We pretended our little brother was Pierre and we would chase him and kiss the little darling yelling "Pierre!" – G.E. Aubin Manitoba

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Your responses:

First off, I wish to send my condolences to the family, friends and followers of Mr. Trudeau. He was a truly great man and I am deeply saddened to see him pass.

The biggest impact Mr. Trudeau had on me was in 1977. I was eight years old and the Queen came to Canada for her 25th jubilee. My father was stationed at Uplands, and I was attending the base school. I guess, being so close by, the organizers of her arrival wanted children to attend. Our grade two (or three) class walked to the hangar at Uplands where all the dignitaries arrived. After arriving, my friend and I were sat along the red carpet and given a little, paper Canadian flag to wave as the Queen walked by. Being only eight, my young friend and I soon got bored with the wait and began to make little balls with the tar that was set between the concrete blocks of the airfield ramp. We mischievously tossed the tar balls out onto the rug in hopes the Queen would step on one... fun stuff for an eight year old. In any case, we had laid out quite the mine field of tar blobs and were quite excited to see QE II step on one. Eventually the Queen did pass, and she didn't seem to notice the nasty surprise we had prepared for her. I do remember very clearly though, the Prime Minister's glance. He did see our mess, and having noticed our big grins, he grinned back... it was as if he saw the humour in our childish prank and I shall never forget that sly, knowing almost consenting look he gave us.

He was always a boy at heart; a man connected with his inner child and brave enough to express his beliefs. I was only a teen when he departed politics, yet he left an impression on me which will never depart. I guess I'm still looking for that kind of person to vote for... someone honest, passionate and courageous; someone exciting. Perhaps now, after his passing, another flamboyant, intelligent and passionate Canadian may rise to lead us into this new century. I hope Canada has learned from Pierre. We don't have to be quiet and we aren't the "little guy." We are Canadian: strong and free.

He is irreplaceable, he was incredible and he will be always remembered... good bye Mr. Trudeau and thank you.

Michael Wiggins
Orleans, Ontario

Ever since then, we paid more attention to our Prime Minister, got to appreciate what he achieved for all of us in Canada and, if our Bulgarian benefactor had a chance to ask us today we would say, "We knew him a little and we shall miss him a lot!"

Fred Pattje & Geoff Mumford
Nanaimo, British Columbia

During our wait the Prime Minister came out the door with what I assume was his many guards or aids around him. While my friends and I were all watching in awe, this famous man scanned the crowd and much to my dismay at the time, my nervousness of being in the presence of this man caused me to giggle. Picking up on my giggle, and I'm sure my very evident nervousness, Trudeau began walking straight towards me. My giggling ceased and my knees began to shake as he stopped in front of me, looked me in the eye with a very straight face and said "Are you laughing at me?" Feeling that I was about to loose control of my bladder with all of my classmates looking at me, I lowered my eyes to the ground and in a very timid, shaky whisper replied, "No". When no response came to my reply for what felt like an eternity, I raised my eyes to look at this famous man that I knew was still standing in front of me. Much to my relief, the straight face that I had looked away from now held a very large smile and warm eyes. As he reached out his hand and tossed my hair before turning away he said, "Good, because I wouldn't want you laughing at me."

This very brief encounter remains very vivid in my mind. I don't know when it was that I began viewing this encounter with Pierre Trudeau as something special but I know I've recounted this event a number of times. The most recent time being on the evening of Wednesday, September 27th during an conversation with my 12 year old daughter and 20 year old step-daughter as we talked about a very important Canadian who had just passed away.

Sheila Philion
Orleans, Ontario

I saw him only once in real life, and then only briefly. It was at the Abbotsford Airshow and the year was 1969, a time when his greatest battles were still to come. At the time I knew more about airplanes than I did about politics, but it was the height of Trudeaumania and I knew enough about that to want to get a glimpse of the energetic little man whose balding head was occasionally visible through the crowd.

Like so may of us, his appearance on the national scene marked the awakening of our own political consciousness; he taught a callow 14-year-old boy that a country was a living thing that could wither and die if poorly tended.

Once awaked consciousness can never go back to sleep and as if to underline the point on the final day of the air show a stunt plane got halfway through a barrel roll before losing power and slamming into the tarmac, cockpit down. There was a curiously muffled thump and a puff of smoke followed by the howl of sirens, made louder still by the stunned silence of the crowd. The pilot died instantly and while it took as much as an hour to clear the wreckage, before it was gone the skies were dotted with aircraft, darting and flitting, showing off the way only airplanes can.

