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In our first Ask the Expert, Jonathan Baker, BA 86, asks:
What is Pierre Elliott Trudeau's true and lasting legacy on the Canadian political landscape?
Daniel Salée, Concordia professor of political science and principal of the School of Community and Public Affairs, responds.
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The question of the “legacy” of a central political figure is always perplexing. Part of the problem stems from an entrenched tendency to focus on the actions and personality of key political leaders — of “great men” — to explain the particular direction a society does or does not take. The greater the leader, we seem to infer, the more enduring the legacy.
In the case of someone like Pierre Trudeau, one might argue, this tendency is perfectly understandable. Most of us stood in awe of Trudeau’s towering intellect, his single-minded vision, his uncompromising attitude and his unique style. Even if we did not care much for him or his politics, we were impressed with the range of his abilities. Through him we took the measure of who we were, who we could be. But are the deeds of one influential man enough to account for what we become and the choices we make as a political community?
Through Pierre Trudeau we took the measure of who we were. who we could be.
By assessing Trudeau too emphatically in terms of his personal qualities and the particularities of his political leadership we lose sight of the fact that the policies we adopt and the institutional changes we initiate are the outcomes of social negotiation and tensions between the various socioeconomic constituencies that comprise Canadian society. The legacy of any political leader will last only so long as the social conditions that allowed its constitutive element to thrive still prevail. To say this is not to diminish Trudeau’s role in Canadian history or the significance of his actions. Rather, it puts them in proper perspective. For example, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and to a certain extent the multiculturalism policy constituted the culmination of several decades of social and political struggles for the recognition and fair treatment of minority rights. Trudeau’s legacy — should one insist on using the word — rests mostly on his capacity to force the main issues of his times and give Canadian society the necessary impetus for social and political transformation. But times change. People change. And so does the sociopolitical reality. Much of Trudeau’s political vision is under considerable stress today. His centralist approach to Canadian federalism is questioned by almost all the provinces and no longer by Quebec alone, many of the welfare state practices of his time are being repudiated, and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms has opened the way to increasingly litigious social relations.
Still, it would be a mistake to conclude that Trudeau’s Canada failed.
His vision of the country was profoundly anchored in the social and political imperatives of his day. The
imperatives of our day are not quite the same. It is up to us to construct the
vision best adapted to our needs. It can’t be Trudeau’s, of course, but he has shown us the
importance of having one.
If you have a question for Concordia faculty on any academic topic, send it to Ask the Expert, Concordia University Magazine, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W., FB 520, Montreal, Qc H3G 1M8, or howardb@alcor.concordia.ca. We’ll feature one question and answer per issue.
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