There have been eight. Since the creation of the Order of Canada on July 1, 1967, only two former Prime Ministers have not received it. John Diefenbaker was still an MP at the time of his death in 1979; sitting politicians are ineligible for the honour. Paul Martin stepped down as an MP in 2008; [...]
Archive for the ‘Trudeau’ Category
How many PMs have received the Order of Canada?
Posted in Campbell, Chrétien, Clark, Diefenbaker, Martin, Mulroney, Pearson, St. Laurent, Trudeau, Turner, tagged Brian Mulroney, Canadian Prime Ministers, Gary Schlee, Jean Chrétien, Joe Clark, John Diefenbaker, John Turner, Kim Campbell, Lester B. Pearson, Louis St. Laurent, Paul Martin, Pierre Trudeau on December 7, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Which Prime Ministers were bilingual?
Posted in Borden, Chrétien, Clark, Harper, Laurier, Martin, Mulroney, St. Laurent, Trudeau, tagged Brian Mulroney, Canadian Prime Ministers, Gary Schlee, Jean Chrétien, Joe Clark, Louis St. Laurent, Paul Martin, Pierre Trudeau, Robert Borden, Stephen Harper, Wilfrid Laurier on November 28, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Realistically, there were eight. Four of them were francophones: Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Louis St. Laurent, Pierre Trudeau and Jean Chretien. Four were English: Joe Clark, Brian Mulroney, Paul Martin and Stephen Harper. The PM with the broadest facility for languages was English-speaking Sir Robert Borden who had a working knowledge of French, German, Greek and [...]
Catholics predominant in past 30 years
Posted in Abbott, Bennett, Borden, Bowell, Campbell, Chrétien, Clark, Diefenbaker, Harper, King, Laurier, Macdonald, Mackenzie, Martin, Meighen, Mulroney, Pearson, St. Laurent, Thompson, Trudeau, Tupper, Turner, tagged Alexander Mackenzie, Arthur Meighen, Brian Mulroney, Canadian Prime Ministers, Charles Tupper, Gary Schlee, Jean Chrétien, Joe Clark, John A. Macdonald, John Abbott, John Diefenbaker, John Thompson, John Turner, Kim Campbell, Lester B. Pearson, Louis St. Laurent, Mackenzie Bowell, Paul Martin, Pierre Trudeau, R.B. Bennett, Robert Borden, Stephen Harper, Wilfrid Laurier, William Lyon Mackenzie King on September 30, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Five of the seven Prime Ministers still living are Roman Catholics. Although, historically, most Catholic leaders tended to be French Canadians, that profile began to disappear by the late 1970s. Of the five living Catholic PMs — Joe Clark, John Turner, Brian Mulroney, Jean Chretien and Paul Martin — only one is French Canadian. For [...]
Job preparation is the law
Posted in Abbott, Bennett, Borden, Campbell, Chrétien, Diefenbaker, Laurier, Macdonald, Martin, Meighen, Mulroney, St. Laurent, Thompson, Trudeau, Turner, tagged Arthur Meighen, Brian Mulroney, Canadian Prime Ministers, Gary Schlee, Jean Chrétien, John A. Macdonald, John Abbott, John Diefenbaker, John Thompson, John Turner, Kim Campbell, Louis St. Laurent, Paul Martin, Pierre Trudeau, R.B. Bennett, Robert Borden, Wilfrid Laurier on September 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Interested in being the Canadian Prime Minister? Consider becoming a lawyer. That’s the exactly the kind of job training two-thirds of the country’s leaders had prior to their shift into politics. Prime Ministers called to the bar were Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir John Abbott, Sir John Thompson, Sir WIlfrid Laurier, Sir Robert Borden, Arthur [...]
Quebec garners the most PMs
Posted in Abbott, Chrétien, King, Laurier, Martin, Mulroney, St. Laurent, Trudeau, tagged Brian Mulroney, Canadian Prime Ministers, Gary Schlee, Jean Chrétien, John Abbott, Louis St. Laurent, Paul Martin, Pierre Trudeau, Wilfrid Laurier, William Lyon Mackenzie King on September 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Seven of Canada’s 22 Prime Ministers have represented Quebec while leading the country (Abbott, Laurier, St. Laurent, Trudeau, Mulroney, Chretien and Martin), making it the most fertile ground for leaders since Confederation. Three provinces have had no Prime Ministers serving in Ottawa (New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland), although King was a PEI MP before [...]
Were Canada’s top two French Canadian PMs related?
Posted in Laurier, Trudeau, tagged Canadian Prime Ministers, Gary Schlee, Pierre Trudeau, Wilfrid Laurier on August 19, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Yes they were. Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Pierre Trudeau were seventh cousins once removed. Laurier’s 6-greats grandparents, Gilbert Barbier and Catherine Delavaux, were the 7-greats grandparents of Trudeau. Barbier was part of a group of 12 colonists who arrived in Ville-Marie (Montreal), New France, in 1650. That same year he married Delavaux.
Which cabinet had the most Prime Ministers?
Posted in Abbott, Bowell, Chrétien, Macdonald, Pearson, Thompson, Trudeau, Tupper, Turner, tagged Canadian Prime Ministers, Charles Tupper, Gary Schlee, Jean Chrétien, John A. Macdonald, John Abbott, John Thompson, John Turner, Lester B. Pearson, Mackenzie Bowell, Pierre Trudeau on August 12, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The cabinet of Sir John A. Macdonald in 1987-88 included John Abbott (Without Portfolio), John Thompson (Justice), Mackenzie Bowell (Customs) and Sir Charles Tupper (Finance). The next largest collection of PMs-to-be was in the cabinet of Lester Pearson in 1967-68. They were Pierre Trudeau (Justice), John Turner (Consumer & Corporate Affairs) and Jean Chrétien (Without [...]
Trudeaumania creates election win
Posted in Chrétien, Diefenbaker, Trudeau, Turner, tagged Canadian election, Canadian Prime Ministers, Gary Schlee, Jean Chrétien, John Diefenbaker, John Turner, Pierre Trudeau on June 25, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
1968 — In his first test since becoming Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau wins Canada’s 28th federal election, defeating the Progressive Conservatives under their new leader, Robert Stanfield. Benefiting from a national attack of Trudeaumania, he attracts enough votes to gain majority government status. Other former and future PMs re-elected are John Diefenbaker, John Turner and [...]
LeBlanc: from press secretary to Governor-General
Posted in Chrétien, Pearson, Trudeau, tagged Canadian Prime Ministers, Gary Schlee, Governor-General, Jean Chrétien, Lester B. Pearson, Pierre Trudeau on June 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
2009 — Former Governor-General Roméo LeBlanc dies in Grand-Digue, New Brunswick. Originally recommended by former Prime Minister and cabinet colleague Jean Chrétien in 1995, LeBlanc was the first Speaker of the Senate to become Canada’s vice-regal representative, but not the first politician. Other Governors-General who served as MPs were Roland Michener, Ed Schreyer, Jeanne Sauvé [...]
Canada’s youngest PM takes office
Posted in Clark, Trudeau, tagged Canadian Prime Ministers, Gary Schlee, Joe Clark, Pierre Trudeau on June 4, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
1979 — One day before his fortieth birthday, Joe Clark becomes Canada’s youngest Prime Minister. He had been able to capitalize on the voters’ disenchantment with growing inflation and unemployment under Pierre Trudeau‘s Liberal government. But it won’t be easy for the young PM. His Progressive Conservative party has not been in power for 16 [...]
