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Although Trudeau built a reputation as a civil libertarian, he also proved willing to use force if reason failed. In 1970 Trudeau became the first Prime Minister in history to invoke Canada's War Measures Act in peacetime, sending the army into the streets of Montreal and Quebec City to deal with terrorist kidnapings by the separatist Front de Libération du Québec By 1975 Trudeau's reputation as a powerful leader had dimmed. In the 1979 election his Liberals lost to the Conservatives; six months later he announced that he was stepping down as Liberal leader, declaring that he "was not the man to rebuild the Liberal Party."
It was a short-lived decision. When the government of Tory Prime Minister Joe Clark fell soon thereafter, the phoenix-like Trudeau was back in power again. In short order he defeated efforts by Quebec Premier René Lévesque to win a referendum on negotiations toward independence for the province. Then, in what may prove to be his most profound achievement, Trudeau overrode powerful opposition from several provincial factions to win a revamping of Canada's constitution, including the addition of a charter of civil rights. More recently, he embarked on a well-meant but unsuccessful campaign to ease East-West tensions, calling for arms reductions and a summit of the nuclear powers.
Those initiatives, however, were not enough to offset voters' growing weariness. In January a Gallup poll found that only 32% of the electorate favored the Liberals, with 52% for Mulroney's Conservatives. After Trudeau's resignation was announced, the Toronto stock market rocketed 16 points. In Washington, where differences of style and ideology with Trudeau have grown pronounced under Ronald Reagan, there were also sighs of relief.
A Liberal Party leadership convention is likely in June. The candidate to beat is John Turner, 54, a bilingual Toronto lawyer and former Finance Minister who has long been mentioned as Trudeau's probable successor. But he will face stiff opposition from other contenders, notably current Minister of Energy Jean Chrétien, 50, an ebullient Quebecker. As the Liberal search for a successor begins, however, some may already be feeling a twinge of nostalgia for the days of Trudeau and roses. —By Kenneth W. Banta.
Reported by John Ferguson/Ottawa