The Trudeaus: 45 years of triumphs and tragedies
Bonus: For a look at the Chatelaine covers of the Trudeaus over the years, click here.
Keeping up with the Trudeaus
September 1968: A single man at the helm
The nation was obsessed with the new prime minister, from his bachelor status to his controversial views on topics like sexuality and abortion — and so were we. Chatelaine profiled the enigmatic leader within weeks of his taking office. "Trudeau doesn't sit around with the boys, like many politicians, discussing the day's events over beer. He uses his people as a sounding board.... Rather than talk things over, he tends to think them over.... It is said that he is a very private person, and many of those closest to him claim not to really know him."
June 1969: Putting women first
Pierre Trudeau believed that women should be afforded the same rights as men — and he put the full weight of his office behind the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada. Chatelaine editor Doris Anderson shared his passion for the cause. (Chatelaine published a questionnaire asking what Canadian women wanted from the commission. Although the questionnaire took three hours to complete, the magazine received more than 11,000 responses.) Trudeau stated, "If a woman wants to be a mother of a family, that's perfect, but I wouldn't want to see her obliged to be one. I don't like to see her denied equal opportunity to exploit her creative talents."
June 1971: Pierre and Maggie tie the knot
Pierre Trudeau took on the role of prime minister in 1968 after Lester B. Pearson announced his retirement. Wasting no time, he called a general election for June 1968, from which he emerged victorious, with a majority government. Unbeknownst to the outside world, Pierre was also pursuing a beautiful young woman, only 19, he'd met while vacationing in Tahiti. Three years later, the same woman (now 22) entered a West Vancouver couturier's shop and ordered all new clothing, stating that it must be suitable for a "diplomat's wife." On March 4, 1971 Chatelaine wrote, "[Margaret] picked up her finished wardrobe and that night at 6:30 p.m. walked into the world's spotlight when she married the Prime Minister of Canada."
October 1975: Early signs of trouble
While Pierre was busy winning his third election, Maggie's role became dominated by diapers and bath time. By the end of 1975 she was the mother of three children: Justin, Sacha and Michel. These family portraits may look picture-perfect, but in the article Chatelaine reported on Margaret's stay at the Royal Victoria Hospital's mental health unit in Montreal. "The public and private pressures that had been building up around her suddenly became too much." Her treatment was not kept secret. "She refused the easier route of concealing her problems...and courageously told reporters she was 'under psychiatric care for severe emotional stress.' "
July 1976: Calm before the storm
The Trudeaus often retreated to Harrington Lake in Gatineau Park, Que., to get away from official duties and the media glare. The informal summer residence (Canada's answer to Camp David) was a family favourite. Margaret, who aspired to be a photojournalist, took these candid vacation shots and gave Chatelaine the exclusive rights to print them. They were her first published work, and she wrote the introduction herself: "The boys exult in [this] I have tried with my camera's eye to record the magic of a children's summer."
August 1977: Maggie moves out of 24 Sussex
On May 17, 1977, the PM's office announced that Pierre and Margaret had separated. The release stated that Margaret had pushed for the split, and that "Pierre accepts Margaret's decision with regret, and [they] both pray that their separation will lead to a better relationship between themselves." Their critics were not surprised. As Chatelaine reported, "Margaret tried to deal with the neglect that she felt by trying to separate her life with her husband from his role as the country's leader. 'I didn't marry [him] to be the Prime Minister's wife....' As for being the leading lady in the capital city, she said, 'I abdicate.' " Pierre retained primary custody of the boys.
June 1985: Maggie starts a new life (and family)
Pierre and Margaret finally divorced in 1984. That same year, while Pierre was reportedly romantically involved with Margot Kidder, Margaret married Ottawa real estate developer Fried Kemper. They went on to have two children. In an interview with Chatelaine, Maggie shared her lingering regret about her former husband. "'Pierre had tried to warn me that my marriage to him wouldn't work,' she recalls. 'I wanted it to work so badly. At that age [22], I thought I could do anything. It was so hard to separate. I still wince when I think of it. I not only let Pierre down, I let down the whole country at the same time.... In our own way, we will always love each other.' " Pierre sent her roses on her wedding day.
October 2006: The wife of our future PM?
Pierre and Margaret's eldest son, Justin, co-hosted the Montreal Grand Prix ball with TV host Sophie Grégoire in the summer of 2003. The couple went on their first date several weeks later — and moved in together within four months. Chatelaine caught up with Sophie in 2006, a year after the wedding. "She had her own ambitions. After they were married, Sophie held on to her surname, even though the mark she's made with it professionally has been modest. The name Madame Trudeau, as she is called from time to time, 'weighs on me in the good sense,' she says. 'I feel flattered. My goal is to wear it with integrity.' "
June 2008: In her mother-in-law's footsteps
Thirty-six years after Maggie posed for a Chatelaine cover with Justin as a babe in arms, history repeated itself when Sophie did the same with Xavier. In the early days of parenthood, Sophie shared her experience with us: "Lots of people have told us that when you have a child, nothing else matters. For Justin and me, it's the complete opposite. Everything else matters, even much more. Justin already wants to do everything to save the world, but with Xavier it put's more peace inside us.... He's making us feel stronger." Ella-Grace Margaret, who is named for her grandmother, joined the family in 2009.
November 2010: Maggie looks back
Thirty-three years after her split from Pierre, Margaret wrote a memoir, Changing My Mind, about her life behind closed doors at 24 Sussex. Chatelaine was first to share the intimate details leading up to her breakup with the complex PM. After she spent a very public evening partying with the Rolling Stones in March 1977, "Pierre [was] furious and wretched.... What angered him most, he kept saying, was that I was 'bringing shame to the family name.' We were due to go to the ballet that night, and by the time we stopped arguing my face was blotchy with tears. I assumed that I would stay at home.... But he was adamant:...he wanted me shamed, and I was ashamed. So I went.... After that there was no going back."
October 2012 Maclean's: Justin kicks off his leadership run
As Justin Trudeau sets out to square off against three-term Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper, naysayers are quick to scoff that Pierre's son is riding his coattails. But in October 2012, Maclean's (published, like Chatelaine, by Rogers Media) reported the would-be leader of the Liberal Party saying, "My father's values and vision of this country obviously form everything I have as values and ideals. But this is not the ghost of my father running.... This is me." Now that Justin has won the Liberal leadership in a landslide, collecting nearly 80 percent of the vote, it still remains to be seen if his father's legacy will work for or against him. We await the Trudeau's next chapter.
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