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118-480: The Alberta Agenda letter was written in the wake of the Jean Chrétien 's Liberal government securing its third consecutive majority government in the 2000 Canadian federal election , while the primarily Alberta-based Canadian Alliance 's under Stockwell Day formed the official opposition . On January 24, 2001, former Member of Parliament and future Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper composed

236-466: A "tough guy" trouble-shooter who could handle difficult assignments. Trudeau and his intellectual advisors in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) held Chrétien in contempt as someone who spoke French with a working class accent and whose manners were unpolished, but they appreciated his toughness and ability to get things done. While at Indian Affairs, Chrétien introduced the 1969 White Paper ,

354-539: A Bay Street "big shot" like Turner. The most controversial issue facing Canada during the first half of 1990 was the Meech Lake Accord , a set of proposed constitutional amendments that would have seen a significant devolution of federal powers to the provinces and included a clause that would have recognized Quebec as a " distinct society " within Canada. Chrétien had announced in a January 1990 speech that he

472-552: A Liberal caucus meeting on September 8, 1992, Chrétien declared that "if we had been the government we would not have made this deal", and that only reason to support Charlottetown was that rejecting it would increase support for Quebec separatism. When Mulroney began to lose ground in the polls, Chrétien was the major beneficiary. In preparation for the 1993 election , Chrétien won the right to have final approval over riding nominations and to veto any candidate that displeased him. Chrétien's use of this power caused some protests within

590-697: A boost in the polls after he assumed the premiership in late June 1984 justified asking for Parliament to be dissolved, and for an election to be held in September 1984. Relations between Chrétien and Turner were strained, especially after the Liberals' severe defeat in the 1984 election by the Progressive Conservatives, now led by Brian Mulroney . Chrétien was one of only 17 Liberal MPs elected from Quebec (the party had won 74 out of 75 seats there in 1980), and one of only four elected from

708-460: A brusque manner requests from other ministers for more money for their departments. The 1970s were a time of rapid inflation, and Chrétien often clashed with public sector unions who demanded wage increases. At a time when deficits were rising and the Trudeau government was widely seen as drifting, Chrétien's "tough guy" image won him widespread attention with many in the media presenting him one of

826-456: A chance to make a strong impression on public opinion after a shaky start as leader, reaped a major windfall after Mulroney introduced an unpopular Goods and Services Tax (GST), which Chrétien decided to vigorously oppose. Traditionally in Canada, the government had levied a 13.5% Manufacturer's Sales Tax (MST) paid by manufacturers, who passed on the cost of the tax to consumers in the form of higher prices. Since foreign manufacturers did not pay

944-479: A leadership team comprising John Rae and David Zussman as his policy advisors, his "surrogate son" Jean Carle as his special executive assistant, Warren Kinsella as his media adviser, and George Radwanski as his speech-writer. All members of this leadership team were later to play prominent roles in the Prime Minister's Office during Chrétien's time as Prime Minister. In September 1990, Chrétien, seeing

1062-609: A letter which was signed by six other prominent conservative Albertans and sent to then Premier of Alberta, Ralph Klein. Harper resigned his seat in Parliament in January 1997 largely due to opposition between his conservative principles and Preston Manning 's populism, following his resignation he would be appointed the vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition, and later president. Others who signed

1180-461: A more substantial period of time as the parliamentary secretary to Minister of Finance Mitchell Sharp . Sharp was to serve as Chrétien's mentor and patron, helping him rise through the ranks. In 1967, Chrétien visited western Canada for the first time, which he was curious to see. In Vancouver he declared in a speech about the demands for more powers for Quebec being made by Union Nationale Premier Daniel Johnson that "those who are in favour of

1298-596: A party conference in Aylmer, Quebec , where the Liberals formally disavowed most of the economic nationalism and protectionism of the Pearson-Trudeau years and instead embraced globalization as the cure for the ongoing recession. Reflecting this changed emphasis, the Liberals declared their support for the free trade agreement with the United States, which the party had famously promised to tear up if they won

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1416-458: A politician. I love politics." Crucially, Chrétien did not disband the campaign organization that he founded in 1984, suggesting that his retirement had always been intended to be temporary. In November 1986, when the Liberals held their leadership review, Chrétien attempted to organize against Turner, which led to a bruising battle between factions loyal to the two men. Chrétien used Turner's penchant for heavy drinking to spread rumors that Turner

1534-540: A press conference announcing the White Paper, Chrétien openly clashed with Indian activists with one First Nations woman asking Chrétien, "When did we lose our identity?", to which he replied: "When you signed the treaties", which prompted boos and jeers. Another woman from the Iroquois reserve at Brantford asked Chrétien, "How can you come here and ask us to become citizens, when we were here long before you?", noting

1652-407: A press statement $ 2 billion in cuts without bothering to inform Chrétien beforehand about what he had decided to do, leaving his finance minister looking clueless in the resulting press interview. Chrétien found this experience so humiliating that he seriously considering resigning in protest. Chrétien was especially humiliated by the fact that Chancellor Schmidt was better informed of about what

1770-654: A private boys' school in Joliette . He then attended Séminaire Saint-Joseph de Trois-Rivières . He obtained excellent grades and then studied law at Université Laval , the training ground of the French-Canadian elite. As a student at Trois-Rivières, Chrétien later recalled that his best day at that school was his first day when he attacked without provocation another student taller than himself, leading him to proudly remember that: "I really socked it to him bad. In front of everybody!" Chrétien recalled that his assault

