Quote:
Originally Posted by MaDMaN_26
I remember a while ago CBC was doing a vote for the 10 most interesting (or something like that) Canadians in history and then they showed a 1 hour biography on that person... I watched the PET one without really intending to and being I was too young to really remember the mortgage crisis of the 80's or the NEP, (plus I was a kid and it was politics - blech) I walked away thinking wow that guy was cool... he had this dynamic personality, was interesting and was treated like a rock star according to that, obviously, extremely biased show on CBC. It wasn't until after when I mentioned it to my parents that I heard about all the bad... and so then I started doing my own reading up on it... and quickly understood I had been mislead. The show did not highlight the bad or even present his legacy with a balanced approach it was pretty much historical propoganda...
Knowing more now I can't see how anyone would consider him to be a good prime minister, memorable? yes. Is it a shame we have not had another person leading this country that Canadians can get excited or passionate about? yes. Was he a good PM? No...
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The thing with Trudeau is that he rarely gets looked at objectively. You have people who either love him or hate him. In all honesty, his legacy is somewhere right in the middle. He wasn't the great PM that many people think that he was (although you don't govern for so long if you don't do some things right), but he wasn't an evil person who calculated ways to destroy Alberta.
Also, rarely does he get judged by people who consider the era and the challenges of the times that he was governing. Governing during the height of the Cold War, during the energy crisis, and during the intense politcal atmosphere of the late 60s and 70s was not easy. What is easy, is looking back now with what is a relatively relaxed (or more experienced) setting and judging him from the perspective we have now.
Of course, this happens with all politicians. Reagan was once considered great during his time, but many of his policies get blasted these days because of how perspectives changed. Unfortunately, you rarely get fair and balanced when looking as politics.