The Constant Liberal
Pierre Trudeau, Organized Labour, and the Canadian Social Democratic Left
Challenging interpretations of Pierre Elliott Trudeau as either the founder of a progressive Canada or an unavowed and destructive socialist, this book argues that he was in fact a staunch defender of capitalist values who helped make the country more conservative.
Description
Pierre Elliott Trudeau – radical progressive or unavowed socialist? His legacy remains divisive. The Constant Liberal traces the charismatic politician’s relationship with the left and labour movements throughout his career. Christo Aivalis argues that Trudeau was in fact a consistently classic liberal, driven by individualist and capitalist principles. This comprehensive analysis showcases the interplay between liberalism and democratic socialism that defined Trudeau’s world view – and shaped his use of power. The Constant Liberal suggests that Trudeau’s leftist activity was less a call for social democracy than a warning to fellow liberals that lack of reform could undermine liberal-capitalist social relations.
Reviews
[Aivalis’s] careful re-telling of the historical record provides a useful and interesting narrative which will be of interest to many readers today, and provides considerable fodder for thought as we engage in current political debates.
- Andrew Jackson, Institute of Political Economy, Carleton University
Historians interested in understanding Trudeau or Canada since 1945 will find considerable material to reflect on the major challenges affecting the country during this period.
- Thristan Falconer
The Constant Liberal is a worthy and useful contribution to the considerable body of literature surrounding the life and career of Pierre Elliott Trudeau. It offers a partial corrective to popular perceptions of Trudeau, illustrating the more conservative aspects of his beliefs and thinking in the process. Above all, in drawing from an often neglected body of source material, The Constant Liberal serves as an exposition of a once powerful and influential current of Canadian political thought, now largely tamed or dormant.
- Luke Savage
The author’s highly readable narrative – spanning five decades – focuses on a series of key policy areas and ultimately delivers a thought-provoking social democratic analysis of the politics of Pierre Trudeau. In fact, the book reveals as much about the ideology and politics of the social democratic left as it does about Trudeau.
- Larry Savage, Labour Studies, Brock University
Well-written, intelligently argued, and admirably researched, The Constant Liberal is an important contribution to the international debate about the fate of Western social democracy, the end of the Keynesian consensus, and the meaning of liberalism today.
- John English
This new book by Christo Aivalis…focuses on Trudeau’s political philosophy and how he expressed it in legislation. From that perspective he seems much less a philosopher-king and far more an astute politician who was further to the right than he seemed. Moreover, Aivalis shows how Trudeau paved the way for modern neoliberalism — which he did not much like at all.
- Crawford Kilian
This book is an excellent contribution to the scholarly literature of Canadian political biography, partly because it invites readers to think seriously about its conclusions, regardless of whether or not they agree with them.
- James McHugh, University of Akron