1888-533: A proposal to abolish treaties between Canada and First Nations and related legislation including the Indian Act . Critics charged that the goal was to assimilate First Nations people into the general Canadian population. The paper was widely opposed by First Nations groups, and later abandoned. It was the 1969 White Paper that first brought Chrétien to widespread public attention in English Canada . At

2006-485: A proposed tax that most Canadians hated; consequently, he was initially vague about where he stood on the GST. Only in September 1990, after months of vacillation, did Chrétien finally make up his mind to oppose the GST. Chrétien's decision to oppose the GST in 1990 was taken for reasons of political expediency rather than principle, namely that he needed an issue to oppose the government on that would allow him to connect with

2124-649: A riding outside Montreal . Chrétien was a major focal point of dissatisfaction with Turner, with many polls showing his popularity. His 1985 book, Straight from the Heart , was an instant bestseller that recounted his early life in Shawinigan, his years spent in the House of Commons of Canada as both a member of Parliament and Cabinet minister, and his failed 1984 leadership bid. Chrétien, whose relations with Turner were very poor, resigned his seat and left public life for

2242-625: A right-wing Bay Street snob who was out of touch with ordinary people. Chrétien opposed Turner that the national deficit was not a problem and arguing in a speech, "We have to use the deficit to keep the dignity of our people." Chrétien attracted larger and more enthusiastic crowds than anything that Turner ever managed, but most of the Liberal Party establishment had rallied to Turner when he announced his candidacy in March 1984, which proved to be an insurmountable handicap for Chrétien. Chrétien

2360-599: A second consecutive majority government , campaigning in favour of a free trade agreement with the United States . Having lost a second straight general election, Turner announced his resignation as Liberal leader in 1989, triggering the June 1990 Liberal leadership election in Calgary . At a press conference in Ottawa on January 23, 1990, Chrétien declared that he would run for the Liberal Party leadership and proudly stated that

2478-408: A series of austerity budgets which included major cuts to healthcare funding transfers to the provinces as well as cuts to welfare programs, his government produced the first budget surplus in nearly 30 years; the latter half of Chrétien's tenure saw consecutive budget surpluses which were used to fund tax cuts and pay down government debt . In national unity issues, Chrétien was strongly opposed to

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2596-401: A series of speeches would cause a bloody "revolution". Chrétien had personally chosen the target of reducing the deficit to 3 percent of GDP as it made the Liberals seemed fiscally responsible while at the same time promised that the Liberals would not inflict too much economic pain to achieve that fiscal responsibility. One Liberal candidate Herb Dhaliwal recalled that for Chrétien at time of

2714-680: A significant role in the debates leading to the patriation of the Constitution of Canada in 1982. On September 28, 1981, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government could patriate the British North America Acts without the consent of the provinces, but also ruled this would be "odious". Chrétien informed the premiers opposing patriation that Ottawa would unilaterally patriate the Constitution, but

2832-682: A special status [for Quebec] are often separatists who don't want to admit they are separatists", which caused an uproar in Quebec, with Johnson saying he just wanted more powers for Quebec, not independence. When the French President Charles de Gaulle in a speech during his visit to Montreal said " Vive le Québec libre ! " ("Long Live A Free Quebec!") and compared the Quiet Revolution to the Liberation of France from

2950-462: A time. On February 27, 1986, Chrétien, accompanied by his special executive assistant Jean Carle , went to Turner's office to hand in his resignation. Turner forced Chrétien to wait a considerable period of time during which Carle broke down in tears, and Chrétien was visibly angry when Turner finally received them, making for a tense and barely civil meeting. Chrétien's resignation was largely motivated by his desire to better organize against Turner in

3068-401: A united party into the coming general election , and so asked Chrétien what terms he would accept. Chrétien, angry about losing the leadership race, asked for terms he knew Turner could never give him, demanding to be appointed Quebec lieutenant , with control of patronage and organization in Quebec. However, Turner had already promised the position to André Ouellet in exchange for support in

3186-680: A young man with his hero, Sir Wilfrid Laurier . The local parish priest, Father Auger, a supporter of the Union Nationale who hated all Liberals as "ungodly", spread malicious rumours about the Liberal Chrétien family, saying he would never let a teenage girl go on a date unchaperoned with any of the Chrétien boys, which caused the young Jean Chrétien to have troubled relations with the Catholic church. During World War II ,

3304-558: Is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. Born and raised in Shawinigan Falls , Quebec , Chrétien is a law graduate from Université Laval . A Liberal , he was first elected to the House of Commons in 1963 . He served in various cabinet posts under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau , most prominently as minister of Indian affairs and northern development , president of

3422-419: Is the neuroendocrinology researcher Michel Chrétien . The working-class Chrétien family was poor, and Chrétien had to wear clothing that had been worn by his siblings as his parents were too indigent to buy new clothing for him. Chrétien's parents wanted their children to escape a working-class life in Shawinigan by attending a classical college , which was the only way one could attend university in Quebec at

3540-462: Is traditional practice when a newly elected party leader does not have a seat in the Commons. Initially, Chrétien had planned to wait until the next general election before running, but was advised by Herb Gray that: "To have credibility, you're got to be in the House. You can't afford to wait two more years until a general election." Gray's appeal changed Chrétien's mind about when to seek a seat in

3658-790: The Pest Control Products Act , and the Species At Risk Act . In foreign policy, Chrétien ordered Canadian military intervention during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia and the War in Afghanistan but opposed participation in the Iraq War . Although his popularity and that of the Liberal Party were seemingly unchallenged for three consecutive federal elections, he became subject to various political controversies. He

