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159-403: Prime Minister Jean Chrétien , Progressive Conservative Party leader Jean Charest and Quebec Liberal Party leader Daniel Johnson spoke to the crowd. Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Brian Tobin played a crucial role in organizing and promoting the event. Many Canadian politicians from outside Quebec, who had previously been asked not to get involved by the "No" committee, participated in

318-466: 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 ,

477-497: A $ 10,000 fine for any money illegally spent transporting people to Montreal. Jean Chr%C3%A9tien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien ( French: [ʒɑ̃ kʁetsjẽɪ̯̃] ; born January 11, 1934) 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

636-539: 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

795-552: 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

954-697: 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

1113-460: 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

1272-543: A caucus may trigger a party leadership review and, if necessary, chose an interim leader, thereby making a prime minister more accountable to the MPs in one's party. Caucuses may choose to follow these rules, though the decision would be made by recorded vote, thereby subjecting the party's choice to public scrutiny. The Senate may delay or impede legislation put forward by the Cabinet, such as when Brian Mulroney 's bill creating

1431-456: 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

1590-561: A government the individual most likely to receive the support, or confidence, of a majority of the directly elected members of the House of Commons ; as a practical matter, this is often the leader of the party, or a coalition of parties, whose members form a majority , or a very large plurality , of seats in the House of Commons. No document is needed to begin the appointment; a party leader becomes prime minister-designate as soon as he accepts

1749-479: 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

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1908-569: A majority), the prime minister can attempt to maintain the confidence of the House by forming a coalition with other minority parties, which was last entertained in 1925 or by entering into a confidence-and-supply agreement , or by winning support of other parties on a vote-by-vote basis. Because the prime minister is in practice the most politically powerful member of the Canadian government , they are sometimes erroneously referred to as Canada's head of state , when, in fact, that role belongs to

2067-461: 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

2226-596: 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

2385-458: 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

2544-540: 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

2703-407: 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

2862-654: 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

3021-533: 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

3180-485: 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

3339-597: 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

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3498-625: 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

3657-599: 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

3816-588: A senator, and Bennett moved to the United Kingdom after being elevated to the House of Lords . A number were leaders of the Official Opposition : John A. Macdonald, Arthur Meighen , Mackenzie King, and Pierre Trudeau, all before being re-appointed as prime minister (Mackenzie King twice); Alexander Mackenzie and John Diefenbaker , both prior to sitting as regular Members of Parliament until their deaths; Wilfrid Laurier dying while still in

3975-401: 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

4134-680: 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

4293-682: 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

4452-491: A time when Canada was on the brink of a debt crisis as a result of a ballooning budget deficit . After 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

4611-462: 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

4770-401: 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

4929-680: 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 ,

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5088-491: Is a leader of the opposition , the King must send for him." If the leader of the opposition is unable or unwilling to form a government, the governor general can consult whomever he wishes. While there is no legal requirement for the prime minister to be an MP, for practical and political reasons the prime minister is expected to win a seat very promptly. However, in rare circumstances individuals who are not sitting members of

5247-689: Is a prime minister and a government in place, and exercising the right 'to encourage, to advise, and to warn'[...] Without really revealing any secrets, I can tell you that I have done all three." Two official residences are provided to the prime minister— 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa and Harrington Lake , a country retreat in Gatineau Park —as well an office in the Office of the Prime Minister and Privy Council building (formerly known as Langevin Block), across from Parliament Hill . For transportation,

5406-459: Is due, and that new leader is not a member of the legislature, they will normally await the upcoming election before running for a seat in Parliament. The prime minister serves at His Majesty's pleasure , meaning the post does not have a fixed term, and once appointed and sworn in by the governor general, the prime minister remains in office until they resign, are dismissed, or die. While

5565-419: 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

5724-466: Is the case in the UK). There do exist checks on the prime minister's power: the House of Commons may revoke its confidence in an incumbent prime minister and Cabinet or caucus revolts can quickly bring down a serving premier and even mere threats of such action can persuade or compel a prime minister to resign their post, as happened with Jean Chrétien . The Reform Act, 2014 , codifies the process by which

