Pierre Trudeau Dead, 80

The former Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, has died, aged 80. Trudeau was Liberal Party prime minister from 1968 to 1979 and then again from 1980 to 1984. He died from prostate cancer.

Trudeau was one of the towering political figures of the 1970s, admired by many Australians for his progressive views on matters such as homosexual and abortion law reform. It was not uncommon for Gough Whitlam and Don Dunstan to be cited in association with Trudeau.

Trudeau's government adopted a policy of being more independent of the United States. He led moves to give diplomatic recognition to China in the early 1970s.

Domestically, his governments dealt with the difficult political problem of federal-provincial relations in Canada, notably the Quebec separatist movement.

Trudeau was defeated in 1979 and intended to retire from politics at that point, but was recalled following the collapse of the conservative government. His major achievement in his second stint was the establishment of a new constitution in 1982 which gave Canada complete independence from the British, whilst retaining the Queen as head of state. The constitution also contained a charter of rights.

Trudeau made a late entry into the political arena in his 40s, but quickly rose through the ranks of the Liberal Party. His success was at one stage known as "Trudeau-mania", a term derived from the "beatle-mania" of the 60s. Trudeau, a man of bookish, intellectual inclinations, was generally uncomfortable with his public image, but populist enough to exploit his political charisma in the interests of electoral success.

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