Pierre Trudeau's Vision

By Jan
Oct. 2001

Pierre Trudeau was a great man, a great politician. Or at least that�s what I�ve been told. All I knew of Pierre Trudeau before last week was that he was a former Prime Minister of Canada. And I knew he was the PM, then Joe Clark was the PM, and then he was the PM again. I saw that in an encyclopedia in grade six when I was researching the clarinet for a music class project.

Playing trivial Pursuit, the Canadian edition of course, with my family is the only other place where I had ever heard anything about Trudeau. If you get a history question about Canadian politics, chances are the answer is Pierre Trudeau. Sometimes the answer is John Diefenbaker, or maybe Lester Pearson, but if you don�t know the answer, Pierre Trudeau is the man to go with.

So my impression of Pierre Trudeau for the past many years has been a faded memory of a black-outline on orange background drawing from an encyclopedia, and any bits of information that my Dad might tell us during a game of Trivial Pursuit. At this point I saw him as a great man who obviously did a great many things for Canada, but that was about it.

Last week, all that changed. I saw Pierre Trudeau the man, the former PM of Canada. I saw a face, not just a name and some obscured image. As specials and TV shows poured out of the CBC, I sat and watched, and learned just how much Pierre Trudeau really did for this country, and just how his personality changed our nation in the years before I was born, and how much this country loves him so.

In Global Geography class yesterday, we were discussing Pierre Trudeau, and one of his visions for Canada, where we would be proud to live in a country with two official languages, where we would have the opportunity to learn French, or English if we pleased. So there I was, sitting in the class, a French immersion class nonetheless, and my teacher is telling me that I, along with the rest of my classmates, am Pierre Trudeau�s vision. And I was like, �Wow. I�m Pierre Trudeau�s vision.� That meant something to me, as if I was living proof that people can make a difference if they really want to.

I am Pierre Trudeau�s vision. What a statement. Someone that I knew next to nothing about until last week had a vision, and I�m it. I was really inspired by that. And, come to think of it, this vision is all the other kids across Canada, who are learning in French, or English. Kids who are just like me, but are only now learning about the life of this great man who changed Canada. Through us, Pierre Trudeau�s vision will live on. I know he would be proud.