5883-462: 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

6042-790: 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

6201-609: 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

6360-516: The 1984 federal election . After Turner led the Liberals to their second defeat at the polls in 1988 , Chrétien became leader of 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

6519-529: The 2019 and 2021 elections , leaving Trudeau with minority governments . The position of prime minister is not outlined in any Canadian constitutional document and is mentioned only in a few sections of the Constitution Act, 1982 , and the Letters Patent, 1947 , issued by King George VI . The office and its functions are instead governed by constitutional conventions and modelled on

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6678-592: The Canadian Armed Forces . Pierre Trudeau is often credited with, throughout his tenure as prime minister (1968–79, 1980–84), consolidating power in the PMO, which is itself filled by political and administrative staff selected at the prime minister's discretion and unaccountable to Parliament. At the end of the 20th century and into the 21st, analysts—such as Jeffrey Simpson , Donald Savoie , Andrew Coyne , and John Gomery —argued that both Parliament and

6837-557: The Goods and Services Tax (GST) came before the Senate, and given Canada's federal nature , the jurisdiction of the federal government is limited to areas prescribed by the constitution. Further, as executive power is constitutionally vested in the monarch, meaning the royal prerogative belongs to the Crown and not to any of its ministers, the sovereign's supremacy over the prime minister in

6996-615: The Liberal Party of Canada , as well as the students' association at Ottawa's Algonquin College , were charged after the referendum for illegally hiring buses to bring supporters to Montreal for the rally, part of a larger accusation by some supporters of Quebec sovereignty that much of the spending on the rally was illegal because it was not authorized by the "No" Committee or entered in its expenditure report. Environment Minister Sergio Marchi told reporters "Mr. Gervais, on behalf of

7155-591: 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

7314-661: 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

7473-699: 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

7632-474: The confidence of a majority of the elected House of Commons ; as such, the prime minister typically sits as a member of Parliament (MP) and leads the largest party or a coalition of parties. As first minister , the prime minister selects ministers to form the Cabinet . Not outlined in any constitutional document, the prime minister is appointed by the monarch 's representative, the governor general and

7791-636: 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

7950-478: 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

8109-511: The peerage of the United Kingdom by King George VI as Viscount Bennett, of Mickleham in the County of Surrey and of Calgary and Hopewell in Canada. No prime minister has since been titled. The Canadian Heraldic Authority (CHA) grants former prime ministers an augmentation of honour on the coat of arms of those who apply for them. The heraldic badge, referred to by the CHA as the mark of

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8268-429: The same office in the United Kingdom . In 2008, a public opinion survey showed that 51% of Canadians believed they voted to directly elect the prime minister. In fact, the prime minister, along with the other ministers in Cabinet, is appointed by the governor general on behalf of the monarch. By the conventions of responsible government , the foundation of parliamentary democracy, the governor general will call to form

8427-468: The writs of election prior to the date mandated by the constitution or Canada Elections Act ; the King–Byng Affair was the only time since Confederation that the governor general refused the prime minister's request for a general vote. Following parliamentary dissolution, should the prime minister's party subsequently win a majority of seats in the House of Commons, it is unnecessary to re-appoint

8586-406: 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

8745-596: 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

8904-468: 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". Prime Minister of Canada This is an accepted version of this page The prime minister of Canada (French: premier ministre du Canada ) is the head of government of Canada . Under the Westminster system , the prime minister governs with

9063-587: The Cabinet had become eclipsed by prime ministerial power; Savoie wrote: "The Canadian prime minister has little in the way of institutional check, at least inside government, to inhibit his ability to have his way." Indeed, the position has been described as undergoing a "presidentialization", to the point that its incumbents publicly outshine the actual head of state (and prime minister's spouses are sometimes referred to as First Lady of Canada ). Former governor general Adrienne Clarkson alluded to what she saw as "an unspoken rivalry" that had developed between

9222-463: The Canadian monarch, represented by the governor general. The prime minister is, instead, the head of government and is responsible for advising the Crown on how to exercise much of the royal prerogative and its executive powers, which are governed by the written constitution and constitutional conventions. However, the function of the prime minister has evolved with increasing power. Today, per

9381-402: 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

9540-409: 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

9699-533: 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

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9858-537: 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

