/web/20061117010547im_/http://www2.parl.gc.ca/common/images/b_stone1.gif) | Motion
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![V](/web/20061117010547im_/http://www2.parl.gc.ca/common/images/b_stone1.gif) | Appendix
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(Official Version)
EDITED HANSARD • NUMBER 125
![](/web/20061117010547im_/http://www2.parl.gc.ca/common/images/crest2.gif)
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Friday, September 29, 2000
The House met at 10 a.m.
Prayers
1005
[Translation]
THE LATE RIGHT HON. PIERRE ELLIOTT TRUDEAU
The Speaker: This is a sad day for us as parliamentarians and as
Canadians.
Right Hon. Jean Chrétien (Prime Minister, Lib.): Mr. Speaker,
Pierre Trudeau was a man like no other: a man of brilliance and
learning, a man of action, a man of grace and style, a man of
wit and playfulness, a man of extraordinary courage, and a complex
man, whose love of Canada was pure and simple.
[English]
Pierre Trudeau wrote about “a man who never learned patriotism
in school but who acquired that virtue when he felt in his
bones the vastness of his land and the greatness of its
founders”.
Pierre, too, came to love this land as he climbed the mountain
peaks, conquered the rapids of its rivers and wandered the
streets of its cities: Whistler and Mont-Tremblant, the Nahanni
and the St. Lawrence, Yonge Street, et la rue St-Denis. These
Canadian places he felt in his bones and knew in his heart.
[Translation]
Once he told me that after reading the great novel Maria
Chapdelaine, he wanted to follow the journey of François
Paradis. He departed from La Tuque. Alone, he travelled the
northern forest of La Mauricie to Lac Saint Jean. This shows
how much he loved the story and the soil of his country.
[English]
Pierre Trudeau was a colleague, a mentor and a friend. He set
in motion forces of change that are still shaping the soul of a
people and a nation.
Pierre Trudeau's motto was reason over passion, but it was
his passion for Canada that defined him. It was his dream of a
just society that captured the imagination of the country and
made the entire world sit up and take notice, that inspired so
many young people to public service, that forever changed an
entire generation of Canadians.
[Translation]
Pierre Trudeau was an architect of the Quiet Revolution and the
modern Quebec. He also dreamed of a modern Canada, and he made
that dream come true.
He came to the House of Commons to build a country in which
French speaking Canadians have their rightful place, from sea to
sea: a Canada of two official languages: a Canada that
celebrates diversity; a compassionate Canada, that affords all
of its citizens an equal opportunity to succeed in life,
whatever their background or beliefs, whether rich or poor; a
Canada that is active in the world, engaged in the cause of
freedom, peace and justice; a champion of developing countries.
His political legacy is enormous, and the centrepiece, the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, made him most proud
and allowed me, as Minister of Justice at the time, the
opportunity to have many very personal discussions with him on a
subject that fired his passions.
[English]
Pierre Trudeau was a giant of our time and a great Canadian.
Today Canadians share the grief of his family. We prayed with
them during during those sad says after Michel died and during
Pierre's final illness. Now that magnificent eloquent voice is
silent, but his deeds and thoughts will last as long as people
cherish courage, commitment and Canada, the country he so loved.
Pierre, you made us young, you made us proud and you made us
dream.
Thank you, dear friend, and farewell.
1010
[Translation]
Mr. Stockwell Day (Leader of the Opposition, Canadian Alliance):
Mr. Speaker, I wish to tell the members of the Trudeau family that
they are in our hearts and in our prayers, and to extend our
condolences to them.
I also want to express our thanks to Mr. Trudeau's family for
sharing a father and a husband with us and with the nation
during his lifetime and now as we mourn his death.
[English]
Through you Mr. Speaker, to the Prime Minister, I recognize the
friendship and the long years in which you have spent with your
colleague.
I could stand and attempt to give a list of the historical
achievements of Mr. Trudeau but there are historians who will do
that far better than I could. I could stand and attempt to give
a list of his policies but there are policy makers who will do
far better than I could. Of those policies there were many with
which I agreed and many which the record will show I did not.
I could stand and attempt to do comparisons between Mr. Trudeau
and other elected people but he is a man who defies comparison,
and I will not try to do that.
I would like to give a simple reflection on the impact he had on
my life, and I think on the life of a generation. I was 17 years
old and involved in my first federal political election as a
volunteer, but not with the party represented by our present
Prime Minister, I say with great respect. The strategists were
saying many things. I looked at this person on the political
scene, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, and I said to the older
strategists “We are not going to beat this guy”. There was
something that shone through, that grabbed a generation of which
I was a part.
