Okay, hi, I need some help on a school project. It's for my civics course. I need to know what people thought of Rene Leveque, Joe Clark, Brian Mulrony, John Diefenbaker, Lester B. Pearson, and Pierre Elliot Trudeau.
Canada in the 50s 60s 70s and 80s
- Thread starter gammashock
- Start date
RE: Canada in the 50s 60s
We loved them, we hated them, we praised them, we ridiculed them. You'll have to be a little more precise gamma.
Diefenbaker gave me a quarter once, in an attempt to buy my father's vote.
A friend of mine got to carry Trudeau's luggage...some kind of honour or something, I guess. I really don't get it, but I'm surprised he didn't steal Pierre's stash.
We loved them, we hated them, we praised them, we ridiculed them. You'll have to be a little more precise gamma.
Diefenbaker gave me a quarter once, in an attempt to buy my father's vote.
A friend of mine got to carry Trudeau's luggage...some kind of honour or something, I guess. I really don't get it, but I'm surprised he didn't steal Pierre's stash.
RE: Canada in the 50s 60s
No, that's just it. I want to hear everything. Anything... Anything at all. At least that's what my teacher said. Anything, if like something as stupid as "he looked weird" or "he smelled funny". Anything at all.
No, that's just it. I want to hear everything. Anything... Anything at all. At least that's what my teacher said. Anything, if like something as stupid as "he looked weird" or "he smelled funny". Anything at all.
gammashock said:
I can give input on Quebec, since that is where I grew up.
When it comes to Quebec, the late Rene Levesque and Robert Bourrassa are probably the two most hated politicians of the last 50 years. Robert Bourrassa introduced bill 22 and Rene Levesque bill 101. Perhaps the one that affected most of us English speaking folks was bill 22. It was the bill that made French the official language in Quebec in 1974, replacing English and French. Bill 101 which came later affected mainly the immigrants, forcing them to attend French schools, so it was a non-issue to most English speakers in Quebec (or Canada). Those English speakers owning businesses were affected since they were now forced to put up French signs. Those two politicians were responsible for changing the political landscape in Quebec for generations to come. The unfortunate result is the constant never-ending language tensions that now exist, particularly in Montreal between the English and French speakers living there.
The late Pierre Elliot Trudeau is another politician who was somewhat not well liked, amungst both English and French speakers in Quebec. He was conflict with the English speakers since he did nothing to stop the Seperatist movement in the 1970's. He wasn't well liked amugnst the French speaking in Quebec (the Seperatists) since he was somewhat against having a French only province. He envisioned a bilingual Canada which probably made him very unpopular in the rest of Canada as well.
Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney both unfortunately gave the Conservative party a bad name. I recall the GST tax was not good for Brian Mulroney.
RE: Canada in the 50s 60s
Okay.
Rene Levesque: Likely one of the best politicans this country ever saw. He was brilliant and eloquent. He even managed to be charismatic in spite of his appearance. Without him, the separatist movement likely would have faltered badly for decades and been relegated to the fringes of politics, possibly even disappeared. It's really too bad that he was on the separatist side of things.
Trudeau: Same category as Levesque, but more charismatic. He was also much more arrogant than anybody in federal politics at the time. Trudeau had no fear of making unpopular decisions and was not one to rule by the polls.
His institution of the War Measures Act in Quebec remains a major black mark on human rights in this country, but he did drag us, kicking and screaming mostly, into the modern age.
Joe Clark: He would have been far better as a back-room policy wonk than as leader of the PCs. The last of the real red tories, he lacked everything that Trudeau had.
Joe has no charisma, when he aspired to arrogance his government fell. Word is that all of the press and most of the politicians were loaded that night. Politics was more fun in the old days.
Clark is a bright boy too. Not in the same league as Trudeau and Levesque, but heads and shoulders above the guys we have now.
Brian Mulroney: A small man with small ideas and a heart full of greed. I know only two people who admit to voting for him the second time around, and only a handful who supported him the first time around.
Mulroney destroyed the Progessive Conservative Party, caused two contitutional crises, led the most corrupt government this country has ever seen, and did his level best to turn Canada into a mini-me of the United States. The FTA and NAFTA remain a travesty to this day...the embodiment of trickle-down economic theory and what a completely failed doctrine it is.
