When Pierre Trudeau and Margaret Sinclair pulled off a surprise wedding
PM told colleagues in March 1971 he was headed west to go skiing
The news came as a surprise and a delight to the prime minister's colleagues, who thought he was going to B.C. for a bit of skiing.
Pierre Trudeau had, in truth, gone out west for a different reason: to get married to Margaret Sinclair.
"I didn't believe it to begin with," said a smiling External Affairs Minister Mitchell Sharp, talking to reporters in Ottawa on March 5, 1971, which was the day after the wedding. "I was very pleased in the House of Commons today there was such a warm reception to the news."
"This is an essentially private matter and I really admire the prime minister that he can keep his private life quite separate from his official life."
He followed Dief's advice
Former Conservative leader and prime minister John Diefenbaker, who noted he himself had recently marked 30 years of marriage, took credit for Trudeau's decision.
"One's happiness is greatly increased by having a wife to support and to counsel," Diefenbaker, an MP and former prime minister, recalled telling the House of Commons. "If [Trudeau] would follow my advice in that connection he would be amazed at the transition that would take place."
"It's one of the few occasions when the prime minister has accepted my advice."
NDP Leader Tommy Douglas applauded Trudeau's rapid action, joking he was glad it had required neither a government task force nor a white paper first.
"All of us wish him, and his bride, every happiness, and we hope they will enjoy their journey on the sea of matrimony," he added.
News of the surprise marriage was splashed across newspapers the morning after it happened in Vancouver; according to the Globe and Mail, the press had been notified by Trudeau's executive assistant, Gordon Gibson, after the ceremony that took place on the evening of March 4.
CBC reporter Mike McCourt was among members of the media who caught up with the new couple outside a chapel in Whistler, B.C., where they attended a service after a morning of skiing.
"Got a quote for today, sir?" asked someone as Trudeau got into a departing car.
"Oh, fuddle duddle," said the prime minister after a pause, eliciting laughter from the assembled reporters.
Later, as the Trudeaus were boarding their plane back to Ottawa, a reporter had another question.
"Are you anxious to get back to Ottawa, sir?" he asked.
"Not particularly, no," Trudeau replied.
Women 'absolutely delighted'
Sinclair was 22 years old to Trudeau's 51. He was considered "the country's most eligible bachelor," according to the Globe and Mail at the time.
She was the daughter of James Sinclair, a former Liberal MP from B.C. and the federal fisheries minister in the 1950s.
The pair had been engaged for six months, according to the Globe and Mail.
On a Toronto street, a reporter stopped women passing by to ask their impressions of the surprise news.
"She must be an exceptional gal," said one woman.
"She's a little young for him, but that's his affair," said another.
Another woman thought the bride's young age would suit Trudeau's personality.
"He seems to like having a good time and going out, and I think he needs a younger woman for that," she said.
The last word went to a woman in a fur coat with a sense of humour about the whole thing.
"I was just hoping that he would have called me, but he never did."
