The Eighties in America - Salem Press (2009)

gling fifty-five pounds of cocaine (valued at $24 mil-
lion) to the use of communications facility charges
to help finance his failing company. He spent ten
days in jail. In late 1982, the De Lorean Motor Com-
pany went bankrupt after producing approximately
ten thousand cars; the factory was closed on orders
from the British government. Thereafter, De Lorean
spent most of his time preparing for his highly publi-
cized trial.
In mid-August, 1984, Federal District Judge Rob-
ert M. Takasugi dismissed all eight counts against De
Lorean on the grounds that he had been entrapped
by the FBI. In other words, the judge determined that
De Lorean committed only crimes that he had been
persuaded to commit by agents of the government,
crimes that he would not otherwise have committed.
Despite his acquittal, De Lorean was unable to salvage
his highly tarnished image and regain his promi-
nence in business. However, his car, the DMC-12, re-
mained an iconic object of the 1980’s, especially after
it was featured as a time machine in the highly popu-

lar movieBack to the Future(1985). As for De Lorean,

with his legal troubles behind him, he disappeared

from public life during the rest of the 1980’s.

Impact De Lorean was one of very few individuals

who have demonstrated the entrepreneurial spirit

and possessed the wherewithal to start their own au-

tomobile company in modern times. De Lorean, an

automobile-industry trailblazer, risked his reputa-

tion and personal life to save his dream, but in the

end he was unable to save either.

Further Reading

De Lorean, John Z., with Ted Schwarz.DeLorean.

Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1985.

Demott, John S. “Finished: De Lorean Incorporated.”

Time, November 1, 1982.

Joseph C. Santora

See also Back to the Future; Business and the econ-

omy in the United States; Crime; Fads.

Demographics of Canada

Definition The size, composition, and

distribution of the population of Canada

During the 1980’s, Canada experienced an influx of immi-

grants who were neither British nor French. Because the na-

tion had traditionally been split between citizens of British

and French descent, the entr y of significant populations

from Asia, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean greatly

increased national diversity.

In the 1980’s, immigration was the central force in

Canada, driving the growth of both the overall popu-

lation and the labor force. Formal immigration pol-

icy through most of Canada’s history had favored

migrants from Europe and North America, who it

was believed assimilated easily and served the coun-

try’s labor needs most appropriately. Displaced per-

sons and refugees from war-torn Europe were in-

vited to enter the country in limited numbers after

World War II; later, during the Cold War, refugees

immigrated from Hungary (1956), Czechoslovakia

(1968), and other areas of Soviet aggression.

Immigration The Canadian Immigration Act of 1952

limited admission to Canada using discriminatory

criteria, including nationality, lifestyle, and suitabil-

ity to the workforce. Many people circumvented the

The Eighties in America Demographics of Canada
279

John De Lorean speaks at a February 19, 1982, press conference
under a picture of his company’s automobile, the DMC-12.(AP/
Wide World Photos)