Pierre Trudeau: A Nostalgic Look Back

Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister-designate, will soon return to his childhood home at 24 Sussex Drive. In an earlier era, his father then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau was famous for his quick wit, style and charisma. Here, some memorable moments of his time in office.

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**Originally published in the September 2009 issue of Zoomer magazine

In April 1968, six months after I landed my first job as a photographer, Pierre Elliott Trudeau became prime minister. In June of that year, he made a trip to the Arctic, and I was assigned by The Canadian Press to accompany him, his brother Charles, two aides, an RCMP bodyguard and a CP reporter.

During that first trip, Trudeau became accustomed to me bouncing around with a camera in control that by his actions in front of my lens.

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of Pierre Trudeau, there was a book published that was called Trudeau: Images of Canada’s Passionate Statesman. With it, a commentary from Trudeau’s sons, Justin and Alexandre, the book is a collaboration of The Canadian Press photographers, including Zoomer columnist Peter Bregg.

Bregg, who was there from the beginning, shares his exclusive access and his most memorable moments of the Trudeau era.

Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, dressed in a colorful Indian jacket, delights his wife Margaret at a dance at this village near Montreal, Saturday March 27, 1971. Trudeaus attend a day long maple sugar party as one of their first public appearances since their recent wedding. (CP PHOTO/ Peter Bregg)
Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, dressed in a colorful Indian jacket, delights his wife Margaret at a dance at this village near Montreal, Saturday March 27, 1971. Trudeaus attend a day long maple sugar party as one of their first public appearances since their recent wedding. (CP PHOTO/ Peter Bregg)

Trudeau and his new bride, Margaret, whom he married in March 1971 after they met in Tahiti at Christmas 1967. Here they attended a sugaring-off party in the Eastern Township just weeks after their wedding.

John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono, are in Canada to conduct a crusade for peace, meet with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau Dec.24, 1969 in Ottawa. (CP Photo/Peter Bregg) (Scan from neg)
John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono, are in Canada to conduct a crusade for peace, meet with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau Dec.24, 1969 in Ottawa. (CP Photo/Peter Bregg)
(Scan from neg)

With John Lennon and Yoko Ono in the prime minister’s office in Ottawa. Trudeau met with the couple following their protest bed-in at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal in 1969. All three are looking at me in a room full of photographers because Trudeau told them: “Watch out for this guy,” while pointing in my direction. Lennon said after the meeting that if more leaders were like Trudeau, there would be no more war.

Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau had no trouble keeping himself occupied during a break from a boat trip down the Northwest Territories, Nahanni River, Monday Aug. 4, 1970. (CP PHOTO/ Peter Bregg)
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau had no trouble keeping himself occupied during a break from a boat trip down the Northwest Territories, Nahanni River, Monday Aug. 4, 1970. (CP PHOTO/ Peter Bregg)
Prime MInister Pierre Trudeau in parka and Muskrat hat topped with the head of a Wolverine lands in Ottawa following a six-day tour of the North West Territories. (CP PHOTO/ Peter Bregg)
Prime MInister Pierre Trudeau in parka and Muskrat hat topped with the head of a Wolverine lands in Ottawa following a six-day tour of the North West Territories. (CP PHOTO/ Peter Bregg)

In a fur cap gifted to him during a 1973 Arctic tour to the Northwest Territories. I’ve photographed many world leaders receiving T-shirts, flowers and hats among other things. Usually, the objects were handed off to an aide. Trudeau was one politician who enjoyed getting into the spirit of the event. He wore native headgear, colourful jackets, garlands — whatever was handed to him, especially if it was part of the local culture.

St.Pierre, Aug.3--TRUDEAU'S VISIT--Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau stands before a crowd in Grand Bank, Newfoundland. The Trudeau's made a visit to Newfoundland, during a tour of Canada's eastern provinces. (CP Photo/Peter Bregg) (Scan from neg)
St.Pierre, Aug.3–TRUDEAU’S VISIT–Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau stands before a crowd in Grand Bank, Newfoundland. The Trudeau’s made a visit to Newfoundland, during a tour of Canada’s eastern provinces. (CP Photo/Peter Bregg)
(Scan from neg)

Reaching out to his supporters in Grand Bank, N.L., in 1973. This situation may never be repeated with any other prime minister because, in this photo, there are no aides, press or bodyguards between Trudeau and my camera.

Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau poses for a photo outside the Taj Mahal Jan. 9, 1971. (CP PHOTO/ Peter Bregg)
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau poses for a photo outside the Taj Mahal Jan. 9, 1971. (CP PHOTO/ Peter Bregg)
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, with a garland around his neck and a Hindu greeting symbol in paste on his forhead, rides a camel Jan 12, 1971 in the village of Benares, India, where he dedicated a well. (CP PHOTO/ Peter Bregg)
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, with a garland around his neck and a Hindu greeting symbol in paste on his forhead, rides a camel Jan 12, 1971 in the village of Benares, India, where he dedicated a well. (CP PHOTO/ Peter Bregg)

Riding a camel in a village in India in 1970 during a month-long tour. Trudeau wears garlands given to him by villagers; the tilaka on his forehead symbolizes the third eye associated with many Hindu gods and the idea of meditation and spiritual enlightenment.

U.S. Ambassador W. Walton Butterworth (1903Ð1975) chats with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau at the Governor General's garden party in Ottawa July 1968. Butterworth wore the traditional garb for such events at Rideau Hall for the VIP enclosure. Trudeau having been just elected Prime Minister a month earlier appeared in ascot and tan silk suit. The formal attire gave way to more comfortable clothes in subsequent years at the annual garden party. Butterworth was a career diplomat with a forty-year series of diplomatic posts. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Peter Bregg
U.S. Ambassador W. Walton Butterworth (1903Ð1975) chats with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau at the Governor General’s garden party in Ottawa July 1968. Butterworth wore the traditional garb for such events at Rideau Hall for the VIP enclosure. Trudeau having been just elected Prime Minister a month earlier appeared in ascot and tan silk suit. The formal attire gave way to more comfortable clothes in subsequent years at the annual garden party. Butterworth was a career diplomat with a forty-year series of diplomatic posts. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Peter Bregg

Chatting with U.S. Ambassador W. Walton Butterworth at the Governor General’s garden party in Ottawa in June 1968. The ambassador wears the formal attire for the diplomatic corps while Trudeau showed up in silk suit, open-necked shirt and ascot. Trudeau always managed to set the fashion standard — views on formal attire changed as a result of the PM’s “faux pas.”

Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and wife Margaret enjoy a boat ride on the Li Rover near Guilin, Guangxi China in 1973. (CP PHoto/Peter Bregg)
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and wife Margaret enjoy a boat ride on the Li Rover near Guilin, Guangxi China in 1973. (CP PHoto/Peter Bregg)

An October 1973 boat cruise on the River Li near Guilin, one of China’s scenic tourist cities. This was Trudeau’s first trip to China after the resumption of diplomatic relations following the 1949 revolution that saw Mao Zedong come to power.