DISQUS

Not To Be Trusted With Knives: Am I going to write a blog posting about P.M.#15, Pierre Trudeau? Just watch me!

  • ian in hamburg · 1 year ago
    Truly a great Canadian.

    I saw him twice in my life in person. First time was as a first-year university student in 1978 when he gave a speech at the UBC Student Union Building. Place was jam-packed. There was this real jerk a row over from us heckling him all through his Q&A. As Trudeau tried to answer a difficult question - what he attributed voter apathy to - the heckler piped up: Selling fear Mr. Prime Minister, selling fear!

    Trudeau burned in to him with: look, if you don't want my answers, don't ask me question, you creep. He was directing his anger at that one heckler, but in a TV ad during the next election, the Tories claimed that Trudeau called ALL college students "creeps."

    Second time I met him was many years later, while skiing in the Eastern Townships - 1992 or 3 I think. He was still a great skier - we got some photos of him for the paper I was working for - Sherbrooke Record.

    Thanks for the look back.
  • Raul · 1 year ago
    Very much a great Canadian. And he has two sons that are SO HOT.
  • Beth · 1 year ago
    @Ian - You are welcome! Did you watch the video? Interesting that the media spun that incident as if Trudeau was calling all college student "creeps" - um, wasn't he a law prof at one point? As if he'd disparage college peeps! Sounds similar to the giving the finger incident in Salmon Arm... from what I read, the protesters were yelling anti-French/anti-Quebec things, but people always talk about it as "Trudeau gave the finger to westerners."

    @Raul - Which son do you think is not hot? Or are you speaking only of Justin & Sasha because Michel has passed away?
  • ian in hamburg · 1 year ago
    That "just watch me" clip is pretty well-known to anyone who's ever watched a documentary on the October Crisis. It was a pivotal moment.

    Trudeau also had his fans from Western Canada - as you can probably tell, I'm one of them. The anti-Trudeau pack is mostly Alberta, which went uninterruped Tory for ages. Trudeau's goal was always a strong federal government to help keep the country breaking apart, which is why he brought in official bilingualism and a break on oil prices for all Canadians. That Albertans didn't like to share doesn't surprise me, but that says more about them than it does about Trudeau.
  • Raul · 1 year ago
    I actually thought Michel was super hot too (all three are hot). I am really saddened that Michel passed away, even if it was a while ago. I don't think any of his family members recovered from it.
  • Sarah · 1 year ago
    I forgot that I had taped the movie for you!!

    Tidbits:


    - Before I really knew about the repressive Duplessis regime, I never really understood what Trudeau did (and why it took him so long to get a job) in his early career. He and people like Jeanne Sauvé were totally blackballed during that period. But did you know that he spent some of that time working for/with the federal civil service?
    - The two living sons were both born on Xmas Day. Michel shared his birthday with me (and Ghandi and Sting).
    - Did I ever tell you that my Aunt Pat ran into Trudeau on a Montreal street in the mid-1980s. She was (still is) a nice looking lady, and Trudeau checked her out and smiled at her. Too funny! Why do I only run into people like John Ba*ird and Dav*id Emmerson?