One of the pilots was gone but the show went on, just as it will now after we finish mourning the passing of a man who none of us, neither friend nor foe, wouldn't have minded feeling like, if only for five minutes of our lives.

In the end it's hard not to imagine what Canada might have looked like if he had not happened along at the time he did. And while his work may yet be undone and the fabric of Canada rent, Pierre Elliott Trudeau will forever be able to look down and find comfort in the knowledge that it didn't happen on his watch.

Ian MacNeill

Walter Tkach
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Not five minutes later the phone rang. The voice on the other line was without a doubt that of Pierre Trudeau. My mother was a huge fan, and I grew up hearing that voice. I passed the phone over the bar, and asked if I could listen in on the extension. He was kind and patient to the man who had obviously been sitting in the pub for a number of hours. It was so wonderful that this important man took time out of his day to return a call to an old family friend. An old family friend who had taken a sad turn in life. An old family friend who spent his days in a Vancouver pub.

When I think of Mr. Trudeau, I always remember this personal kindness.

Kendra Anderson

I nodded to his presence, not daring to speak to the lofty Minister of Justice of Canada, and he nodded back.

A Chev or some ordinary light blue car then pulled up and he opened the passenger door himself while reaching into his pocket and pulling out a crushed sandwich in a plastic bag, obviously not made at the Chateau. He commenced to eat it in the car. I was humbled by the man with such standing in my eyes, at his ability to eat "lunch on the fly" like the rest of us had to do from time to time between meetings.

My career was personally affected by the decisions of Mr. Trudeau as PM. As an anglophone from N.S., I was reluctantly thrust into intensive French language traning, for which I am eternally gratefully, and secondly, by his downsizing of the Pearson-built External Affairs Department whose foreign political reporting function Trudeau thought was better handled by the media.

Mr. Trudeau was admired by me and by Canadian lawyers for his brilliant legal mind and his persuasive ability in communicating and debate. His contribution through the Charter to the importance of individuality, dignity, freedom and equality of the person in this country will be with us forever as will the memory of this great Canadian.

My condolences are extended to the Trudeau family and to his beloved "boys." His loss is being felt by all Canadians.

Respectfully,
Noella Brennan Fisher
Quebec

We thought we would drop in; looking for a party and some excitement. We went in the building, the party was over. I remember standing on at least a foot deep pile of election signs and banners wherever I walked. The centre was empty but I could feel the "electricity" of the events in the buidling that had just past. I knew something special had just taken place! Caught up in the event, I gathered as many posters of Trudeau as I could get and loaded my car to the roof, took them home and put them everywhere!

I have been fortunate to have seen quite a bit of our country and share the view, even today of a need for a strong central government, an independent and nationalistic country.

Oh, how I wish Pierre Elliot Trudeau could have been our Prime Minister through the "erosion" of our country through this period of globalization.

Gregory S. Ingram
Calgary Alberta

I was 15 and living in Nun's Island when I first got a kiss by him amidst the throng of political supporters. I knew I was not alone, but nonetheless-the moment I remember vividly. The memory of his rose, his smile, his candor and outspoken demeanor through which he walked the streets. He was the people's man and he was likable, intelligent and approachable. I was only 15 and knew and cared little about politics. I had canoeing and the Polar regions in common with him.

So, here I was 35 years old, 20 years later and I would again meet him and have the opportunity to tell him how impactful that day was.

I am the First Canadian woman to ski to the South Pole ( 1992-93) and the first Canadian woman to ski across Greenland and King George Island Antarctica.

These feats took me up to the ships in the Arctic and the Antarctic as a lecturer on the history of the Polar regions. Pierre Trudeau was one of the guests on what would be his last journey North. I remember seeing him, extending my arm to him and a "welcome on board" the zodiac.There was that very charismatic smile that I remembered." What a pleasure to meet you Mr. Trudeau" to which he responded " And an extreme pleasure to make your acquaintance."

After my presentation on the South Pole Expedition he invited me to dinner and opened the invitation to 4 people I chose to invite. It was a highly memorable evening for all of us. As I was his guest, he made me feel, for every second of the time in his presence, that I mattered. For this alone he rose above the ranks of what is ordinary today.

