Before he was elected to office, he hitch-hiked across North Africa, swam the Bosporus Strait on a whim, and ran with the bulls in Pamplona -- twice. Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Canada's 15th prime minister, could be called the most colourful of them all.
Trudeau was confident that his informed opinions were good for all Canadians. Not everyone agreed. Suspending civil liberties with the War Measures Act wasn't even his most controversial decision, at least, not to those who are still stuttering mad about his National Energy Program or White Paper on Indian Affairs. From his youth as a backwoods canoeist and political activist, to his retirement from politics and the law, Pierre Trudeau lived a life that was, as he put it, "one long curve, full of turning points."
That long curve is traced in this new biography, with turning points from Pierre Trudeau's home life, his political machinations, and the lifelong love he had for wilderness places. Details come together here in a narrative that shows how he became a citizen of the world.
"What sets a canoeing expedition apart is that it purifies you more rapidly and inescapably than any other travel. Travel a thousand miles by train and you are a brute; peddle five hundred on a bicycle and you remain basically a bourgeois; paddle a hundred in a canoe and you are already a child of nature." With this quote from Trudeau, the focus is set. Like no other biography of Trudeau, this book centres on his love for wilderness places, and how this love affected his life and his time in office. Author Paula Johanson has written extensively on paddlesports for Kayak Yak website and Advanced Elements kayaking website, as well as her sports biography of hockey hero Larry Kwong and forty-two nonfiction books for educational publishers.
Doublejoy Books is proud to present the first in a series called Prime Ministers of Canada. This series of biographies brings together details of the lives of Canada's prime ministers from Confederation through to the twenty-first century. Look to books in this series for a focus on elements and details that are glossed over in most commentaries on these political figures.
A very impartial, realistic and factual take on Pierre Trudeau the man and on his political leadership and policies. A memorable read on a much esteemed Prime Minister of Canada. B. J. Thompson, literary novelist.
History must not be forgotten. Hope his statue's more-than-life-sized. We can teach history, and we should do it well. Heidi Tiedemann Darroch, academic.
On the book series Prime Ministers of Canada:
To know our Prime Ministers is to take some pride in the eclectic collection of individuals and stories that make up our history. Whatever our politics, whatever one may think of individual PMs and their decisions, one recognizes that they are a mirror to their times, a reflection of who we were and where we come from. Those who do not know our history are doomed to believe it boring; those who do know, gain the bragging rights that come from having great and colourful ancestors. - Dr. Robert Runté
