For the third consecutive round, Pierre Trudeau finds himself in the most hotly contested battle. This time, John A. MacDonald is his opponent. While I skipped the profiles last weekend due to a labour day getaway, I’m pleased to profile the Trudeau/MacDonald clash today. Remember, you can vote once each day until Tuesday at noon.

Trudeau vs Macdonald

Famous Lines
PET: “Reason over Passion”, “The State has no place in the bedroom of the nation”, “Fuddle-Duddle”
John A: “The public prefers John A. drunk to George Brown sober”,

Reader Comments
PET: “Hey, Macdonald pursued policies harmful to the west too (tariffs and all). At least Trudeau has the Charter going for him.” – BlueGrit.
John A: “I’m not sure about Macdonald vs. Trudeau. The thing is, if you remember Sir John A.’s true record, the corruption in his government, and the principles he had… But I’ll probably still pick him anyway. Major impact and all that.” – The Tiger

Quotes About
PET: “In Pierre Trudeau, Canada has at last produced a political leader worthy of assassination.” -Irving Layton
John A: “Every succeeding prime minister has to be matched against John A. and only a few stand the comparison…Several of them have been better humans than Macdonald, none has been greater.” -Gordon Donaldson

Crowning Glory
PET: Charter of Rights and Freedoms, winning the Referendum
John A: Birth of the nation, CPR

Infamous For…
PET: NEP
John A: CPR scandal

Controversy
PET: The War Measures Act
John A: The hanging of Louis Riel

Lost One Election…
PET: To Joe Clark?
John A: To Alexander Mackenzie?

Bastards and Boneheads Ranking
PET: Bastard Maximus Supremos: “He was never intimidated by anyone. He could have stared down Medusa herself. Shrill provincial premiers, rock-throwing hooligans, angry-voiced Albertans, rabble-rousing separatists: no one was able to shake him. Almost singlehandedly, he moulded the image of Canada into the type of nation he wanted it to become: bilingual, rational, just society based on the ideals of freedom and individual autonomy. In other words, a country just like him.”
John A: A Bastard,Through and Through: “He took bribes. He drank too much. He wrapped himself in the British flag. And when all is said and done, he built this nation of ours. ‘You’ll never die John A!’ the crowds yelled. ‘You’ll never die!’. And they were right.”

Before and After
PET: Made dramatic changes to the criminal code as Justice Minister to modernize Canadian law. Killed Meech following his retirement.
John A: Helped orchestrate the coalition which brought Canada together.

For More Info
Cerberus has some good background here. And, of course, there’s always Wikipedia: PET, John A.