Trudeau's Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Pierre Elliott Trudeau

D.M.L. Farr is professor emeritus of history at Carleton University,
where he taught Canadian political history and the history of Canada’s
external relations.

Of the many books that have been published about Canada’s 15th prime
minister, this latest volume, edited by Andrew Cohen of The Globe and
Mail and political historian J.L. Granatstein, is one of the widest in
its coverage. Its 24 essays about Trudeau and his times are written by
journalists, academics, lawyers, and politicians.

In a collection of this size, some contributions are bound to be better
than others. This historian-reviewer particularly enjoyed Richard
Gwyn’s measured words on how Trudeau promoted a new sense of
Canadianism; Tom Keating’s piece on the continuity and change in
Trudeau’s foreign policy (continuity was more fundamental than
change); Andrew Coyne and Linda McQuaig’s devastating analyses of the
Trudeau administration’s overspending and undercollecting, an
imbalance that left Trudeau’s vaunted central government seriously
weakened; Guy Pratte’s sensible conclusions on Trudeau’s blindness
in savaging the concept of “distinct society” for Quebec; and Bob
Rae on Trudeau as the hedgehog, believing “one big thing”—that
Quebec nationalism was sterile and dangerous.

The editors each contribute an essay. Cohen’s is very supportive of
Trudeau; in his estimation, Trudeau had a clear vision of Canada and, in
“seven tests of will,” out-manoeuvred those who opposed his vision.
Granatstein, confessing that he has changed his mind on Trudeau’s
strong stand in the 1970 FLQ crisis, devotes more space to himself than
to the prime minister; yet Granatstein penitent is as interesting to
read as Granatstein confident.

Contributors who worked most closely with Trudeau have a distinctive
point of view: Secretary Jim Coutts reveals that Trudeau’s spontaneous
gestures were always carefully prepared in advance; colleague Donald
MacDonald informs us that, contrary to the general impression, Trudeau
was never overbearing in Cabinet. (MacDonald also contributes one of the
rare flashes of humor in the volume: referring to Trudeau’s ability to
absorb information rapidly, he adapts and applies the well-known hymn,
“A thousand pages in his sight are but an evening gone.”)

The authors appear to agree that Trudeau’s overriding goal was to
strengthen Canadian unity through establishing a firm respect for the
rights of individual Canadians, and that much of his legislation was
directed toward this purpose. But they fail to explain how a leader who
was so passionately opposed to Quebec nationalism left his province
ready to contemplate independence, the ultimate expression of
nationalism. This is a large question and one that cannot be answered by
looking only at Trudeau. But, it would have been an additional benefit
if some contributors had offered thoughts on the irony of Trudeau and
Quebec nationalism.

The volume includes five pages of editorial cartoons by the late Duncan
Macpherson of the Toronto Star, but no index and no source notes.