i
\
\
\
L9 7 O's
Federal politics
From 194o three Prime Ministers had dominated federal politics
Liberal
Conservative
Liberal
Louis St Laurent l-9+8-I957
John Diefenbaker 195 7-L963
Lester Pearson 1963-L968
In the 197O's the liberal parly continued to dominate with pierre Elliot
Trudeau. Trudeau brought an entirely newfaceto politics, He was younger
tlat most prime ministers, was associated the radical change and seemed to
offer somethin g for everyoie. The overwhelming support b ecame known as
Trudeaumania.
H,e argued for a jjust socielv' and spearheaded the reform of laws on divorce,
abortion and homosexuality. In addition, his government passed the Official
Languages Act, recognizlng both English and French as Canada's official
Ianguages.
October Crisis L97O
The Fontde Liberation du Quebec (flq; was one of the radical separatist
movements of the 196O's. The FLQ called for the separation of Quebec from
the rest of canada-by violent means if necessary. on oct 5 1970, one
mernber kidnapedJames Cross the BritiihTrade Commissioner in Montreal.
Five days later Pierre Laporte a Quebec Cabinet Minister was also kidnaped.
The FLQ began organizing strikes and demonstrated to raise awareness of
their cause. Days later, in response-to the violence, Trudeau implemented
the War Measures Act. This act entitled the police to search and arrest
without a warrant. On Oct 17 Laporte's body was found in his trunk of his
car. Cross was later discovered a live and his captors weye convicted and
jailed.
I
Bringing Home the Constitution
As PM, Trudeau believed passionately that to bring home the constitution
was a synrbol of Canada's nationhood. As a process to 'patriate' the
constitution Trutdeau insisted that language rights be entrenched and include
the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
browrnS lenslon
In Quebec Bill 10I angered Anglophones as it outlined the following terms:
1. French was to be the official _!glg!gA._'lQg:!gg__
2. French-ioula-batfu only viiible language in Quebec (menus, billboards,
andtigdh-ldto-fawritten-in-T1:ij-zEFhl---3. All il *igraniS w-e-teToElduiated in French
pr.rr to t-lre *ounting tension approrZoo-Ooo-Angtb}h-ones left Queb ec for
Ontario and other English speaking provinces.
Econ
omy
In the early 7O's Canada was seeing a time of prosperity- houses and
apartments were rapidly being built. Canadian families had a second car,
televisions and money to spend. Women weye in the working world which
resulted in an increasingpurchasing power. Inflation became a grow\ng
concern bythe mid 7O's as prices began to rise- oil was one such example of
this increase. Due to this rise heating and electricity costs increased
effed\ng ev ery household.
White Paper- Native
- -:,
er
Rights
,
documunalnua atrempted to address
unemployment, iil health and povetty on reserves. Many people argued that
the WhitePaper simply \gnored the realities of reservation living andrather
attempted to assimilate natives. The White Paper proposed the elimination
of the Department of Indian Affairs, Indian Status, traditional rights and
treaty rights.
;
was a prepatyed
Canada and the World
In the 1970's relations between Canada and Britain andthe US changed as
we were beginning to stren glhen our ties to the greater world. legadaar:rd-5uP-Pg
- -,
!969-4l9jMease its forei8n. ajd
geX!4ggncy was created to oversee the
;@ryg-!-?tiq!s.
-nft.r
,
edff
This ai d wenT*drE tftoTroj
the second World War, Canada took \n refugees
Ielected countrier.
form Eastern Europe and following the Vietnam War, Canada admitted about
75OO V\etnamese families. Trudeau had strong feelings about Canada's
fore\gn policy as he believed Canada mutst develop relations with many
countries . Trud,eau's personal diplomacy did much to promote Canada's
\nta,tp on thp rt,ori d sIaqe. It also made him one of the best-known leaders
#'*