Just Society
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Just Society was a rhetorical device used by Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to illustrate his vision for the nation. He first used the term in the 1968 Liberal Party leadership contest, at the height of "Trudeaumania", and it came to be seen as one of his trademark phrases.
Unlike the "Great Society" of US President Lyndon B. Johnson, the label Just Society was not attached to a specific set of reforms, but rather applied to all Trudeau's policies, from official bilingualism to the creation of Charter of Right and Freedoms.
The phrase in now an ingrained part of Canadian political discorse. Those on the social-democratic left consider themselves Trudeau's heirs and vigorously denounce any policy that would harm the Just Society legacy, while the neoliberal right attacks the notion that Trudeau's Canada was more "just" that other eras.
Native leader Harold Cardinal turned the phrase around in his book, The Unjust Society to argue against the assimilation of First Nations into white Canadian society.
[edit] Other uses
Additionally, the concept a just society, is the ideal strived for by advocates of social justice, civil rights, and toleration, of which Trudeau was one. Notable other users of the phrase have included Irish Prime Minister Liam Cosgrave of the Fine Gael party.
