Pierre Trudeau

Love him or hate him, Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s presence could not be ignored. He dreamed of a united Canada and boldly challenged those who would stand in the way with media worthy quips like, “Just watch me.” His national dream forced at least two generations of children to spit and swear their way through either French or English, with the ultimate goal of uniting both Anglophones and Francophones to create a new Canadian identity. “Just Wat…

…ther for public policy, participation, or status. Thanks to bilingualism, French was seen as enjoying privileged status throughout Canada, robbing Quebec of any distinctiveness. To make matters worse, the expansion of French-language services outside Quebec was considered by many English Canadians to be concession to Quebec, and a very expansive one at that. There was understandable anger when the Quebec government proceeded to establish the pre-eminence of French within its own territory.