Pierre Elliott Trudeau – radical progressive or unavowed socialist? His legacy remains divisive. Most scholars portray Trudeau’s ties to the left as evidence either of communist affinities or of ideals that led him to found a progressive, modern Canada. The Constant Liberal traces the charismatic politician’s relationship with left and labour movements throughout his career. Christo Aivalis argues that although Trudeau found key influences and friendships on the left, he was in fact a consistently classic liberal, driven by individualist and capitalist principles. While numerous biographies have noted the impact of the left on Trudeau’s intellectual and political development, this comprehensive analysis showcases the interplay between liberalism and democratic socialism that defined his world view – and shaped his effective use of power. The Constant Liberal suggests that Trudeau’s leftist activity was not so much a call for social democracy as a warning to fellow liberals that lack of reform could undermine liberal-capitalist social relations.

CHRISTO AIVALIS is a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow in the department of history at the University of Toronto. His research interests are twentieth-century Canadian labour and political history, and he is the author of The Constant Liberal: Pierre Trudeau, Organized Labour, and the Canadian Social Democratic Left. He lives in Kingston, Ontario.

Christo Aivalis' profile page

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.

The Tyee

[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.

The Broadbent Blog

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.

The Canadian Historical Review

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.

Labour/Le travail, Iss. 82

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.

Histoire sociale/Social History

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.

Literary Review of Canada

"…Aivalis offers a welcome critical look at Trudeau’s policies that cuts through the myth surrounding the man."

Ontario Historical Society Review

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.

American Review of Canadian Studies