The opinion expressed by André Burelle in The duty of December 30 (What was Pierre Elliott Trudeau thinking?) throws a harsh light on the destructive role played by Trudeau senior in relations between Quebec and the other provinces during the years 1965 to 1990.
Former Liberal MP John English’s biography of the politician shows Mr. Trudeau as a rich and brilliant man, but emotional and fragile. His round-the-world tour when he was still young made him realize that the French-Canadian people, bogged down in clerical-nationalism and political corruption, were at least a generation behind in education, economics, and politics. cultural and social. Mr. Trudeau, like many others, was deeply hurt in his own French-Canadian identity. But rather than resolutely seeking to change things in Quebec itself, as MM. Lapalme and Lesage, he limited himself to slaying the stupidity and backwardness of his fellow citizens. As Mr. Burelle points out, he spent the rest of his life in Ottawa fighting their collective rights while valuing those of our native compatriots.
Fortunately for us, Mr. Lesage and his successors won their bet. Although there is still a lot to do in education, economics, culture and social security, Quebec has experienced remarkable progress in all these areas in 60 years. Conversely, Mr. Trudeau’s behavior, notably in 1980-1981 (referendum and repatriation of the Constitution) and in 1989-1990 (Meech Lake Accord), unfortunately succeeded in seriously damaging our relations with the rest of the country.
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