The simple gesture of kindness and thoughtfulness and dignity and compassion.

I visited him frequently upon my returns back to Montreal , where I grew up.

We had lunch, talked about family, politics, societies struggles today and what he felt hopeful for. Sometimes we just sat in silence and drifted back to the openness of the North of Greenland and Baffin Island. He gave me the greatest gift one human could extend to another- the gift of time and compassion and caring. He will be remembered by many thousands, by millions. He will be remembered by me for the gentle, caring, intelligent, caring soul that he was and is. He was and is here for "US" ! Let's make him proud. After all, he knows what matters.

God speed Mr. Trudeau.

My candle will burn forever because of your vision and integrity and courage. It is indeed, "up to us."

Love,
The woman from the south
Sunniva Sorby
San Diego, California

Trudeau invited me and so many of my generation to come to Canada and feast on the fruits of freedom, the air of a nation that allows all races and creeds to flourish. Did he invite me personally? Well, not exactly, well maybe… yes he did! He invited the world to see Canada as an alternative to the way many countries see themselves and, in turn, he invited Canadians (and her immigrants) to see Canada and I liked what I saw.

My first memory of Canada was seeing hundreds of kids hitchhiking across the country on highway one, signs held high for their personal goals... Jasper, Halifax, Vancouver and so forth, and it was Trudeau who made the journey a kind of official one by inviting Canadian youth to see the country and to appreciate it. I was enraptured by Trudeau's vision so different from the vision of a country that I just left who was engaged in a war against its own youth to one in Canada that engages its youth with respect. This is the first image that springs to mind when I think of this great man... not just a great leader but a great man. I will think of him as he who invited me to join the Canadian community.

Thank you for being with us for so long, Pierre.

Neil Fiertel

"the eye exists in a natural state. the artist knows know other."
Andre Breton

In March 1982 a dear friend of mine was killed. In May that same year Villeneuve Sr died. Trudeau's comments on his death were, I thought, particularly eloquent and helped me mourn my friend. I've pulled the quote out once more, and wanted to share it.

In May 1982, Trudeau said,

"Fate has determined that we will never again have the opportunity to applaud the achievements of this man who has made us so proud."

Pat Nelson
Vancouver

Six years latter I would write a paper in "Grade 12 Canadian History" dealling with the 3 times in Canada's history that this Act was used. My father and all of our family looked back at that time this week realizing what strong man Trudeau actually was.

In a time where we as Canadians are defending ourselves in saying that we are not passive, I think all we really have to do is look back to 1970's Black October and see when push does came to shove, Trudeau showed us and the all mighty media that, Canadians know when to shove back and not roll over.

Although at 42 I don't share the Liberal views, I'll always hold nothing but the highest respect for the views, the history making decisions and the man Pierre Elliot Trudeau.

Tony McArthur
Amherst Nov Scotia

As a young girl, I worked at the Town of Mount Royal riding office. His campaign organisers were eager to change his image from that of a Bon Vivant to a more serious and somber candidate. They did not want him, for instance, to drive around town campaigning in his little sports car. He would not hear of it or give it up. They also opposed very strongly of him wearing his beret (I believe the beret was from his days at the Sorbonne). He would also not hear of giving it up.

On that particular and memorable day, I went to the campaign office. I was late. Mr Trudeau was already in the inner office. His coat was hanging on the coat hanger. His beret was in the coat pocket. His campaign officer, (his name escapes me now after so many years), accosted me at the door and he said "Venice, you will be the one to hide Mr Trudeau's beret until the end of the elections" I was reluctant and of course afraid…….. being privy to Mr Trudeau's penetrating stare. It was not something that filled me with joy but I did what I was told and took his beloved beret home.

Later, he questioned all of us at the office and we all denied any knowledge of the disappearance of the elusive beret. In the feverish days leading up to the elections, we were so caught up in the excitement that our thoroughbred, who was so reluctant to be harnessed, was going to win, that little was said about the missing beret. On the celebratory night, we were dancing (he was a wonderful dancer) and that was when I decided that it was time for me to confess the whereabouts of his beret. He was elated. A couple of days later, he came by my place on his way to the Laurentians and retrieved it. He was a gentleman. He spent just the right amount of time exchanging pleasantries and we bid each other "au revoir."

