Over the span of my lifetime, I have been privileged to witness moments that didn’t merely punctuate Canadian history — they defined it, shaped it, and occasionally saved it from itself.

I remember Pierre Trudeau, standing defiant on those Parliament Hill steps in October 1970, his response to a reporter’s inquiry about the War Measures Act delivered with steely resolve: “Just watch me.” Three words that crystallized both the peril and the audacity of that tumultuous autumn.

Then came late September 1972, when a television set was rolled into our Grade 8 classroom. We watched, scarcely breathing, as Paul Henderson boldly etched himself into immortality, scoring the series-winning goal against the Soviet Union. Given the national unrest of recent years, it was precisely the tonic the country required — a collective exhale, a moment of unadulterated pride.

But Trudeau wasn’t finished with history. In 1982, he didn’t merely sign a document; he liberated our constitutional framework from colonial........

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