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3776-609: The 1980 Canadian federal election in February. Trudeau had originally resigned the Liberal leadership after his 1979 election loss, but no leadership election had taken place to choose his successor before the fall of the Clark government; this allowed him to rescind his resignation and lead the Liberals to victory with a majority government. Trudeau appointed Chrétien as Minister of Justice and Attorney General . In this role, Chrétien

3894-536: The Nazis , Chrétien in a cabinet meeting demanded that the government order de Gaulle to leave Canada. Chrétien was appointed minister without portfolio in April 1967 and then minister of national revenue in January 1968, making him a junior minister in the cabinet. During the 1968 Liberal leadership race , Chrétien fought hard on behalf of his mentor Sharp, who aspired to lead the Liberal Party. When Sharp withdrew from

4012-661: The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and reform the unemployment insurance system. The Liberals were in favour of a free trade agreement for North America in principle, but accused Mulroney of having given away too much to the Americans and Mexicans when he signed NAFTA in 1992, and stated that the Liberal government would renegotiate NAFTA on more favourable terms to Canada within six months of taking office. Failing that, Chrétien promised that Canada would renounce NAFTA. The main emphasis

4130-699: The Northwest Territories . As Indian Affairs minister, Chrétien fell in love with the far north of Canada, whose beauty moved him, and he vacationed in the north every summer during his time while holding the Indian Affairs portfolio. During the October Crisis of 1970, Chrétien told Trudeau to "act now, explain later", when Trudeau was hesitant to invoke the War Measures Act . Eighty-five percent of Canadians agreed with

4248-674: The Quebec sovereignty movement . He won a narrow victory as leader of the federalist camp in the 1995 Quebec referendum , and then pioneered the Clarity Act to avoid ambiguity in future referendum questions. His government also established the long-gun registry , advanced the Youth Criminal Justice Act , and laid the groundwork to legalize same-sex marriage . He implemented several major environmental laws, including an updated Canadian Environmental Protection Act ,

4366-636: The leadership review , which was due in the fall of 1986. Now working in the private sector again, Chrétien sat on the boards of several corporations, including the Power Corporation of Canada subsidiary Consolidated Bathurst, the Toronto-Dominion Bank , and the Brick Warehouse Corporation . Chrétien professed to be retired from politics, but he told reporters within days of his retirement, "I will always be

4484-478: The non committee, about the best course to follow, with Ryan favouring a more Quebec nationalist message as opposed to Chrétien's unabashed Canadian nationalist message. Chrétien delivered an average of six or seven speeches a day during the 1980 referendum all across Quebec and always managed to work in a local reference in every speech. Chrétien also served as minister of state for social development and minister responsible for constitutional negotiations, playing

4602-406: The "little guy from Shawinigan". In his youth he suffered from an attack of Bell's palsy , permanently leaving one side of his face partially paralyzed. Chrétien used this in his first Liberal leadership campaign, saying that he was "One politician who didn't talk out of both sides of his mouth." He is also deaf in one ear. On September 10, 1957, he married Aline Chaîné , whom he had met when he

4720-596: The 1988 election; instead, Mulroney was now denounced for not going far enough in opening up the economy by signing more free trade agreements with other nations. Chrétien revealed himself to be a staunch "hard federalist" favouring a strong federal government at the expense of the provinces, much along the same lines as his predecessor Trudeau. However, unlike Trudeau, Chrétien supported the Charlottetown Accord of August 1992, another package of constitutional amendments which proposed devolving federal powers to

4838-486: The 1993 election that the national deficit was not a major issue and that: "His attitude was that the deficit is ok as long as you can manage it". 1984 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election Pierre Trudeau John Turner The 1984 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election was called for June 16, 1984, to replace retiring Liberal leader and sitting Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau . The convention elected former Finance Minister John Turner , who at

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4956-458: The Canadian nationalist Wellie Chrétien had attracted much public disapproval by being a staunch supporter of the war effort, and especially by being one of the few French-Canadians in Shawinigan willing to publicly support sending the conscripts (known as "Zombies") to fight overseas. Under the 1940 National Resources Mobilization Act , the federal government could conscript Canadians only for

5074-409: The Catholic church, the local priest in Shawinigan, Father Auger, refused to marry Chrétien in his church, saying only bleus (blues, i.e. Union Nationale supporters) were welcome in his church and rouges (reds, i.e. Liberals) were not. Chrétien practised law at the Shawinigan firm of Alexandre Gélinas and Joe Lafond until he was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada as a Liberal from

5192-533: The Chrétien family were excluded because of Wellie Chrétien's support for the war. The Union Nationale Premier Maurice Duplessis had been an outspoken opponent of Canadian participation in World War II. Until 1964, Quebec had no public schools, and Chrétien was educated in Catholic schools. Chrétien disliked the Catholic priests who educated him and in turn was disliked by them with one of Chrétien's former teachers, Father François Lanoue, recalling that Chrétien

5310-589: The Crown had granted the Grand River valley to Joseph Brant in 1784, to which Chrétien had no reply. Cree activist Harold Cardinal attacked Chrétien and Trudeau for the White Paper in his bestselling 1969 book The Unjust Society , accusing them of " cultural genocide " against the First Nations. To counteract such criticism, Chrétien adopted an Inuit boy from a local orphanage during a 1970 visit to

