Position:Home>History> Please help me explain the 3 most influential canadian prime ministers of the 20

Some Canadian Prime Ministers who might be considered-- though these are only in the later half of the 20th century:

Louis St!. Laurent -- Served after WWII and was largely responsible for setting up the huge subsidy infrastructure supporting Quebec industry and agriculture (which still exists in large part today) -- a practice arguably responsible for Quebec industry's inability to compete or indeed exist independently!. (Review the history of Bombardier Corp!. for a horrible example of tax dollars artificially keeping a badly run corporation alive!.)

Brian Mulrooney -- because he was most responsibly for the negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) - without which much of Canada's prosperity over the past 20 years and for the foreseeable future simply would not have happened!.

Pierre Elliott Trudeau was probably the most influential Prime Minister (not always for the good)!. He:

--Forced Canada to "go metric" to meet his vision of aligning Canada more closely with Europe and France and alienating Canada from the US

--"Repatriated" the Canadian Constitution by passing the Constitution Act of 1982 in his determination to sever Canada from all things English!. (Previously Canada had done just fine under the Constitution Act of 1867 which was an act of the British Parliament which brought Canada into being)!.

--Created the Canadian "Charter of Rights and Freedoms" and then stacked the Supreme Court with his hand-picked appointees who over ten years distorted the Charter to be deemed to say things that no rational person would have ever legitimately read into it!.

--Created the National Energy Program which unconstitutionally transferred billions of dollars from western Canada into Quebec and other parts of eastern Canada; destroyed the western economy for fifteen years; bankrupted thousands of Albertans and alienated western Canadians to an extent still simmering today!. (Just watch western separation sentiments arise again as eastern Canada continues to lobby for a "carbon tax" -- just another version of the National Energy Program)

--Used tax dollars to purchase BP Petroleums for about 50% more than its real value, converted it into Petro-Canada, which company was ultimately sold back to the market!.

--Abolished the "red ensign" - a flag that thousands of Canadian troupes had fought and died for in three wars -- again in his determination to sever Canada from all things English!.


Lester B!. Pearson - Prime Minister in the 1960s - was largely responsible for Canadians self-image and world-image as "Peace Makers"!. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace Making!.

John Diefenbaker - served in the 1950s - didn't do a lot of good for Canada but did set us back several generations by his cancellation of the "Avro Arrow" - a fighter jet aircraft developed exclusively in Canada and, at the time, at least 15 years ahead of anything else on the drawing boards Had it gone into production it would have positioned Canada as a world leader in design and production of small jet aircraft!. "Dief the Chief" canceled the program just as they were ready for production and ordered destruction of all of the prototypes built to date!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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