10017-540: The Crown in right of the United Kingdom, which has periodically bestowed such Imperial honours on such citizens) has since adopted this policy generally, such that the last prime minister to be knighted near appointment was Robert Borden , who was the prime minister at the time the Nickle Resolution was debated in the House of Commons (and was knighted before the resolution). Still, Bennett was, in 1941, six years after he stepped down as prime minister, elevated to

10176-431: The House of Commons as soon as possible. For example, William Lyon Mackenzie King , after losing his seat in the 1925 federal election and again in the 1945 Canadian federal election (despite his party being elected government both times), briefly governed without a seat in the House of Commons on both occasions before winning a by-election a few weeks later. Similarly, John Turner replaced Pierre Trudeau as leader of

10335-713: The House of Commons during Question Period , other members of parliament may address the prime minister as the Right Honourable Member for [prime minister's riding ] or simply the Right Honourable Prime Minister . Former prime ministers retain the prefix the Right Honourable for the remainder of their lives; should they remain sitting MPs, they may be referred as the Right Honourable Member for [member's riding] , by their portfolio title (if appointed to one), as in

10494-582: The House of Commons have been appointed to the position of prime minister. Two former prime ministers— John Joseph Caldwell Abbott and Mackenzie Bowell —served in the 1890s while members of the Senate . Both, in their roles as government leader in the Senate , succeeded prime ministers who had died in office— John A. Macdonald in 1891 and John Sparrow David Thompson in 1894. Prime ministers who are not MPs upon their appointment (or who lose their seats while in office) have since been expected to seek election to

10653-443: 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

10812-439: The Liberal Party in 1984 and subsequently was appointed prime minister while not holding a seat in the House of Commons; Turner won a riding in the next election but the Liberal Party was swept from power. When a prime minister loses their seat in the legislature, or should a new prime minister be appointed without holding a seat, the typical process that follows is that a member in the governing political party will resign to allow

10971-624: The Liberal Party of Canada, should wear [the charges against him] like a badge of honour," and "I think it's a crock and they should stop nickelling and diming Canadians' sense of patriotism to death." Two years later, the Quebec Superior Court dismissed the charges, stating that the alleged infractions took place outside of Quebec, and did not break any laws under the Quebec Electoral Act. Robin Philpot, co-author of

11130-469: 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

11289-426: 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

11448-473: 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

11607-525: 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

11766-483: The Prime Ministership of Canada , consists of four red maple leaves joined at the stem on a white field ( Argent four maple leaves conjoined in cross at the stem Gules ); the augmentation is usually a canton or centred in the chief . Joe Clark , Pierre Trudeau, John Turner, Brian Mulroney, Kim Campbell , Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin were granted arms with the augmentation. Canada continues

11925-413: 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

12084-476: 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

12243-516: The Right Honourable (French: le très honorable ), a privilege maintained for life. The prime minister is supported by the Prime Minister's Office and heads the Privy Council Office . The prime minister also selects individuals for appointment as governor general (in the federal jurisdiction) and lieutenant governor (in the provinces ), as well as to the Senate of Canada , Supreme Court of Canada , other federal courts , and

12402-684: The Right Honourable Minister of National Defence , or should they become opposition leader, as the Right Honourable Leader of the Opposition . In the decades following Confederation, it was common practice to refer to the prime minister as Premier of Canada , a custom that continued during the First World War , around the time of Robert Borden's premiership. While contemporary sources will still speak of early prime ministers of Canada as premier ,

12561-605: 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

12720-562: The Westminster tradition of using the title Prime Minister when one is speaking to the federal head of government directly; the Department of Canadian Heritage advises that the term Mr. Prime Minister should not be used in official contexts. The written form of address for the prime minister should use their full parliamentary title: The Right Honourable [name], [ post-nominal letters ], Prime Minister of Canada . However, while in

12879-423: 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

13038-568: 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

13197-555: 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

13356-409: 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

13515-525: The book Les secrets d'Option Canada , said that Brian Tobin, chief organizer for the rally, told him that various Canadian corporations had helped to fund the initiative. Two days prior to the rally, Canadian Airlines had announced its "Unity fare: up to 90% discounts for people who want to purchase tickets from anywhere in Canada." Quebec chief electoral officer Pierre F. Côté then issued a warning to six Canadian transport companies, including Air Canada, Canadian Airlines and Via Rail, that they would face up to