5428-443: The House of Commons. For much of 1991–92, Chrétien found himself emotionally exhausted after his adopted son Michel was charged with kidnapping, rape, and sodomy against a Montreal woman and was convicted. Michel Chrétien suffered from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and had a long history of legal trouble. In October 1991, Chrétien first expressed his views about how best to end the recession which had begun in 1990 , arguing that

5546-491: The Liberals and leader of the Opposition in 1990 , returning to politics after briefly working in the private sector. In the 1993 federal election , Chrétien led the Liberals to a strong majority government before leading the party to two additional majorities in 1997 and 2000 . Chrétien became prime minister at a time when Canada was on the brink of a debt crisis as a result of a ballooning budget deficit . After

5664-518: The MST, however, this placed Canadian companies at a competitive disadvantage in their home market. To compensate, the government had levied tariffs on manufactured imports to maintain a level playing field. When the free trade agreement with the United States came into effect in 1989, the government could no longer levy tariffs on American imports, leading to furious complaints from Canadian industry about having to compete with American companies who did not pay

5782-482: The MST. To save Canadian industry and the jobs of those Canadians employed in manufacturing from being destroyed by American competition, the Mulroney government decided in late 1989 to abolish the MST and replace it with the GST, whose 7% costs would be borne by consumers. On the proposed GST, Chrétien was torn between his belief that the tax was economically necessary and his desire to score political points by opposing

5900-473: The NEP helped to confirm his disdain for provincial politicians, whom he saw as petty people only interested in their own provinces at the expense of the nation. After Trudeau announced his retirement as Prime Minister and Liberal Party leader in early 1984, Chrétien was one of the candidates seeking to replace him as leader. The experience was a hard one for Chrétien, as many of his longtime Cabinet allies supported

6018-525: The Prime Minister over the calling of an early election. As the last general election had been held in February 1980, the next general election could be held no later than February 1985. Chrétien advised Turner not to ask the Governor General to dissolve Parliament, but to instead keep it in session during the fall of 1984 to give the government a record to run on in a winter election in early 1985. Turner disregarded Chrétien's advice, believing that

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6136-413: The Quebec youth were "hotheads" whom nobody could control. Privately, Chrétien was deeply enraged by the incident, claimed that the delegates shouting vendu at him were actually Martin supporters from Toronto, and charged that their poor French had betrayed that they had not been from Quebec. Martin denied involvement in "coordinating" any response from the floor or a similar outburst by his supporters at

6254-476: The Reform Party who Chrétien claimed wanted to eliminate the deficit within two or three years by gutting social programs with no thought for any suffering that this might cause. Chrétien claimed in his campaign speeches that Reform's plans for eliminating the deficit within two or three years of taking office would cause at least a 25 percent unemployment rate, if not higher, which Chrétien claimed starkly in

6372-522: The Treasury Board , minister of finance , and minister of justice . He ran unsuccessfully for the leadership of the Liberal Party in 1984 , losing to John Turner . Chrétien served as deputy prime minister in Turner's short-lived government which would be defeated in the 1984 federal election . After Turner led the Liberals to their second defeat at the polls in 1988 , Chrétien became leader of

6490-605: The United States where the judges reign according to their so-called philosophy. That is not the tradition here." All of the English-speaking premiers accepted the compromise of Section 33, but Quebec Premier René Lévesque did not. Chrétien's role in the dealings would not be forgotten in his native province of Quebec (although the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Quebec was bound by it). One of Trudeau's aides, Barry Strayer , later said about Chrétien's role in

6608-423: The accord. Photographs of Chrétien embracing Newfoundland Premier Clyde Wells , a prominent opponent of Meech Lake, at the convention attracted much negative comment in Quebec. His leadership was also shaken by the defection of francophone MPs (and Martin loyalists) Jean Lapierre and Gilles Rocheleau from the caucus to the new Bloc Québécois (BQ); Lapierre and Rocheleau contended that they could not serve under

6726-568: The answer was a policy of slow devaluation in which the dollar would be allowed to decline against other major world currencies; this would have the effect of both pricing out foreign imports and, by giving Canadian firms a competitive advantage in world markets, boosting exports. However, Chrétien concluded that his planned export offensive powered by a low dollar would come to nothing if other nations maintained tariffs to keep Canadian goods out of their markets. In order to make his plans to export Canada back into prosperity work, Chrétien decided that

6844-555: The anti-Meech Lake Chrétien. In a by-election for Laurier—Sainte-Marie on August 13, 1990, the Bloc's Gilles Duceppe badly defeated Chrétien's hand-picked candidate Denis Coderre , costing the Liberals a constituency they had held since 1917; many attributed this to Chrétien's opposition to the Meech Lake Accord. Upon becoming Liberal leader, Chrétien appointed his friend Eddie Goldenberg as his chief of staff, and formed

6962-409: The bid of John Turner , who was viewed as more electable, much to Chrétien's intense disappointment. During the leadership race in the spring of 1984, Chrétien ran as the defender of the Trudeau era and promised to continue all of Trudeau's policies, unlike Turner, who promised a break with Trudeau. During the leadership race, Chrétien presented himself as a folksy leftish populist and mocked Turner as

7080-444: The classics, philosophy, and French. When Chrétien graduated from Séminaire Saint-Joseph, Duplessis came to address the class and upon meeting Chrétien asked him if his grandfather was François Chrétien, who once served as mayor of St-Étiene-des-Grès, and if his father was Wellie Chrétien. Upon receiving affirmative answers to both questions, the premier said with disgust, "Then you're a damn rouge ". Later at Laval, Chrétien protested