As I have spent hours on end watching his passing on TV, I have re-lived my youth and, while mourning him, a little bit of me passed with him. I have thoughts sometimes, what if I had kept the beret? Wouldn't it have been nice to have something so special of him. I wonder now if Justin, Sacha and Mrs Trudeau would have had perhaps the foresight of placing the beret he loved so much on his head.

My husband and my beloved son join me in sending our deepest sympathy and respect to his sons, Justin and Sacha and their mother. May God be with you during these sad times.

Justin or maybe you Sacha one day, fill your father's shoes and revive our passion of one united Canada. Your father gave us a raison d'etre, immeasurable pride as Canadians and joie de vivre.

God Bless!
Venice McMillan
Oakville, Ont

PS. Justin, you moved us today beyond words.
October 3, 2000

Not long afterwards when Pierre became Prime Minister did my Grandmother told me when she was a young woman she went in a row boat with a teenage boy who was acting fresh with her, she had to resort to throwing him overboard. Little did she know at that time what he would become. I found it amusing that my grandmother in her French Canadian Victorian snobbishness referred to his family as neuveau rich. In the seventies at Dawson College I intervied Rene Levesque and found him very similar to P. Trudeau and I thought that they actually fueled each other's fire.

After graduating from Concordia I did not hesitate to leave Quebec and my beloved Montreal were my roots extended back to the 1700's. I could no longer bear the turmoil Quebec was going to leave even though I was french & english. After living in Toronto for over 10 years I had enough of Canada the same issues that are re-hashed over and over again. Now I am getting older and the death of Pierre Elliot Trudeau and other loved ones close to me, makes me feel proud to be from Canada, I could not find hardly any information on the death of Trudeau in the US Media except an excerpt from CNN and Charlie Rose's Interview. You know that when R. Regan passes away the coverage will be massive.

That's what Canadians are like, they really don't need all types of attention like the US, but if there was anybody who served their times and their country in a just and honorable way it would be the "neauveau riche" teen age boy down the street who my grandmother tossed out of the row boat.

God Bless
Richard L.

Trudeau strode down the centre aisle of a packed gymnasium, wearing a leather jacket, accompanied by the theme music from "Rocky." I can feel the electricity of that moment to this day.

After Trudeau's speech, we hustled into the corridor near the front doors, and as the official party approached, our local MP (Liberal, as they always were!) stopped and introduced the prime minister to us. He leaned down to shake my hand – but not as far down as I would've once imagined, for I remember thinking, "He's shorter than he should be!" For you see, I'd thought that he must be a giant.

And in fact he was, and he always will be.

Nancy Crozier-Stoyles
Toronto

The RCMP was worried about his safety so they ushered him outside of the community centre. Yet, he stood in the street in front of the building and spoke with any person who wanted to question him. There he stood in the midst of the citizens of this housing renewal project speaking to them as though he was one of them. For me there stood a man of courage and openness.

Rev. Robert Johnson
Hamilton, Ontario

I am a grandmother now but was young then and his influence on my life was profound.

Lila Kivi
Thunder Bay, ON

Leona Hagan
Goulds, NF

Somehow I managed to get his attention and his laser blue eyes looked into mine and I spontaneously blew him a kiss. He caught my kiss with his hand and held it to his heart and then very slowly and deliberately, blew the kiss back to me. It was one of the most memorable moments of my life and I have always cherished that private moment that lasted only a few seconds. The thing that I cherish most about it was, that I had been watching him on TV for weeks getting mobbed and kissed and he continuously maintained his sense of humour, good nature and patience and I remember feeling so honoured that he still had the energy and time to acknowledge me in such a special way. That was a small part of what endeared this Canadian to this man always.

Jenny Durke
Port McNeill, BC

My memory flew back some 32 years to the day of the St. Jean Batiste celebrations in Montreal. We are Montrealers and were living there at that time. I vividly recall watching with horror as the cameras must have interrupted regular programming to show the riot that had broken out near the reviewing stand where the Prime Minister and invited guests were seated. This event occurred right around the time of the assassination of Robert Kennedy in the United States, another defender of human rights and freedoms. I remember thinking "Oh, no, not again!" when I saw the guests scurrying for cover and Mr. Trudeau stood his ground, sat down and waved the security people away. He was not going to let the separatists have him on the run.

He stood tall and brave in our estimation as he has done many times since that near fateful day – until the death of his dear Michel. That's the love of a father for his son. Today he is with Michel as he no doubt has wanted to be for quite some time. May they both rest in peace for all eternity.

