He will be forever known as the man who dared to pirouette behind Queen Elizabeth II on national television, capturing the hearts of Canadians. With his strong political background, his undying love for his country, and his loyalty to the welfare of the Canadian people, Pierre Trudeau became one of Canada's best leaders. He was the man who established Canada as a well structured, developed, and respectable country.
Born Joseph Philippe Ives Elliot Trudeau in Montreal, he grew up speaking both English and French. Always interested in the law and politics, he always worked hard and went to only the best schools. He earned a degree at College Jean de Brebeuf, studied law at Harvard, political science at Ecole des Sciences Politiques in Paris, and economics at the London School of Economics.
After completing his studies and touring the world during the 1940's, he returned to Quebec where he became a lawyer. The majority of his cases dealt with civil liberty until 1951, when he was chosen to become the secretariat to the national cabinet. During this time, he was unhappy with the authoritarian leadership in Quebec led by Maurice Duplessis. Hoping to bring about change in the government, Trudeau and some colleagues founded a Liberal Party magazine called Cite Libre ("Free City").
Since the beginning of his political career, Trudeau fought strongly against the notion that French Canada should become a separate country. He was a federalist and thought the federal government should control the provincial governments, leaving no place for Quebec to become
independent. He also thought of Canada as a whole and strongly disagreed with the thought of regionalism. His beliefs, along with Cite Libre, earned him notice from then Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. In 1967, Pearson announced Trudeau to be the Minister of Justice and the Canadian Attorney General. With his new power, Trudeau passed a legislation which crac...