7198-590: The clear front-runner compared to Martin's 500 delegates. A key moment in the leadership contest took place at an all-candidates debate in Montreal on June 2, 1990. The discussion quickly turned to the Meech Lake Accord, which had emerged as the major policy issue dividing Chrétien and Martin. Martin attempted to force Chrétien to abandon his nuanced position on Meech Lake and speak out either for or against it, saying that Chrétien's position of opposing Meech Lake as it was, but being willing to support it with amendments,

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7316-498: The compromise of Section 33 , the so-called "notwithstanding clause", allowing Parliament and provincial legislatures to overrule the courts in Charter cases. Chrétien remembered that Trudeau "hated" the idea of Section 33 and that he had to tell him: "Pierre, if you don't take the notwithstanding clause, you don't have the Charter." Trudeau only accepted Section 33 when Ontario Premier Bill Davis , one of only two premiers supporting

7434-553: The constitutional battle: "He was able to contemplate compromises that Trudeau would not have been able to. Everybody saw him as a honest broker. Without him you could argue it would not have happened." In 1982, Chrétien was appointed Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources , putting him in charge of enforcing the National Energy Program (NEP), which helped to make him a hated figure in Alberta. Chrétien himself

7552-403: The constitutional right to be a "distinct society" would mean that Quebec could quite legally start to expel its anglophone minority. Chrétien's proposed amendments would have meant that the constitution would have recognized Quebec as a "distinct society" but effectively gutted any attempt to use that to grant any special powers to Quebec. In private, Chrétien opposed Meech Lake, but as the accord

7670-408: The convention. Ultimately, Chrétien defeated Martin for the leadership on the first and only ballot, but his position on Meech Lake had irreversibly damaged his reputation in his home province. As Chrétien's leadership victory occurred on June 23, 1990 – the same day that the Meech Lake Accord failed to gain ratification – he was heavily criticized in the Quebec media for his opposition to

7788-410: The day would be remembered as the beginning of the "Chrétien era" in Canada. Chrétien's principal opponent in the contest, Paul Martin , was generally seen as the ideological heir to Turner, while Chrétien was seen to be the ideological heir to Trudeau. The fact that most of the Liberals who had supported Turner in the 1980s supported Martin in 1990 confirmed Chrétien's disdain for Martin, whom he saw as

7906-485: The defence of Canada, and until late 1944, only volunteers went to fight overseas. In 1940s Quebec, where many French-Canadians were opposed to Canada fighting in the war, and especially to sending the "Zombies" overseas, this made Wellie Chrétien and his family outcasts. Furthermore, during the Grande Noirceur (" Great Darkness ") when Quebec society was dominated by the corrupt Union Nationale patronage machine,

8024-559: The election by portraying the Social Credit MP Gérard Lamy as a "buffoon" who made French-Canadians look stupid. Early in his career, Chrétien was described by Dalton Camp as looking like "the driver of the getaway car", a condescending assessment which stuck with him, and which was often cited by journalists and others throughout his career, and usually considering his eventual success. The only committee assignment he requested, and obtained, during his first term

8142-624: The entire fall of 1990. On October 24, 1990, a poll revealed that the Liberals had fallen behind the New Democrats, which Chrétien admitted in an interview might have something to do with the scenes of obstructionist, often childish behaviour by the Liberal senators. In December 1990, Chrétien returned to the House of Commons after winning a by-election in the safe Liberal riding of Beauséjour in New Brunswick. The incumbent, Fernand Robichaud , stood down in Chrétien's favour, which

8260-578: The fact that the law faculty gave the Revised Statutes of Quebec free to Union Nationale students while Liberal students had to pay $ 10 for it, which led him and another student whose family was well connected to meet Duplessis in his office. Duplessis told Chrétien the Union Nationale only rewarded those who had "faith", and if he wanted the book for free, then he should have had "faith", noting that there were no "rights" in Quebec as he

8378-517: The federal government ( Richard Hatfield of New Brunswick being the other), phoned him to say he would not support Trudeau in London if Trudeau did not accept Section 33, which Chrétien remembered changed Trudeau's attitude completely. In a 2012 interview, Chrétien defended the controversial Section 33, saying: "Because some would argue that in a society the elected people have to be supreme — not judges — and I subscribe to that. Look at what happened in

8496-689: The federal government, whereas the Maastricht Treaty of 1991 which set out the 3 percent deficit to GDP ratio in order to enter the European Union stated that this applied to all levels of government. The Liberal government promised to achieve its goal of reducing the deficit to three percent of the GDP by cancelling the contract to replace the Sea King helicopters, privatizing Toronto Pearson Airport , and by eliminating unspecified "waste" in

8614-449: The few people in the Trudeau cabinet willing to make tough decisions. As industry minister, Chrétien was in charge of the Trudeau government's efforts to "diversify" the economy by trading more with Asia and Europe and less with the United States. Chrétien often complained the high Canadian dollar hindered his efforts to "diversify" trade and he became known for his belief in the value of a low dollar. As industry minister, Chrétien moved to

8732-432: The government. After the 3 percent target had been achieved within the first three years of taking office, Chrétien promised the deficit would be eliminated at some unspecified time in the future. Martin wanted to promise to eliminate the deficit altogether, but had been overruled by Chrétien, who had wanted to present the Liberals as the "caring" party that would defend social programs, unlike the "heartless" Conservatives and

8850-461: The land claimed by the Cree, and hired lawyers to argue for the Cree in the courts. In November 1973, a judge ruled for the Cree, but a few days later the appeals court ruled for Quebec. In 1974, he was appointed President of the Treasury Board ; and beginning in 1976, he served as Minister of Industry, Trade and Commerce . At the Treasury Board, Chrétien become known as "Doctor No", as he refused in

