... I play the character Gene in the scene which involves reminiscence of a time when Canada opened up to an immigration increase from hitherto non-traditional feeder regions, including the island nations of the West Indies ...
... these substantial waves of immigration are commonly attributed to the leadership and vision of the late Pierre Elliott Trudeau, who passed away a decade ago, leading many to pin the hot-button topic of Canadian multiculturalism squarely on his often rose-adorned lapel ...... the movie scene unfolds and my voice-over segues seamlessly from Gene's wistful memoir into a rallying manifesto from the man himself ..."Canada must be one, Canada must be progressive, and Canada must be a just society!" ... that particular speech being only one of the many memorable legacies of Canada's fifteenth Prime Minister ...
... Canada first came into my Jamaican consciousness in 1967 when my irrepressibly itinerant maternal grandmother felt the urge to get a window on the world by visiting Expo'67 in Montreal ... from then on Canada was on my radar ...
... this timing coincided with the emergence of Trudeau in national politics and pre-figured that fascinating union with the junior Margaret who boosted his fame and bore him three sons ...
... throughout the seventies that same consciousness was fed by a relationship between Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley and Pierre Trudeau who had developed a mutual respect at the influential London School of Economics ...
... both charismatic leaders managed to stake out middle-ground in the Cold War and were less confrontational with Cuban jefe Fidel Castro than the regional giant U.S.A. tended to be ...
... Canada's sense-of-self as a nation has always been linked, like the tides are to the moon, to the prevailing winds in America ...
... there's inevitability to that for multiple reasons, but Trudeau always felt strongly that differences between the two close friends should be as honored as the similarities ...
... many of us who became (new) Canadians during Trudeau's tenure understood and agreed, especially when, at times, interests seemed to conflict ...
... one of the enduring/endearing attributes Trudeau radiated was his moral certitude, he could never be called directionless ...
... that spirit, needless to say, is priceless in a politician ...
... when John Lennon (who'd be seventy today) said, "if all politicians were like Pierre Trudeau there would be world peace," one could appreciate the thinking behind this admittedly utopian pronouncement from the peacenik crusader ...
... Lennon himself, famous Beatle that he was, had his moments of fun-loving frivolity while simultaneously harboring keen social conscience ... Pierre too could play court-jester, adding levity to his day job in the serious world ...
... pirhouetting behind the Queen of England, sliding down bannisters, flashing mischievous middle-fingers or coining phrases like "fuddle duddle" are but a few examples ...
... to her credit, that same English monarch, not readily associated with shenanigans or even amusement, didn't take the Pierre pirhouette as any sort of slight when she inked what was Trudeau's piece de resistance - the hard-fought-for 1982 patriation of The Canadian Constitution ...
... from London to Ottawa, with love ...
... from London to Ottawa, with love ...
... it must be noted in any retrospective on Trudeau that there are those who bristle at the very mention of his name ... as with any politico there's the factor of polarisation to consider ...
... throughout Western Canada for instance, where there is deep-seated resentment at federal expenditure required to maintain official bilingualism, it's easy to spark a barroom brawl by defending Trudeau-era liberalism, and even the concept of hyphenated-nationality and multiculturalism ...
... additionally, in some quarters of Quebec, there is lingering distrust of the part of the Trudeau bloodline that is Anglo ...
... hmmm, maybe there's a lesson in this for Barack Obama ...
... throughout Western Canada for instance, where there is deep-seated resentment at federal expenditure required to maintain official bilingualism, it's easy to spark a barroom brawl by defending Trudeau-era liberalism, and even the concept of hyphenated-nationality and multiculturalism ...
... additionally, in some quarters of Quebec, there is lingering distrust of the part of the Trudeau bloodline that is Anglo ...
... hmmm, maybe there's a lesson in this for Barack Obama ...
... or perhaps the lesson is for eldest son Justin (b. Xmas Day, 1971) now carving his own path in the world of Party Politics ... ... today's landscape is different from his father's so he'll do well to recognize that Pierre-style insouciance may read differently to the contemporary electorate ...
... on the other hand, I suspect he'll also benefit from residual effects of name-association among those who thought fondly of his father and the generations of Canadian voters who are descended from them ...
... after all, if Pierre was like an "extra uncle," then by extension, that makes this guy "cousin" Justin ...
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