I'll just say that more than anything, the differences between the social and political environments in Canada as compared to the US are on account of this man. An incredibly brilliant, passionate and lively politician (which isn't the oxymoron that it now is), Mr. Trudeau advanced Canada socially where Nixon/Ford/Carter/Reagan couldn't in the US. His multifaceted stand against the decentralization of Canada and passionate defence of our nation has yet to be matched. He could kick the FLQ's ass one moment and chat up John Lennon the next. He dated hot girls. And besides, he did goofy stuff and made it look cool.

The reason Canadian signposts give distances in kilometers is because of Trudeau. The reason Canadian cereal boxes are bilingual is because of Trudeau. The reason Canada revised its Constitution and possesses one of the best Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the world is because of Trudeau. The reason Canada is among the world's most prosperous nations and still maintains a strong socialist streak when it comes to looking after its people is because of Trudeau.

With all due respect to Mr. Chretien, Trudeau was Canada's last great statesman, in the true sense of the word. Statesman in the sense he could travel the world and clearly tell the world what Canada was about and why things should be a certain way. Statesman in the sense that even the political enemies of his past are today praising him as a man of conviction and vision, even if their ideologies never did line up.

The world has lost a great figure.

*does a Pirouette in remembrance*

------------------
"...I was just up in Canada, Toronto actually. You know, they really hate you guys [Americans] up there? The funny thing is, they think you hate them back, when in fact, you just couldn't be bothered to care. Now in Ireland, it's a different story. At least we had the common decency to wait until the English invaded before we started hating them. I guess the Canadians are hating you in advance..."
-Irish Comic Ed Byrne on Canada-US relations

yeah, I heard of his death the moment I got home. I did a research project on Pierre Trudeau during my french class...............

Sounds like cause for revolution to me.