What do we mean when we say Trudeau was a visionary? Why did Marshall McLuhan say that Trudeau's image dominated our consciousness? Why, in spite of the spate of books, essays, and programs about Trudeau, do we really no know him yet? As Richard Gywn once said, "He haunts us still." Here, for the first time, is a book that asks instead what it was that haunted Trudeau. Philosopher and visionary B.W. Powe offers us a necessary and profound meditation on the mysteries of his identity. He explores the extraordinary impact Trudeau continues to have on Canada by examining his mystical and spiritual side - which in turn raises questions about our own personal and collective mystic identities. The author met Trudeau when Trudeau was in retirement and they would meet in Montral every few months over lunhc to discuss ideas, family, books, and much else.

Framed by this friendship, Mystic Trudeau is the fascinating exploration of Trudeau as myth and as mythmaker and the effect this great man of Canadian history has had on our national psyche through the power of the media. Among other considerations, it examines the tension between Trudeau's belief in both the rights of the individual and the collective; his idea of transforming Canada into the multicultural society we live in today; Trudeau's uncanny ability to use the media and how the media used him; as well as the unfulfilled destiny of his Just Society, among other topics. A brilliant and inspired book that works on many subtle and surprising levels,Mystic Trudeau is a completely original philosophical examination of an enormously important Canadian public figure.

Bruce W. Powe is a Professor of Humanities at York University. He is the author of a number of influential books including The Solitary Outlaw and A Climate Charged, as well as the novel Outage and a book of poetry The Unsaid Passing.

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