Rosemary French

1965
I am six years old and in grade two of one of the last one room schools in Ontario. Every morning we sing God Save The Queen and someone in a far away town called Ottawa is giving us a new flag. I didn't know the someone else name Trudeau was entering politics. Politics to me was "my father always voted … and therefore I'll vote…" Anyone that wasn't a WASP was a novelty and therefore was entertaining to a small kid. Quebec is where the "frogs" lived and they were a whining group of people that were never satisfied. (My parents wouldn't even see Quebec until Expo 67.)

2000
I am fourty-one and I have a fourteen year old in grade ten and a ten year old in grade five. Both are in French programs. They speak two languages comfortably and can't understand why Quebec would want to separate. They live in a community that is very multiracial and they notice how "similar" everyone is when they visit their grandparents. I am proud of my children's multilingual ability and I proudly fly a Canadian flag (always in excellent condition) every day of the year.

What would snap-shot 2000 look like if there hadn't been Pierre Trudeau, I hate to imagine.

Tom Althouse
Aurora, Ontario

My father, Crawford Douglas was a MP from74-78 and was the whip for the Liberal party during that time. We went to Ottawa to visit when I was about 15 yrs old, and we visited the PM in his office. My younger sister wore a "Kiss me, I'm liberal" button and of course Mr. Trudeau obligingly leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. I was so upset that I didn't wear the button, but I was far too shy back in those days. Mr. Trudeau made us all feel like we were the most important thing in his day – a truly charming and gracious man.

A few years later, my sister tragically died in a car accident. Mr. Trudeau called my parents to express his condolences. After speaking with my father, he asked to speak to my mother, she said he was speechless, he was so wrought with emotion - the only time she felt she had to make conversation with this eloquent politician who never appeared at a loss for words. He made me proud to be a Canadian. I will never forget him. He will be truly missed.

Lori A. Douglas

I wasn't sure of what was going on and my parents were even more unsure of how the October crisis was going to end. It was a bold decision taken by Mr. Trudeau to evoke the war`s measure act and to deploy French speaking military personnel during this conflict. Now a days, myself being in the military, I look back at these events and understand the significance of serving my country. Looking at some of the videos shown by CBC and seeing some clips from the October crisis, I try to imagine what went through the minds of the leaders and soldiers that were on standby at their bases, waiting to be called out. With is passing away, Mr. Trudeau has re-enforced my belief that there is a reason why we send soldiers to Bosnia, Yugo and all the other peace missions across the world.....it is to serve our country, its interests and to continue Mr. Trudeau's dream..... Canada being the best! He was a very powerful canon of the likes that I don`t believe we will ever see again in this country. Adieu Monsieur Trudeau. Vive la différence!

Benoit Blais
Kingston ON

william cochrane

We all left our tables, went up to the glass windows surrounding this elegant edifice, and looked beyond to the vibrant metropolis stretching out before us. The energy generated by what we witnessed that fateful night has always stayed with me. There was a compelling force in the air that literally transformed the whole ambience of the restaurant. It reached out to us in the victorious symbol of a smile, smiles everywhere, from the waiters to young mothers to the men in three piece suits. The musicians played and sang with a palpable renewed vigor. We were experiencing a natural high which spoke to the oneness of the human spirit.

But above all, there was an undeniable feeling that a vital spark that we share as Canadians had somehow broken through. As I recall those smiles that night, it made me realize how much our leader was always a part of us and that his legacy was also ours. Iíve often thought of the awakening sound of those horns when Pierre Elliott Trudeau first became our prime minister - a resounding call heralding a new era. As with Jericho, old walls were tumbling down to be replaced with a “new city”. Through his leadership and inspiration, the legacy of Pierre Elliott Trudeau and of his people is no less than the creation of that new world society which is modern Canada – the greatest nation on earth.

He may no longer be among us but his spirit and his dream, our dream, shall never die. Together, beyond our differences, we shall keep moving forward as Canadians with that spiritual rose in our lapels - forever seeking and nurturing tolerance, justice, compassion and peace.

John Sbragia
Deep Cove
North Vancouver, B.C.