13674-406: The chairs and boards of various Crown corporations . Since Confederation in 1867, 23 prime ministers (twenty-two men and one woman) have formed 29 ministries . Justin Trudeau is the current prime minister, who took office on November 4, 2015, following the 2015 federal election , wherein his Liberal Party won a majority of seats. Trudeau's Liberals subsequently won a plurality of seats in

13833-444: 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

13992-590: 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,

14151-498: 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

14310-553: 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

14469-486: The constitutional order is thus seen as a "rebuff to the pretensions of the elected: As it has been said, when the prime minister bows before the queen, he bows before us [the Canadian people]." Either the sovereign or the governor general may therefore oppose the prime minister's will in extreme, crisis situations. Near the end of her time as governor general, Adrienne Clarkson stated: "My constitutional role has lain in what are called 'reserve powers': making sure that there

14628-403: 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

14787-408: 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

14946-470: The country and Bowell the only whose funeral was not attended by politicians. John Thompson also died outside Canada, at Windsor Castle , where Queen Victoria permitted his lying-in-state before his body was returned to Canada for a state funeral in Halifax . Prior to 1919, it was traditional for the monarch to bestow a knighthood on newly appointed Canadian prime ministers. Accordingly, several carried

15105-451: The country, offered massive discounts on travel to Montreal for the weekend to participate. Though the legality of this particular element of the rally remained controversial and in litigation for some time afterward, the social, psychological and economic impact of the rally is generally viewed as the deciding factor for the "No" campaign. A Le Devoir article described the event as " Les touristes du fédéralisme ". This estimated number

15264-410: 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

15423-485: 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,

15582-457: The doctrines of constitutional monarchy , the advice given by the prime minister is ordinarily binding, meaning the prime minister effectively carries out those duties ascribed to the sovereign or governor general, leaving the latter to act in predominantly ceremonial fashions. As such, the prime minister, supported by the Office of the Prime Minister (PMO), controls the appointments of many key figures in Canada's system of governance, including

15741-559: 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

15900-624: 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

16059-783: The event, notably Ontario Premier Mike Harris , New Brunswick Premier Frank McKenna , Nova Scotia Premier John Savage , and Prince Edward Island Premier Catherine Callbeck . "Welcome to our future partners," read a sign streaming from the back of an airplane that circled the skies above the massive rally. Several Canadian phone companies joined the rally, Newfoundland Telephone Co. Ltd , BC Tel , AGT Inc and New Brunswick Telephone Co. Ltd. allowed residential customers to make free five-minute long-distance calls to Quebec from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Canadian transportation corporations and companies, such as Via Rail , Canadian Airlines , Air Canada and Coach Canada , in addition to multiple travel agencies and hotel operators throughout

16218-578: 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

16377-517: 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

16536-689: 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

16695-449: 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

16854-400: The future prime minister by the governor general , after either the individual's political party won a general election or proposed to form either a confidence-and-supply government or coalition government. The term does not apply to incumbent prime ministers. After exiting office, former prime ministers of Canada have engaged in various pursuits. Some remained in politics: Bowell continued as

17013-432: 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

17172-415: The governor general's invitation to form a government . A prime minister who has given intention to resign may advise the governor general on whom to appoint as the next prime minister. However, if the prime minister is resigning because he has lost the confidence of the House of Commons, the viceroy is not obligated to follow that advice. Ivor Jennings wrote, "where the government is defeated and there

17331-456: The governor general, the Cabinet, justices of the Supreme Court , senators, heads of Crown corporations , ambassadors and high commissioners , the provincial lieutenant governors , and approximately 3,100 other positions. Further, the prime minister plays a prominent role in the legislative process—with the majority of bills put before Parliament originating in the Cabinet—and the leadership of

17490-525: 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

17649-507: 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

17808-430: 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

17967-814: 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

18126-533: The lifespan of a parliament is constitutionally limited to five years, a 2007 amendment to the Canada Elections Act , Section 56.1(2) limited the term of a Parliament to four years, with election day being set as the third Monday in October of the fourth calendar year after the previous polling date. The governor general may still, on the advice of the prime minister, dissolve parliament and issue