Andem doesn't have enough bandwidth for me to list all of Mulroney's sins. Suffice it to say that if he ever shows up on my doorstep, he'll be lucky to make it back out to the sidewalk in one piece.
John Diefenbaker: If he was around today, he'd be more likely to be sitting with the Liberals than the Conservatives. Some would say he'd be sitting with the NDP, but I doubt it.
He was typical of the Conservatives of his day. About as charismatic as toad and incapable of explaining himself. About the best that can be said of him is that he was possibly better than Stanfield.
Somebody from my family is going to read that and the next time I go back to Saskatchewan they'll crucify me for sport and refuse to give me any beer while I'm spiked up, but Diefenbaker did little and was capable of even less.
Lester B. Pearson. Not much to say. He was brilliant as a cabinet member but pretty much sucked as a leader. Having a minority government forced him to put through some good policies, but there is little indication he would have done so if the situation were different. The Liberals basically ignored him when he retired.
Okay.
Rene Levesque: Likely one of the best politicans this country ever saw. He was brilliant and eloquent. He even managed to be charismatic in spite of his appearance. Without him, the separatist movement likely would have faltered badly for decades and been relegated to the fringes of politics, possibly even disappeared. It's really too bad that he was on the separatist side of things.
Trudeau: Same category as Levesque, but more charismatic. He was also much more arrogant than anybody in federal politics at the time. Trudeau had no fear of making unpopular decisions and was not one to rule by the polls.
His institution of the War Measures Act in Quebec remains a major black mark on human rights in this country, but he did drag us, kicking and screaming mostly, into the modern age.
Joe Clark: He would have been far better as a back-room policy wonk than as leader of the PCs. The last of the real red tories, he lacked everything that Trudeau had.
Joe has no charisma, when he aspired to arrogance his government fell. Word is that all of the press and most of the politicians were loaded that night. Politics was more fun in the old days.
Clark is a bright boy too. Not in the same league as Trudeau and Levesque, but heads and shoulders above the guys we have now.
Brian Mulroney: A small man with small ideas and a heart full of greed. I know only two people who admit to voting for him the second time around, and only a handful who supported him the first time around.
Mulroney destroyed the Progessive Conservative Party, caused two contitutional crises, led the most corrupt government this country has ever seen, and did his level best to turn Canada into a mini-me of the United States. The FTA and NAFTA remain a travesty to this day...the embodiment of trickle-down economic theory and what a completely failed doctrine it is.
Andem doesn't have enough bandwidth for me to list all of Mulroney's sins. Suffice it to say that if he ever shows up on my doorstep, he'll be lucky to make it back out to the sidewalk in one piece.
John Diefenbaker: If he was around today, he'd be more likely to be sitting with the Liberals than the Conservatives. Some would say he'd be sitting with the NDP, but I doubt it.
He was typical of the Conservatives of his day. About as charismatic as toad and incapable of explaining himself. About the best that can be said of him is that he was possibly better than Stanfield.
Somebody from my family is going to read that and the next time I go back to Saskatchewan they'll crucify me for sport and refuse to give me any beer while I'm spiked up, but Diefenbaker did little and was capable of even less.
Lester B. Pearson. Not much to say. He was brilliant as a cabinet member but pretty much sucked as a leader. Having a minority government forced him to put through some good policies, but there is little indication he would have done so if the situation were different. The Liberals basically ignored him when he retired.
Good summary Rev, except you were possibly a little too kind to Mulroney.
There's a book you should read on this, Gammashock. Will Ferguson's Bastards and Boneheads, subtitled "Canada's Glorious Leaders Past and Present." Ferguson's thesis is that all leaders can be divided into the two categories of the title, and he offers Trudeau and Diefenbaker as the archetypes of the bastard and bonehead respectively.
It's a good read purely for entertainment purposes too.
There's a book you should read on this, Gammashock. Will Ferguson's Bastards and Boneheads, subtitled "Canada's Glorious Leaders Past and Present." Ferguson's thesis is that all leaders can be divided into the two categories of the title, and he offers Trudeau and Diefenbaker as the archetypes of the bastard and bonehead respectively.
It's a good read purely for entertainment purposes too.
Nascar_James said:
Levesque is the most loved politican of Québec history. Bourassa is a close second.