If last week’s chaos that descended on Ontario schools, their pupils, families, and employees proves anything, it’s how the language of rights can lead to grievous wrongs.

Fifty years ago this month, Pierre Elliott Trudeau took the reins of prime minister, eventually serving more than 15 years at the post and shaping much of today’s Canada (not to mention fathering today’s PM, Justin). From The Catholic Register Archive, in the April 20, 1968 issue, here is a perspective on the man just weeks after he was elected leader of the Liberal Party:

Promises, promises.

OTTAWA – The Canada Summer Jobs attestation controversy has put the charitable status of many organizations at risk, a former Conservative cabinet minister warns.

OTTAWA – The pro-life movement is not going away despite “bubble zones,” advocates vowed on the first day of Ontario’s new law against protests outside abortion clincs.

OTTAWA – Catholic and other employers who refuse to endorse a woman’s right to abortion will be denied funding from a government program intended to create summer employment for youth, according to new guidelines.

In late September I wrote a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in which I expressed dismay at what I called some “very serious” fallacies he continues to spread regarding abortion.