18285-464: The modern practice is such that the federal head of government is known almost exclusively as the prime minister , while the provincial and territorial heads of government are termed premiers (in French, premiers are addressed as premier ministre du [province] , literally translated as prime minister of [province] ). The prime minister–designate of Canada is the person who has been designated as

18444-507: 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

18603-474: The office exists per long-established convention . Constitutionally, executive authority is vested in the monarch (who is the head of state ), but, in practice, the powers of the monarch and governor general are nearly always exercised on the advice of the Cabinet, which is collectively responsible to the House of Commons. Canadian prime ministers are appointed to the Privy Council and styled as

18762-448: 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

18921-406: 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

19080-672: 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

19239-447: The post; and Charles Tupper , Louis St. Laurent , and John Turner, each before they returned to private business. Meighen was also appointed to the Senate following his second period as prime minister, but resigned his seat to seek re-election and moved to private enterprise after failing to win a riding. Also returning to civilian life were: Robert Borden, who was Chancellor of Queen's and McGill Universities , as well as working in

19398-641: The prefix Sir before their name; of the first eight prime ministers of Canada, only Alexander Mackenzie refused the honour of a knighthood from Queen Victoria. Following the 1919 Nickle Resolution , however, the House of Commons declared that it should be against the policy of the Canadian Sovereign (and the Canadian government advising the Monarch when such honours are not within the Monarch's personal gift) to bestow aristocratic or chivalric titles to Canadians. The Crown in right of Canada (but not

19557-431: The prime minister and the Crown. It has been theorized that such is the case in Canada as its Parliament is less influential on the executive than in other countries with Westminster parliamentary systems ; particularly, Canada has fewer MPs, a higher turnover rate of MPs after each election, and a US-style system for selecting political party leaders, leaving them accountable to the party membership rather than caucus (as

19716-431: The prime minister is afforded an armoured car (a car allowance of $ 2,000 per year) and shared use of two official aircraft —a CC-150 Polaris for international flights and a Challenger 601 for domestic trips. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police also furnish constant personal security for the prime minister and their family. All of the aforementioned is provided through budgets approved by Parliament. As of April 2024,

19875-406: The prime minister or for the prime minister to retake the oath of office. If, however, an opposition party wins a majority of seats, the prime minister may resign or choose to meet Parliament to see if the incumbent government can win a confidence vote. Should the prime minister's party achieve a minority while an opposition party wins a plurality (i.e., more seats than any other party but less than

20034-498: The prime minister to run in the resulting by-election. A safe seat is usually chosen; while the Liberal and Conservative parties generally observed a practice of not running a candidate against another party's new leader in the by-election, the New Democratic Party and smaller political parties typically do not follow the same practice. However, if the governing party selects a new leader shortly before an election

20193-576: The prime minister's annual salary is $ 406,200 (consisting of an MP's salary of $ 203,100 and the prime minister's additional salary of $ 203,100). Serving or former prime ministers are accorded a state funeral , wherein their casket lies in state in the Centre Block of Parliament Hill. Only Bowell and the Viscount Bennett were given private funerals, Bennett also being the only former prime minister of Canada to die and be buried outside

20352-541: 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

20511-628: 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

20670-478: 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

20829-512: 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

20988-457: 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

21147-417: 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

21306-462: 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

21465-443: 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

21624-506: 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

21783-405: 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

21942-528: 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

22101-575: 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

22260-406: 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

22419-474: 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

22578-565: 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

22737-482: 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

22896-418: 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

23055-424: 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,

23214-468: 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

23373-454: 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

23532-544: 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 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

23691-670: 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

23850-430: Was largely disputed on the day of the rally and for many years after. (There were huge discrepancies on the size of the crowd in the media. Montreal's English-language radio station CJAD reported the crowd at upward of 150,000, where CKAC, a French-language radio station, reported the crowd at 30,000.) A study of video footage by CBC television put the estimate at around 60,000. Aurèle Gervais , communications director for

24009-412: 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,

24168-486: 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

24327-698: Was strongly opposed to 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 ,

24486-567: 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

24645-422: 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

24804-426: 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

24963-504: 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

25122-548: 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

25281-559: 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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