Changes

===FLQ===

===FLQ===

During his first 4 years in power Trudeau faced several politically volatile situations.  The most dramatic was his facing down a home grown terrorist threat of the Front de Liberation du Québec (or the FLQ).  For several years [[Quebec_separatist_movement|separatist]] thoughts were rising in the French-speaking province, and the FLQ decided to remove Quebec from Canada by force.  In October 1970, Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act, for the first and only time in Canadian history.  This gave the state broad powers of arrest and detention in a time of crisis.  When asked how far and how long he would take the measures, Trudeau famously replied "Just watch me".  Although the FLQ kidnappings would end with the death of Quebec cabinet minister Pierre Laporte, the FLQ had its back broken by military presence in the province who arrested only 2 dozen or so radicals.  The general public overwhelmingly supported the emergency powers and the presence of the military in Quebec.  When the crisis was over, Trudeau revoked the powers of the War Measures Act.

During his first 4 years in power Trudeau faced several politically volatile situations.  The most dramatic was his facing down a home grown terrorist threat of the Front de Liberation du Québec (or the FLQ).  For several years [[Quebec_separatist_movement|separatist]] desires were rising in the predominantly French-speaking province, and the FLQ tried to remove Québec from Canada by force.  In October 1970, Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act.  This gave the state broad powers of arrest and detention in a time of crisis.  When asked how far and how long he would take the measures, Trudeau famously replied "Just watch me".  Although the FLQ kidnappings would end with the death of Québec cabinet minister Pierre Laporte, the FLQ had its back broken by military presence in the province who arrested a handful of radicals.  The general public overwhelmingly supported the emergency powers and the presence of the military in Québec.  When the crisis was over, Trudeau revoked the powers of the War Measures Act.

 

===1974 win===

===1974 win===

The Trudeau government was little interested in economic growth, and allowed prosperity give way to stagnation and recession as unemployment and inflation proved intractable. Trudeau was reelected with only a minority government in the 1972 election, in part because of a slowing economy.  In the 1974 election Trudeau won a majority, after ridiculing Conservative economic policies, which he had to adopt himself a year later. The economy performed poorly through the late 1970s and Trudeau lost his first general election to the Conservatives in 1979 under the [[Joe Clark]]<ref> See [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0001651 ''Canadian Encyclopedia'' on Clark]</ref>  Clark's minority government tried to privatize Petro Canada, but soon lost a no-confidence vote.

The Trudeau government was little interested in economic growth, and allowed prosperity give way to stagnation and recession as unemployment and inflation proved intractable. Trudeau was reelected with only a minority government in the 1972 election, in part because of a slowing economy.  In the 1974 election Trudeau won a majority, after ridiculing Conservative economic policies, which he had to adopt himself a year later. The economy performed poorly through the late 1970s and Trudeau lost his first general election to the Conservatives in 1979 under the [[Joe Clark]]<ref> See [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0001651 ''Canadian Encyclopedia'' on Clark]</ref>  Clark's minority government tried to privatize Petro Canada, but soon lost a no-confidence vote.