In that generation there were many of us who were protesting the
things that were. I think at times, and being honest, we
protested because we enjoyed the protest more than the hope of
actually achieving a goal. We were searching for truth and yet
at times I think we were enjoying the search more than the
thought of finding the truth itself.
In those days, when Pierre Elliott Trudeau was embarking upon
the scene, there were many in my generation who were flirting
with the thought of totally disbanding hope for the institutions
of the day and possibly democracy itself. We saw that manifested
throughout a continent and around the world. Many of us were
flirting with dangerous approaches to the very things that had
built strength in our country.
It was at that moment for us in our generation of greatest
danger, a time of crisis in our country, in which we saw for the
first time as Canadians turmoil and crisis like we had never
seen before. It was Pierre Elliott Trudeau who stood and faced
that. In a way, in his standing and in his facing that, as he
did on so many issues, he grabbed a generation of us and brought
us to the precipice. In his way he invited us to look into the
abyss of anarchy. We stared into the face of the results of
anarchy and we did not like what we saw. In his way he was
saying to us, to that generation, “join me now in standing
against what is wrong and standing for what is right”.
Many of us were profoundly influenced by that and realized that
the institutions of our society were in fact the very
institutions that would bring the peace, the hope and the truth
that we were looking for. Imperfect as those institutions are,
as Winston Churchill and others have commented, they are far
better than any alternative.
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Through his life he continued to challenge us to be people who
would stand and speak with courage on the things in which we
believed. He did that. He went through his winters, he went
through his summertimes and he went through his springtimes.
We all know what a winter of unpopularity can be and even in
those times he stood firmly knowing what was right. He let the
seasons pass and he let them come. We need to thank him for his
courage, for his love for this country which no one can debate,
for his commitment and service and for his love for his family.
I close my remarks as I opened them, with thoughts to his family
today. To those of us who have children—I have three sons—we
know that the life of politics can be important to us, but when
it all comes down to it, it is about the ones we love and the
ones who love us. Our thoughts are with them today.
I honour those who wear the rose today as a sign of respect and
a trademark. I never knew him and I do not feel that closeness.
However, please allow me a slight breach of protocol as I present
a rose to a page to take and place before the portrait of Mr.
Trudeau. His family members have seen the seasons, and this is a
time of sadness. I will quote the words of a song: “Just
remember in the winter far beneath those bitter snows lies the
seed that with the sun's love in the spring becomes the rose”.
Mr. Trudeau has brought the rose to us and Mr. Trudeau makes us
realize that this country is worth loving, is worth fighting for
and is worth standing for. We present this to his family members
today. Our hearts are with them.
[Translation]
Mr. Gilles Duceppe (Laurier—Sainte-Marie, BQ): Mr. Speaker, with
his passing yesterday, Pierre Elliott Trudeau has left us with
an indelible impression.
Perhaps he could never imagine the day would come when the
leader of a sovereignist political party would rise in the House
to add his contribution to those of all the parliamentarians who
are paying tribute to his memory.
The tribute to Pierre Elliott Trudeau is a tribute to a man
admired by many across Canada and throughout the world for
his intelligence, envied for his impressive calibre, and
recognized for his great strength of character.
The mere fact that we are all here today in this Chamber to
underscore his public contribution, while newspapers all across
Canada are also paying tribute to him, marks the importance of
this great public figure.
The former Prime Minister, whose frank and direct manner
captured the Canadian imagination, would certainly not fault me
for my honesty. For those who, like me, promote the sovereignty
project for Quebec, Mr. Trudeau represented a major adversary.
An adversary for two reasons: as a great intellectual and
brilliant orator, he defended his profound convictions with
passion and intelligence. An adversary as well because he
championed a certain concept of Canada which we could not
accept, nor do we to this day.
Pierre Elliott Trudeau was an idealist driven by a political
vision, a vision of Canada. It was around that concept of what
his country ought to become that he built his political career.
That concept changed Quebec-Canada relations forever. The
determination of Pierre Elliott Trudeau changed not just
mentalities, but Canadian institutions as well, by forcing
constitutional changes that reflected his convictions.
His heritage is not merely a constitutional one, however.
Pierre Elliott Trudeau impacted heavily on what our societies,
both Quebec and Canadian, have become. His influence has been a
determining factor in the way we perceive ourselves today.
1020
He modernized Canadian law. He led Canadians on the road to a
modern day state which reflected the evolution of our societies.
No one will forget the impact he had when, as Minister of
Justice, he introduced what is still known, more than 30 years
later, as the omnibus bill.
After he became Prime Minister, he pushed for the adoption of
the charter of rights and freedoms, which is the foundation of
any fair, compassionate and democratic society.
This is not the only thing we will remember about Mr. Trudeau.
During the fifties, he had already begun to build a reputation
as one of the great intellectuals of the day.
