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1.As a young(ish) prime minister, P.E. Trudeau was famously “single and ready to mingle”. In fact, he briefly dated Barbra Streisand in 1970.
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They delighted/shocked the Canadian public when they attended the Winnipeg Ballet on a date.
2.On his arrival in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, Trudeau flipped the bird at three protestors. This gesture is now commonly known as the Trudeau Salute in Canada.
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This 1982 gesture was only caught by one media camera, but there is a wonderful painting of the event.
3.Trudeau was an exceptionally good pianist; he even jammed with the Beatles in 1967 at Quebec City’s Videotron Centre.
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4.On Pierre and Margaret’s 6th wedding anniversary, Margaret partied with the Rolling Stones and even cruised around Toronto in the band’s limo. There was no seventh anniversary as this led to divorce.
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When asked about this event at a mental health conference, Margaret Trudeau quashed the rumours of having affairs, but said she “should have slept with every single one of them.”
5.When asked how far he would go to deal with Quebec terrorist group Front de libération du Québec, Trudeau replied, “Just watch me.” He proceeded to use the War Measures Act to remove basic civil liberties; almost 500 people were arrested without warrants or trials.
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The FLQ had kidnapped two members of the Canadian government during the October Crisis. While controversial, this measure seemed effective against the FLQ. Sadly, kidnapped Pierre LaPorte was murdered before the crisis ended.
6.When Trudeau visited Shawinigan, Quebec, a protestor stood in the prime minister’s way. The prime minister grabbed the man by the neck and threw him to the ground with such force that the man lost a tooth.
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This was actually Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. It’s commonly called the Shawinigan Handshake.
7.Trudeau appeared as a guest star in an episode of Charlie’s Angels, where the Angels foil an attempt to poison the prime minister’s maple syrup.
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8.Trudeau donned a toreador hat and a black cape to watch the 1970 Grey Cup game with Miss Grey Cup. As the pair went to their seats, a quick-witted football fan heckled, “There goes Zorro!”
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This heckle occurred as Trudeau went to sit down with Miss Grey Cup after he did the ceremonial kick (which only went 25 yards).
9.Speaking of the Grey Cup, Trudeau did the ceremonial kickoff in 1968. Amazingly, he smashed a 55-yard kick in a bright yellow zoot suit.
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He flubbed a 5-yard kick even though he practiced several times. He was wearing a typical, boring suit.
10.Trudeau was known for his lively weekend nightlife, going to disco clubs regularly. When CBC News released footage of the PM dancing, it spawned a Canadian dance craze known as “Trudeaumania”.
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Trudeaumania refers to the adoration young people, particularly women, felt for Trudeau.
11.Margaret was only 22 when she married a 51 year old Pierre Trudeau. When interviewed, Margaret’s mother, Kathleen, claimed Trudeau was “a young man at heart.” He was two years older than Kathleen.
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The two married in 1971 in a small, secret ceremony that media initially believed to be a private ski trip.
12.After his first marriage ended in divorce, Trudeau married Elizabeth Taylor in 1986. The marriage only lasted 6 weeks.
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Trudeau never married again, but he did date Deborah Coyne, with whom he had his only daughter.
13.President Nixon called Trudeau an [expletive]hole in conversation with Henry Kissinger. When this became public, Trudeau responded that he’d “been called worse things by better people.”
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Nixon’s insult was recorded in official records. Trudeau recalled this response in his memoirs.
14.Trudeau called the premier of Nova Scotia, Conservative Jeff Dumas, Jeff Dumb-a** several times during a media interview. He insisted it was merely a mispronunciation, despite the fact that the name was French in origin and Trudeau’s first language is French.
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Jeff Dumas is not a Canadian politician.
15.While never proven, it is likely that Soviet spy Gerda Munsinger dated Trudeau for some time in the 1960s. She claimed as much in a CBC interview in 1971, but it seemed most Canadians did not care as Trudeau handily won an election the next year.
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She was involved with a couple Conservative Party politicians during Prime Minister Diefenbaker’s tenure. The Liberal Party and Trudeau weren’t likely involved.
16.Trudeau and Nixon never got along too well. One bright moment for them was when Trudeau called to give Nixon encouragement in a tight spot—the Watergate scandal!
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Nixon and Trudeau never got along well, but Trudeau did encourage him during the scandal. A strangely similar “Canadian Watergate” unfolded a few years later for the Trudeau regime, but it blew over without much political fallout.