Many hands were responsible in shaping Canada into what it is today. One significant political figure who contributed in this was Pierre Trudeau. Winning a majority government with his Liberals, Trudeau became the 15th Prime Minister of Canada in 1968 (Whitaker 13). Effectively taking advantage of his authority, he helped strengthen Canada as a country, all the while assuring its unity as a nation. He maintained stability between French and English speaking Canadians and recognized Canada's stand globally as an independent country, as he continued to protect the rights and freedoms of all his citizens. All these aspects establish Pierre Trudeau as a positive defining leader who marked his stand in Canadian history. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau …show more content…
In his early years in politics, Trudeau was able to reduce restrictions on divorce by creating the “Divorce Act” (Jalsevac 2000). By doing so, Trudeau was prosperous in liberating those who were unhappy in their marriage, without having them prove any fault in their significant other (Jalsevac 2000). Within that following year, Trudeau also passed on the “Criminal Law Amendment Act”, which decriminalized homosexuality (Antflick 2010). He legalized homosexuality because he believed, “There’s no place for the state in the bedroom of the nation… what’s done in private between adults doesn’t concern the Criminal Code.” (Antflick 2010). This gave all those people who showed affection towards the same gender as themselves a glorious opportunity to express their love without having the law interfere. Last, but foremost, in the year of 1982, Trudeau created the “Charter of Rights and Freedoms”, a legitimate document which guaranteed the protection of a citizen’s legal, democratic, and civil rights (Whitaker 2013). This ensured that Canadians were not constrained in expressing who they really were, which sometimes the fear of judgement or punishment by the society prevented them from doing so before. Pierre Trudeau’s primary goal when becoming Prime Minster was to strive for equality among the civilians. By passing on these various Bills and Acts, he was successful in protecting the rights and freedoms of all Canadian