We, of course were in the hunt for a special gift for my Parent's in law. Since, they had been hard core Liberals, we asked Mr.Trudeau for an autographe, and with the only thing we could find to write with, he pencilled a congradulation note on the back of my husband' ski suit, and signed it. It was a remarkable gift, my in Laws were just about in tears and my husband paraded his suit with the well wishes of the Premier on the back. We were so proud of the story we could tell. The fact that Pierre Elliott Trudeau had riden the chair lift with us, and that we were able to ski with him (or may be we rode the lift with him and he skied with us.). He than came over to the local grocery store, where I work, to do his own purchases. I remember him saying, while in the chairlift, that he wished for Michel to return to University. Michel, on the other hand wished to learn more about Mother nature than anything else at that time anyway.

Mr. Trudeau was a simple man in a complicated life and was able to harmonize both I think. There was no arrogance or over powering feeling generated by his presence. I will always thank him for a bilingual country. I was born in Quebec, and my country is Canada.

Thank you for your time, Mr. Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
Sincerely, Celine Forand

Growing up in Quebec during Trudeau's years in office formed my ideas of what Canada is, and what it means to be Canadian. When I was old enough to join the Canadian Forces, I wore my uniform with the pride taught to me by my parents and the passion of Mr. Trudeau.

Now old enough to reflect on his vision for this country and fully understand how I have benefitted from that vision, I pledge to work towards Canada becoming "a just society". God bless you Pierre Elliot Trudeau. You are my hero.

Darryl Ann Donald
Ottawa

In the late '60s, when I was about 10 years of age, I lived in Burnaby, B.C. My mother had Trudeau mania and managed to shake his hand when he landed via helicopter at the Brentwood mall. I learned a great deal about Pierre Elliott Trudeau through my mother. My High School years in southwestern Ontario were dominated by Pierre. Riding the school bus for 45 minutes each morning gave me plenty of time to passionately promote and defend Trudeau against my boyfriend who sang the praises of Bob Stanfield and Joe Clarke. Pierre Trudeau gave my age group a real sense of Canadian pride. Being Canadian was cool. It was reason to be proud. Pierre was still around when I married in 19'79 and when I had my first child in 1980.

I grew up with Pierre. I'm really going to miss him.

Dina McPhee
Corunna, Ontario

We wish you our deepest sympathies. Here is a story about your Dad.

When my husband and I were newlyweds and he still a student at Queen's University in Kingston, your father was offered an honorary degree. He accepted, but requested a meeting with the students. We waited in line on a crisp autumn evening, not unlike those of this past weekend. We were young and full of hope. As we sat on the floor, literally knee-to-back-to-knee, packed into Grant Hall with windows open so those unable to enter (for fire safety reasons) could hear, your Dad talked to us as if we were one-on-one with him. His warmth, energy and hope for our Canada filled the room and our hearts and minds. I will never forgot that evening. I can still hear the chants of the students outside banging on the doors wanting to get in.

I lost my Mom 12 years ago so I know that after the tears, smiles, laughter and memories will follow. I still pause and ask her advice. Your father has taught you well and his guidence will be with you when you need it. God bless and keep you

Skip and Richard Hale
Calabogie, Ontario

I was six years old and I knew the country was crazy about this person. Later, we pretended our little brother was Pierre and we would chase him and kiss the little darling yelling "Pierre!"

Surely Pierre will have angels trying to kiss his now once again youthful cheek.

G.E. Aubin
Manitoba

Lessons were learned by some, as to not to take too lightly the man with the red rose in his lapel. Rest In Peace P.E.T.!

Deepest sympathy to the Trudeau family and friends – may you all be in heaven, one half hour before the devil knows you're there!

Garry R. MacLeod
Edmonton, AB

I grew up in small town Alberta in the heart of Tory country I want Mr. Trudeau's sons especially to know that many people in Alberta respected and admired him. I feel a great sense of loss. Even in retirement I felt that he was still watching out for us.

Au revoir, Pierre.

Geri Cassidy
Calgary, Alberta

When my son was about 16 years, I had to move to a city to take on a new job and my son was going to remain at home on the farm. I was taking my library of books with me and asked my son if he would choose the books he wanted to keep for reference, etc. It did not take him long to choose, he chose a rather large edition of a current French dictionary (he was an Immersion student from kindergarten on), the Bible and a biography of Pierre Elliot Trudeau. I was surprised because this was a teenager born in 1979 and who would not have been conscious of M. Trudeau when he was PM but I was pleased because M. Trudeau was such a wonderful role model for a young Canadian boy.