8968-507: The latter would always prevail. The "distinct society" clause theoretically could have been the basis of a wide-ranging devolution of federal power, since the clause might have empowered the Quebec government to pass any law short of secession to protect the "distinct society". This made the clause very popular in Quebec, but aroused passionate opposition in English Canada. In a much-discussed essay, Trudeau had warned that giving Quebec

9086-430: The leadership race. As a result, Turner compromised by creating a troika of Chrétien, Ouellet, and Lalonde to run Liberal operations in Quebec. The troika was a sham, and during the 1984 election, its three members spent more time feuding with one another than in combating the Progressive Conservatives. Chrétien's demand for the Quebec lieutenancy was not his only issue with Turner, as he almost immediately clashed with

9204-814: The left, being known for his populist policies, imposing tariffs on clothing made abroad to encourage more production in Canada, and having the government fund the development of the Challenger aircraft. In 1977, following the resignation of Finance Minister Donald MacDonald , Chrétien succeeded him. He was the first francophone minister of finance, and remains one of only three francophones to have held that post. Chrétien's time at Finance highlighted his "enforcer" status, namely as someone who often helped to execute Trudeau's policies, but who rarely helped Trudeau to make policy. During his time at Finance, Trudeau completely excluded Chrétien from any role in making financial policy, instead expecting Chrétien to simply carry out

9322-609: The letter included that the province should let its contract with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police expire in 2012, and establish a provincial police force to replace the RCMP. Alberta had a separate police force from 1917 until 1932. The letter recommended that Alberta withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan and establish a separate Alberta Pension Plan . It called for a separate collection of

9440-635: The letter were three University of Calgary professors in public policy— Tom Flanagan , Ted Morton and Rainer Knopff ; Andrew Crooks, then-chair of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation ; and Ken Boessenkool , who had previously served as Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day's former policy adviser. A 2015 National Post article summarizes the Firewall Letter as a plea for Albertans to insulate themselves against an "increasingly hostile government in Ottawa." Proposals in

9558-507: The move. In the 1972 election, Chrétien, who was frightened by a near-defeat in 1968, had a friend Antonio Genest win the Progressive Conservative (PC) nomination, and then run a deliberately inept campaign in order to ensure his re-election. Robert Bourassa , the Liberal premier of Quebec, was a nationalist who frequently pressed for more devolution of federal powers to his province, making him Trudeau's bête noire , with

9676-448: The party, Chrétien resigned as prime minister and retired from politics. Chrétien ranks above-average in rankings of Canadian prime ministers . At age 90, Chrétien is the oldest living former Canadian prime minister. Chrétien was born on January 11, 1934, in Shawinigan Falls , Quebec , as the 18th of 19 children (10 of whom did not survive infancy), of Marie (née Boisvert, 1892–1954) and Wellie Chrétien (1887–1980). His younger brother

9794-461: The party, with John Nunziata publicly complaining that, "The backroom guys have taken control of the party. I guess they think they can muzzle us all". Chrétien was so confident that he was going to win the 1993 election that he formed his transition team in October 1992 to prepare for the hand-over of power 13 months before it actually happened. Mulroney announced his retirement in February, and

9912-533: The phrase "build firewalls around Alberta," a reference to the computer software programs which block unwanted intrusions from outside sources. Premier Klein's personal response was published in the Edmonton Journal on responded to the letter, but rejected implementing the authors' requests for the duration of his premiership. Jean Chr%C3%A9tien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien ( French: [ʒɑ̃ kʁetsjẽɪ̯̃] ; born January 11, 1934)

10030-721: The policies that he and his advisors at the PMO had decided beforehand without consulting Chrétien at all. Trudeau was extremely close to the West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt , and during the 1978 G7 summit in Bonn, Trudeau had extensive discussions with his friend Schmidt about how best to win re-election in 1979. Schmidt suggested to Trudeau that he respond to criticism of the deficits he had been running by bringing in some big cuts to spending, an idea that Trudeau took up. In 1978 Trudeau announced in

10148-541: The principle had always been that Parliament was the supreme lawmaking body in the land, and both Blakeney and Lyon were concerned that the Charter would give too much power to the courts. Chrétien was the chief negotiator of what would be called the " Kitchen Accord ", an agreement which led to the agreement of nine provinces to patriation. In the Kitchen Accord, Chrétien, along with Attorneys-General Roy McMurtry of Ontario and Roy Romanow of Saskatchewan, devised

10266-681: The proposed GST, Chrétien ordered the Liberal-dominated Senate to defeat the GST bill in late September 1990, leading Mulroney on September 27, 1990, to appoint eight PC senators to give the Tories a majority using a never-before-used section of the Constitution Act , the so-called "Deadlock Clause". At that point, Chrétien ordered the Liberal senators to filibuster the GST bill, reducing the Senate to scenes of chaos for

10384-572: The province's income tax , as opposed to letting the Canada Revenue Agency handle tax collection. Alberta, like all the other provinces and territories collected its own corporate tax . The letter called on the province to advocate for Senate reform to return to the national agenda; and taking over complete provincial responsibility for health care." The letter has been referred to as the Firewall Letter from its use of

10502-478: The provinces and once again recognized Quebec as a "distinct society". Chrétien endorsed the Charlottetown Accord on the rather negative grounds that the constitutional debates of the late 1980s and early 1990s were destroying Canada, saying it "was bleeding the nation to death" and that Charlottetown was the best way of ending that debate in order to move the focus back to the economic recession. At