Mr. Trudeau, who was a fierce opponent of what became known as
the dark ages, showed his beliefs through concrete action,
including supporting strikers during the strike in Asbestos and
founding Cité libre.
The tributes that are coming from capitals all over the world
today also stress the role played at the international level by
the former Prime Minister. After taking over from Lester B.
Pearson, Mr. Trudeau worked to make Canada a modern state.
Opening up relations with China and eastern European countries
gave a new meaning to Canada's foreign policy and was a portent
of the major changes that were to take place in the world during
the eighties.
Mikhail Gorbatchev probably gave a full measure of the man when
he said that Pierre Elliott Trudeau was the one person who
opened up the possibility of developing ties with the western
world.
As a sovereignist and a Quebecer, I recognize the importance of
the man. I wish to offer my condolences to his family, his dear
children, his friends and to all those who are truly saddened by
his loss.
My condolences also go out to the Prime Minister, because I know
the man he is mourning is more of a friend than a former Prime
Minister.
Ms. Alexa McDonough (Halifax, NDP): Mr. Speaker, today, I join
with millions of Canadians in mourning the passing of Pierre
Elliott Trudeau and in honouring the life of this remarkable,
but complex man. A public personage, but a private man, his
life and his work transformed a generation and fashioned the
future of an entire country.
[English]
Across Canada, Pierre Elliott Trudeau's last illness and his
death prompted an outpouring of memories and reflections of an
era marked by vigorous debate of ideas.
His enthusiasm, his vision, his unique sense of style and flair
and his chutzpah made him ideally suited to be the first Prime
Minister of the television generation. He represented a time
when many of us in the House of Commons came of age, a time when
we began our involvement in public life. That was one of Pierre
Trudeau's gifts to us. Whatever part of the political spectrum
we came from, he challenged us. He galvanized us. He forced us
to examine our beliefs and to act on those beliefs.
[Translation]
Pierre Trudeau showed us that political life could combine
intellectual discipline and the passionate pursuit of justice.
He firmly believed in a strong, active and proud federal
government. He modernized the public service. He proved that a
career in the public sector could be honourable and respectable.
He strengthened Canada as a multicultural and bilingual country.
He promoted cultural diversity and its richness.
[English]
Pierre Trudeau's international work, particularly in slowing
down the nuclear arms race, earned him the Albert Einstein Peace
Prize.
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He shared with us a turbulent time in history, particularly
Canada's history, and he was there through some of our best times
and some of our worst times.
[Translation]
For 16 years, he was Prime Minister. We loved him or we did
not, but we always admired him. Today and tomorrow there will
be vigorous debate over his greatest legacy. Was it the charter
of rights and freedoms? Was it the War Measures Act? Was it
his devoted work for the country? Was it the patriation of the
constitution? Or, was it his efforts to create a just society
during the years he headed a minority government?
History and time alone will decide.
[English]
Even in death, Pierre Trudeau sparked lively discussions of his
ideas, and he would have loved that. Only time will determine
Pierre Trudeau's final place in history, but in the hearts of
people across this country he already has his place as a proud
and passionate Canadian.
The images will stay with us always: the brilliant and fiercely
competitive debater; a statesman and showman, pirouetting in
front of 10 Downing Street; a sportsman, paddling serenely down a
river; or, as the very public parent romping with his young sons
whom he loved so passionately, in pictures we recalled in tragedy
years later.
Today as we mourn his loss our thoughts are with his beloved
sons and with his family and friends.
Pierre Trudeau loved poetry. These lines by another Montrealer,
Irving Layton, sum up the intensity and the joy with which he
lived his life.
[Translation]
Right Hon. Joe Clark (Kings—Hants, PC): Mr. Speaker, I would
first like to offer my condolences to the family of the late
Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
The loss of one so strong is almost impossible to believe. We
share the family's sorrow and their pride for what he was, for
what he did and for what he gave to a generation of Canadians in
terms of leadership.
We knew Mr. Trudeau was ill. We knew even that he was suffering
from a terminal illness. And yet, the news of his passing was a
shock to us all, because this passing represents more than the
disappearance of a man. Pierre Elliott Trudeau represented a
bold new page in the nation's history, and now the page has been
turned.
We may each draw from his experience, but our purpose today, in
this parliament that he towered above, is to express our respect
for and our recognition of the talents and devotion of this
extraordinary man.
[English]
I feel particularly fortunate to be able to pay my final tribute
to Pierre Elliott Trudeau from the floor of the House of Commons.
He was an enigmatic man, tough and kind, cold-blooded and
sympathetic. While I never thought I knew him well, it was here
that I knew him best.