Both my son and I mourn the loss of M. Trudeau. It is as if we have lost one of the guideposts in our political lives. Will we be able to keep to the path to find our way eventually to that Canada he envisioned and so many of us believe in?

We hope his family finds comfort in knowing how many of us in this country appreciate and will miss the "gifts" he shared for the benefit of all of us.

Mary Rose Boyer (Regina, Sask.)
and Patrick Nelson (Banff, AB.)

When I was in grade five I watched as Joe Clark won the election and my father explained to me what a minority government was. I was confused when, a few months later, there was another election, but then elated when Mr. Trudeau was again our Prime Minister. I didn't care the reasoning behind it, I just wanted everything to go "back to normal". In 1980 when I watched television I again asked my father who this Claude Ryan fellow was and what was "Oui" and "Non" all about. Again he explained to me the current political situation in Canada. I remember thinking "Why is this man I've never heard of representing the "Non" side? Where's the Prime Minister?" Shortly thereafter Mr. Trudeau came to the forefront and a peace filled me. Everything would be fine as long as the Prime Minister was taking care of things.

I watched with childish glee as he gave farmers in western Canada the "one-finger salute" (as it was so dubbed on newscasts) and thought "Good for you! Can't you people see the man is on vacation with his children? Leave him alone." I did not at the time quite realize the ramifications of his actions or how that small reaction would be interpreted by the older generation.

I think that is what makes Trudeau such a man of the people. He governed with such serenity and severity like no other man of our time. He was passionate about his country and its people, not about its politics. There's no doubt he knew how to play the game, but people played the game by his rules, he never played by theirs, and that was most evident on the international stage where Trudeau refused to let Canada be perceived as a second class state.

When I heard of his resignation in 1984, I wasn't overly concerned because the new kid on the block for the Conservatives looked pretty promising. But I remember crying when at the leadership convention Trudeau spoke, again with a passion and ferocity which could never be matched, because it was genuine and from the heart.

When I was at university I decided to go pursue political science, and there is no doubt in my mind that there were two people on this planet that prompted me to do so: my father and the late Pierre Trudeau. In my second year of university, a professor of mine, Dr. Jim Bickerton, loaned me his copy of Federalism and the French Canadians and for that I am truly thankful, for I discovered even more about Pierre Trudeau then I knew from when I was a child. I didn't quite know that he was an intellect or a journalist or an economist. I realized I knew nothing about the man or what his beliefs or thoughts were. I knew him through his partisan politics and after reading this, I realized that he was not partisan in his beliefs. He believed in everyone, and he believed in the greater good for the greatest numbers.

These last few days have shown an outpouring of emotions which is very uncharacteristic of Canadians. I wept more than once as I watched footage of Michel Trudeau's funeral where we saw the leader and hero of a generation as only a father, a man who did not want to lead, but was given the mantle of leadership by the people whom he served so well. The nation cried that day, partly for Michel and partly for our Prime Minister whose sorrow we all felt and whose own soul seemed broken. I cried, and I remember crying for two reasons, for the Trudeau family's loss, and for the Prime Minister who seemed to have aged almost overnight and I thought to myself that it was over. The world will never have another Pierre Trudeau.

Thank you Lord for giving us the opportunity to have him as our Prime Minister, thank you for giving him the privacy and longevity to enjoy his retirement and his sons for as long as he did. But most of all Lord, thank you for his life and the difference it made to Canadians and others around the world. I hope and pray that you will continue to strategically place similar people throughout our history as we continue to move towards a just society.

Sean T. McCann

I tell this story only to mark the fact that Trudeau was there, right at the beginning of my own political awakening. The vision of a United Canada he offered us represented a deeply personal challenge to an adolescent uprooted against her will from the West she loved. Looking back, I see now that the fierce pain of learning to live as an Easterner, a discomfort seemed to go on forever (and in a way has never stopped) was my own version of the challenge Trudeau posed to all of us. He was asking us to live in our own skins and yet also as others with backgrounds and orientations different from our own. He was challenging us to split ourselves, to be both proud of who we were and yet deeply empathetic to others. I learned a different kind of economics there from the kind currently espoused by Mike Harris, Stockwell Day, and their like, an economics of consideration, in which everyone looks out for someone else, and all are taken care of.