10620-512: The public; sources close to Chrétien were later to claim that he had wanted to support the GST bill, but his caucus had forced him to oppose it against his will. At a Liberal event in the fall of 1990, Chrétien stated that if he became Prime Minister, "the Mulroney GST will disappear", going on to say: "I am opposed to the GST. I have always been opposed to it. And I will be opposed to it, always". To capitalize on widespread public dislike on

10738-457: The race, Chrétien followed Sharp in swinging his support behind the man who eventually won the race, Pierre Trudeau. After the June 1968 election , Chrétien was appointed minister of Indian affairs and northern development . Trudeau and Chrétien were never close, as the gulf between the intellectual Trudeau and the decidedly non-intellectual Chrétien was too wide, but Trudeau did value Chrétien as an extremely loyal and competent minister, and as

10856-417: The review, leading to a chaotic scene on the convention floor where police had to be called to quell physical fighting between Chrétien partisans and Turner partisans. Turner won the leadership review, earning about 75% of the delegate vote. In the 1988 election , the Liberals only experienced a moderate recovery, doubling the number of seats they won in 1984. However, Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives won

10974-462: The riding of Saint-Maurice–Laflèche in the 1963 election . He represented this Shawinigan-based riding, renamed Saint-Maurice in 1968, for all but eight of the next 41 years. The riding had been won by the Social Credit party in the 1962 election, and Chrétien won the Liberal nomination for the 1963 election as the previous Liberal member of Parliament (MP) decided to retire. Chrétien won

11092-443: The solution was globalization . Besides for globalization, Chrétien also argued to combat the recession, the federal government needed to make the system of unemployment insurance less generous, and to end the policy of high interest rates maintained by Bank of Canada Governor John Crow to achieve his target of zero percent inflation, which Chrétien argued was needlessly crippling the economy. In November 1991, Chrétien organized

11210-506: The team that produced the Red Book, was less complimentary about it in private; he was often reported to have said: "Don't tell me about the Red Book, I wrote the damn thing, and I know that it is a lot of crap!" The Liberals promised to remove the GST, which had previously been imposed by the Tories; Sheila Copps famously promised to resign within a year of taking office if the GST was not repealed. Chrétien also promised to renegotiate

11328-606: The time was not sitting in the House of Commons , as its leader on the second ballot, defeating another former finance minister, Jean Chrétien . Jean Chrétien , 50, MP for Saint-Maurice since 1963, was Minister of Energy and had been Minister of Justice responsible for constitutional negotiations, playing a significant role in the patriation of the Constitution of Canada . First appointed to Cabinet by Lester Pearson in 1967, he had served in several senior portfolios under Trudeau, including Minister of Finance. Don Johnston , 47, MP for Saint-Henri—Westmount in Montreal since 1978,

11446-405: The time. Chrétien's father made him read the dictionary as a young boy. Chrétien's older brother Maurice won a scholarship at the insurance company he was working for, which allowed him to attend medical school, and with the profits from his medical practice, was able to assist his younger siblings to attend the classical colleges. Wellie Chrétien was a staunch Liberal who once got to shake hands as

11564-528: The two men openly feuding. In 1971, when the Bourassa government began the James Bay Project to develop hydro-electric dams on rivers flowing into James Bay , which was opposed by the local Cree bands who claimed the land slated for development, Chrétien intervened on the side of the Cree. In a speech Chrétien said Bourassa "could go to hell", stated he did not have the right to build on or flood

11682-575: Was "Le Chef" (" the boss "). At Laval, Chrétien became active in the Young Liberals, becoming president as no one else wanted the job as most students were too frightened to antagonize the Union Nationale. In 1958 he attended the Liberal convention in Ottawa that chose Lester Pearson as the party's leader, and where Chrétien supported Paul Martin Sr. Chrétien later drew attention to his humble origins, calling himself "le petit gars de Shawinigan", or

11800-406: Was 18 and she was 16. They had three children: France (b. 1958), Hubert (b. 1965) and Michel (b. 1968), who was adopted in 1970. France Chrétien Desmarais , who is a lawyer, is married to André Desmarais , the son of Paul Desmarais, Sr. , and the president and co-chief executive officer of his father's company, Power Corporation , based in Montreal, Canada. Reflecting Chrétien's poor relations with

11918-455: Was Minister of Employment and Immigration. John Turner , 55, former MP for Ottawa-Orleans (1968–1976) and previously for St. Lawrence—St. George , Quebec (1962–1968), had served in Cabinet under Lester Pearson and Trudeau and had been Minister of Justice and Minister of Finance until resigning from cabinet in 1975 over a policy dispute over wage and price freezes. Since then, he had been

12036-465: Was President of the Treasury Board, and had served in several other economic portfolios. Mark MacGuigan , 53, MP from Windsor-Walkerville since 1968 and a former dean of law, was the Minister of Justice and a former Minister of External Affairs. John Munro , 53, an MP for Hamilton East since 1962, was Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. John Roberts , 48, MP for St. Paul's ,

12154-474: Was a major force in the 1980 Quebec referendum , being one of the main federal representatives "on the ground" during the campaign. His fiery and emotional speeches would enthrall federalist crowds with his blunt warnings of the consequences of separation. During the referendum, Chrétien fiercely fought behind the scenes with the leader of the Quebec Liberals, Claude Ryan , who served as the chairman of

