Some things just need to be said...

Saturday, July 02, 2005

A Reflection on Canada Day

Some of us grew up with one Prime Minister. Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Trudeau was a man of vision and determined to bring that vision to a willing nation in 1968.

I was a school boy in 1968 when Trudeaumania stunned Canadians. He was something we had never seen before, a leader that accepted we could have fun, we could be who we are. He turned our country upside down and mixed it up before he righted us with the Constitution and Charter of Rights in 1982.

I was in Miss Graham’s grade four class at Carson Elementary School in Quesnel BC, I could feel the magic in the air as our class joined the crowd anticipating the arrival of Canada’s brightest mega star. He would be speaking here at LeBourdais Park. Had a leader ever been here before, somehow I doubted it.

The town of Quesnel came out in droves to hear the man. He arrived with great pomp and ceremony. “That’s him!” I shouted at Miss Graham. “Can I get his autograph?” She did not know, I retrieved a pen from her and found a scrap of paper which I tore into six pieces and headed toward the people gathering around the subject of my attention. He was leaving, here for 20 minutes and now headed out to the rest of the nation.

I shouted out, “Mr. Trudeau, stop!”

Go to Political Write for the rest of the story ...

Tags: , , , , ,

No comments: