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The Coutts Diaries is the most revealing book ever written about Canadian politics

This is a previously unseen view of Pierre Trudeau, one that is sure to alter your opinions of him. It is an unvarnished look inside the government that brought you wage and price controls, the Charter of Rights, and the National Energy Program. And it is a darkly moving account of the life of a senior political staffer.

Then-U.S. president Richard Nixon, left, and then-prime minister of Canada Pierre Trudeau inside the Prime Minister's Office in Centre Block on April 14, 1972.Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Feature

BY DAVID HERLE

December 8, 2025

TORONTO—The Coutts Diaries: Power, Politics and Pierre Trudeau 1973-1981 is the most revealing book ever written about Canadian politics, and one of the most important. This is a previously unseen view of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau—one that is sure to ...

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