He was Prime Minister when I first entered parliament and then
for seven years we stood directly across this aisle from one
another, two sword lengths apart.
1030
Our parliamentary system requires that the Prime Minister and
the Leader of the Opposition disagree. I did not need the
prompting of the system. On the issues for which Mr. Trudeau is
most admired, including particularly his view of Quebec and
Canada, I profoundly disagreed. Yet everyone who served here
during those times knew we were in the presence of a man of high
intellect, of great and unquestioned integrity, of deep
substance, and of real dedication to his concept of the public
good.
Not every politician is lucky in his timing. Pierre Trudeau
was. He burst into the Canadian consciousness when the country
was confident and stretching, ready to change, ready to soar. He
became Prime Minister in that incandescent year of our
centennial. He came out of the city of our great Expo and he
used those talents and that timing and those origins to change
Canadian society.
The Canadians whom those changes suited applauded him and will
feel forever grateful. For example, whatever his motive in
bringing forward the charter of rights and freedoms, the impact
of that initiative was profound on those Canadians who came here
from regimes where respect for rights was not part of the natural
fabric of society. Those Canadians now feel more comfortable,
more equal, here in their own country.
At the same time many of those Canadians whom Mr. Trudeau's
changes offended became estranged from their own country. That
happened in Quebec with the 1982 constitutional changes. It
happened in the west with the national energy program. It is
ironic that a Prime Minister whose mobilizing purpose was the
unity of his country should have so exacerbated the differences
within our own family.
I think there is a reason for that. His intellect guided him
more than his intuition did. In a sense, he was too rational for
this country which, after all, was formed and grew against logic.
Pierre Trudeau had a clear view of what he thought our country
should be. He used his powers of office and of persuasion to
make us that kind of country, whether we were or not.
I am quite content to let history judge the legacy of his
governments. That will not be a narrow accounting of laws and
popularity. It will be an assessment of how a leader changed a
society and, critic though I was of his signature initiatives, I
expect that assessment will be positive and strong. He changed
more than laws. He changed our image of ourselves at home and in
the wider world, where he modernized and extended the
international vocation of Canada.
What I would want us to remember today, hours after the passing
of this extraordinary man, is precisely Pierre Trudeau's impact
as a leader, his determination to be an agent of change, his
capacity to transform society. People who would never vote for
him or rarely agree with him admired his passion, his intellect,
his courage. He became a symbol, almost an incarnation of what
many Canadians hoped we could be. No one can dispute the
positive power of his example. He was a force who, for better
and for worse, transformed our country.
In that famous 1968 election I was on the other side with Robert
Stanfield. I will never forget the eloquence with which Pierre
Trudeau invoked and mobilized the spirit of this country in that
first campaign, but he moved beyond eloquence to action, bold
action. Like our first controversial Prime Minister, Sir John A.
Macdonald, Pierre Trudeau would have built the railway.
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He was a Canadian of vision, of vigour, of determination, of
substance and of strength. May his soul rest in peace.
[Translation]
The Speaker: It is indeed true, Pierre Elliott Trudeau is dead.
He was a man of passion and compassion, and it is on your
behalf, members of this House of Commons, that I offer my
condolences to his family.
[English]
Those of us who had the honour of standing either shoulder to
shoulder with him or behind him in his back benches, and those of
us who had the misfortune on some days to stand in front of him
as adversaries, we all have our own particular snapshots of Mr.
Trudeau and what he meant to us personally. Witness what has
been said by the five party leaders today.
It is not for us at this point to make great judgments about our
colleague, and I address myself now to you, my colleagues and
fellow parliamentarians. Remember on the difficult days when you
sit in this Chamber that you did have a colleague, a
comrade-in-arms, who went through the same ups and downs as you
do now. We are the political gladiators of the day and we have
lost a comrade-in-arms.
To our fellow Canadians across the land, we as Canadians have
lost a brother, a very dear brother.
We grieve with the family of Mr. Trudeau, but you see, we were
all part of his family. We are the Canadian family and he stood
with us in the times when we needed his leadership most.
For you my colleagues who are here, for you in the galleries,
for all Canadians watching, I ask you now to stand for one minute
of silence to remember Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
[Editor's Note: The House stood in silence]
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Hon. Don Boudria (Leader of the Government in the House of
Commons, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, there has been consultation
among the House leaders and I think you would find unanimous
consent in the House for the following motion:
That the House do now adjourn and stand adjourned until
Wednesday, October 4, 2000, and that any divisions standing
deferred to October 2, 2000 shall be deferred to the time of
conclusion of Government Orders on October 4, 2000.
(Motion agreed to)
The Speaker: As this is agreed, I invite members to join
me in room 216 so that we can be together for a while.
(The House adjourned at 10.41 a.m.)