The Forum Research poll found one quarter of Canadians selected Trudeau over every prime minister, going back to Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Lester Pearson in the 1960s, and 14 per cent selected Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.), who came second. Trudeau led the country from 1968 to 1979 and 1980 to 1984.
Former Liberal prime minister Jean Chrétien, the gritty polar opposite to Trudeau who led the country from 1993 to 2003, retiring only a few months before the turbulence of the government sponsorship spending scandal that banished the Liberals into opposition, placed third in the survey, virtually tied with Mr. Harper at 13 per cent.
Mr. Pearson, who won his Nobel Prize as a foreign affairs mandarin and who inspired the creation of the first UN peacekeeping force, placed fourth with 12 per cent, followed by former Progressive Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney, who became one of Canada’s most unpopular prime ministers during his two terms from 1984 to 1993. Eight per cent of the Forum Research respondents ranked Mr. Mulroney as Canada’s best PM.
Former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin, who suffered the consequences of the Liberal Party’s sponsorship affair that took place under Mr. Chrétien’s watch and lasted for barely two years before Mr. Harper defeated him, was selected by four per cent of the respondents, followed by former prime minister Joe Clark, who became prime minister by winning a minority government against Mr. Trudeau in 1979 and then lost power the next year when Mr. Trudeau reversed a decision to retire and came back to defeat Mr. Clark, was last at three per cent.
The Forum Research survey did not include former Liberal prime minister John Turner, who served for only two months before Mr. Mulroney defeated him in 1984, or former Progressive Conservative prime minister Kim Campbell, who likewise was voted out after only three months in office, defeated by the Liberals under Mr. Chrétien.
Ten per cent of the respondents chose “someone else” other than the former PMs on the list of seven, and another 11 per cent said they didn’t know who to select.
“After all these years, he haunts us still,” Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff said. “He may be the most controversial prime minister Canada has ever had, but he remains the standard by which others are judged; Pierre always gets the last pirouette.”
University of Ottawa political science professor Robert Asselin said the poll findings likely reflect awareness of the historic stages Canada went through under Trudeau, including patriation of the Constitution from Great Britain in 1982.
“Trudeau is the architect of modern Canada, the Charter, the Official Languages Act, foreign policy, the openness to Asia, all this things, and his character obviously, his personality was huge, so I’m not surprised,” Prof. Asselin told The Hill Timesin an interview Thursday.
He said the findings are likely significant for Trudeau’s son, new Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.), as he takes on Prime Minister Harper into the next general federal election in 2015.
“That’s a tricky question I guess,” Prof. Asselin said. “Yes and no, in the sense that I think the Trudeau name still resonates; I think it’s fair to say that, especially for older people. When I talk about Pierre Trudeau with my students, they don’t even know who he is, or they have barely heard of him.”
It is the opposite when Justin Trudeau’s name comes up, and the students are keenly aware of who he is, Prof. Asselin said.
“Oh yes,” Prof. Asselin said. “Especially because of his presence in the social media; that’s where they are now. Most people of that age don’t watch TV, don’t read newspapers, they are online all the time.”
Trudeau was in the greatest favour among middle-aged respondents, and those who were least wealthy.
Thirty-five per cent of respondents between the ages of 55 to 64 picked Trudeau, and 34 per cent of those with annual incomes of less than $24,000 selected him.
By region, Trudeau was most popular in Atlantic Canada, where 40 per cent selected him. Prime Minister Harper was most popular in the Prairie provinces, but still the pick of only 27 per cent in his home province of Alberta.
Trudeau, who died in 2000, was also the most popular among women, all education brackets, and all ages.
The interactive voice response telephone survey of 1,525 voting-age Canadians, conducted on June 18, has a margin of error of two per cent in 19 times out of 20.
Original Article
Source: hilltimes.com
Author: TIM NAUMETZ
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