The past three decades have asked us to extend that principle beyond anything we could have imagined. For those of us in the English Canada who imbibed Trudeau's dream of a united country, the toughest challenge has been to understand the wishes of our French Canadian countrymen who wish to divorce us. When it looked as if all would be lost, the night of the second Quebec Referendum, it became clearer than ever to many of us that without our French cousins, we would be in danger of snapping back into a state where all that was required of us would be to complacent, provincial, suburban--careful only of the state of our pocketbooks. We would be just that much less likely to tolerate diversity of all kinds, that much less likely to remember that there is so much more to be strived for than the material comfort of our own families. We would be that much less likely to be able to listen to the gratitude of those who have emigrated to our country and found a welcome unavailable elsewhere. (Of all the comments I have heard on the radio and television over the past few days, it has been those of immigrants grateful to Trudeau and our country that have moved me the most.)

When I was a graduate student at Oxford in the late 1970s and early 1980s, I felt a deep pride in being Canadian, and benefited from the respect with which my fellow students, from all over the world, regarded our country. It is impossible to describe the sense of strength and confidence that went with having Trudeau come to London to visit the Queen, to eat her crispy salad, and to reclaim our constitution. I was away for the pain that went with that process back home, and am haunted by images I have seen since of Rene Levesque's stricken face. But I was there to hear the debates in the British Parliament over whether Canada was now "mature enough" to decide her own future. Can there be any doubt that Trudeau did the right thing, by looking over the heads of those in pain and bringing our future home? The great question he has left us with is whether we have what it takes to be worthy of forging a country of which we can all be proud, whatever pain it might cost us as individuals. I pray for the sake of all of us that the answer will be yes.

Patricia Rae
Kingston, Ontario

To me he was the man who named his children with exotic names, not the usual boy names of David or Paul which I, a suburb of steel town girl, would be accustomed to. I remember being in awe that this man who used his middle name would have a pool built inside his house. I also remember being horrified that he would "use the finger" on anyone – only bad people did that.

Actually, I find myself not necessarily taking the death of the former PM hard but the memories that coincide with it. My Grandfather who passed away in 1982 detested Pierre Elliot Trudeau. According to Grampa, Trudeau was a "pinko," a "communist." It wasn't until I was 16 that I took an elective at high school called "People and Politics" that I became aware of the political spectrum. I would tease my Grandfather eg. give him a single rose for his birthday saying it was from his good friend Trudeau. My Grandmother told me how much my Grandfather enjoyed our political discussions. It wasn't until watching "Memoirs" that I understand why perhaps my Grandfather never liked Trudeau. I imagine it was very hard for a steelworker, who grew up on his century old family farm, never completed elementary school as he had to go to work and in his later years worked Christmas' watching the furnaces so that the younger workers could be at home with their families, to identify with a man who came from a privileged background and didn't really "work" until he was into his forties. Afterall, I was the first person in either my father's or mother's families to have a university education.

Another memory of mine would be when I was 10 years old and was talking on the phone with a neighbour who was in the hospital dying of leukemia. He asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I said "I'm going to be the first woman Prime Minister." Perhaps that man with the three names had something to do with my vision and what a young Canadian could aspire to.

Canada has recently lost two of its Giants; the Friendly Giant and the Political Giant.

Brenda Hough Brendon
Stoney Creek, Ontario

What a significant and sad moment for Canada. I will always remember and associate Mr. Trudeau with Joe Clark and Ed Broadbent on Parliament Hill. It was always the three of them on the news and in the newspaper when I was a kid growing up in Aylmer, Quebec, just across the Ottawa River from Parliament Hill. Looking back to April 1982, I am very proud of that 14 year old kid that went and stood on "The Hill" for several hours to witness the signing of our Constitution and Charter of Rights even though he didn't fully understand exactly what that meant or was all about. More than likely it was the anxious expectation of the Queen's presence that may have drawn me there that day but sitting here today, it is the fact that, as he made his way through the crowds afterwards, I was able to shake Mr. Trudeau's hand on a day of such great significance to him that I am most proud of.

Paul Guertin
Sault Ste. Marie, On

"Vote for Rock and Trudeau their the ones for Canada..." or "There's a certain place on Sussex street that has..."

It was an exciting time, but it wasn't the time, it was Pierre Elliot Trudeau with his beliefs, dreams and as the song said..."savoir-faire, the beat of chez Pierre."

Thank-you, adieu, mon ami.

Ann Leroux