12272-565: Was a minefield issue for him; he instead stuck to generalities about national unity. Martin, by contrast, had declared himself an unconditional supporter of Meech Lake as it was; he was also quite willing to talk about his support. Chrétien's key campaign man was Jim Karygiannis , who specialized in signing up immigrants to serve as Chrétien delegates. He signed 9,500 immigrants as Chrétien delegates between January and June 1990. In large part because of Karygiannis and his team, Chrétien had by late April 1990 signed up 1,500 delegates, which made him

12390-482: Was accused of inappropriate behaviour in the Shawinigate and sponsorship scandals, although he has consistently denied any wrongdoing. He also became embroiled in a protracted leadership struggle within the Liberal Party against his finance minister and long-time political rival Paul Martin . In December 2003, as a result of the threat of losing a leadership review and pressure from the pro-Martin faction of

12508-418: Was an alcoholic who was simply too drunk most of the time to lead the Liberals to power effectively. He formally claimed to be neutral on the question of Turner's management of the Liberal Party, but lobbied as many Liberal MPs and senators as possible behind the scenes for their support in bringing down Turner. The intense emotions stirred up by the leadership review boiled over when Chrétien arrived to vote in

12626-424: Was an opponent of Meech Lake but stated that he would support the accord with amendments, such as scrapping the controversial "distinct society" clause as written; having the preamble to the constitution instead declare that Quebec was a "distinct society"; and adding a new clause saying if any conflict arose between the constitutional recognition of Quebec as a "distinct society" and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,

12744-468: Was doubtful about the value of the NEP, saying at the time of his appointment as Energy Minister that, "We've got to back off on the NEP without destroying our credibility," but upon learning that Trudeau and his right-hand man, Finance Minister Marc Lalonde , were in favour of continuing the NEP, Chrétien decided to fall in line rather than risk his chances of one day winning the Liberal leadership. Chrétien's battles with Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed over

12862-454: Was extremely popular in Quebec, running as an out-and-out opponent of Meech Lake was judged to be too risky politically, causing him to conditionally oppose the accord in public. Meech Lake placed Chrétien in a difficult position, as it was very popular in Quebec and loathed by the Trudeau wing of the Liberals; Chrétien needed the support of both entities in the leadership race. He tried to avoid talking about Meech Lake as much as possible, which

12980-670: Was going to happen than he was, which underlined that he was not a member of Trudeau's inner circle. Chrétien presented the two federal budgets to the House floor in 1978, one in April and the other in November . The Liberals lost the federal election of May 1979 to a minority Progressive Conservative government led by Joe Clark . However, the PC government fell when the House of Commons failed to approve its budget in December, triggering

13098-412: Was meant to send the message to the other students: "Don't mess with Chrétien!" When asked in an interview by his biographer Lawrence Martin what subject he was best at in high school, Chrétien replied: "It was street fighting that I was best at". Despite the thuggish image that he cultivated at Séminaire Saint-Joseph, Chrétien's grades were high, with an education that focused mostly on Catholic theology,

13216-486: Was on a promise to spend $ 6 billion on improving infrastructure in a Keynesian move to fight the recession of the early 1990s. As regarding the debt situation, Chrétien promised to reduce Canada's deficit to 3 per cent of GDP (the same deficit to GDP ratio required to enter the European Union) within three years of taking office. Chrétien made it clear that the 3 percent deficit to GDP ratio would apply only to

13334-567: Was succeeded by Minister of National Defence Kim Campbell in June. Campbell pulled the PCs to within a few percentage points of the Liberals by the time the writs were dropped in September. On September 19, Chrétien released the Liberal platform. The 112-page document, Creating Opportunity , quickly became known as the Red Book because of its bright red cover. Chrétien's rival Paul Martin, who led

13452-422: Was the only student he ever grabbed by his ears, as he was too unruly. In an interview, Chrétien called his education "unnatural", as he recalled an extremely strict regime where the priests beat anyone bloody who dared to question their authority while teaching via rote learning. One of Chrétien's classmates recalled "We didn't have the right to have feelings or express them". Chrétien got his early schooling at

13570-426: Was thought to be a dark horse until the end but lost on the second ballot to Turner at the leadership convention that June. Liberal Party president Iona Campagnolo introduced Chrétien as "Second on the ballot, but first in our hearts." Turner appointed Chrétien Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for External Affairs . After winning the leadership race, Turner wanted to reconcile with Chrétien and lead

13688-504: Was to the Finance Committee. Shortly before the 1965 election , Chrétien very briefly served as parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson . When Pearson recruited his "Three Wise Men" consisting of Jean Marchand , Gérard Pelletier and Pierre Trudeau into the cabinet, Chrétien was disappointed at being bypassed, telling Pearson he deserved to be promoted to the cabinet. Starting in 1966, he served for

13806-548: Was trying to have it both ways. When Chrétien refused to endorse Meech Lake as it was, young Liberal delegates crowding the hall began to chant vendu ("sellout" in French), "you're selling out to the Anglos," and " Judas " at Chrétien. One of Chrétien's aides frantically asked that Martin "get the fuck out there and do something," as the Young Liberals continued shouting abuse at Chrétien to his clear discomfort, only to be told that

13924-559: Was willing to talk at a final conference. During the resulting First Ministers conference in November 1981, two of the premiers, Allan Blakeney of Saskatchewan and Sterling Lyon of Manitoba , made it clear that their principal objection to the proposed Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was that it undermined the ancient British tradition of parliamentary supremacy . Ever since the Glorious Revolution of 1688 ,

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