Canada's current philosophical approach is a far cry from the 1969 attempt by Pierre Trudeau, another former prime minister, to assimilate the country's aboriginals by abolishing separate Indian status and, with it, any right to special treatment by the state.

ECONOMIST: Canada

But a catalogue of his domestic reforms, however important to Canadians, would do little to explain why Pierre Trudeau was seen as an exciting politician by the world at large.

ECONOMIST: Pierre Trudeau