Jean Chrétien
20th Prime Minister of Canada | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In office November 4, 1993 – December 12, 2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Monarch | Elizabeth II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Governors General | Ray Hnatyshyn Roméo LeBlanc Adrienne Clarkson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Deputy | Sheila Copps Herb Gray John Manley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Kim Campbell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Paul Martin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien January 11, 1934 Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Political party | Liberal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Children | 3, including France Chrétien Desmarais | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Relatives | Michel Chrétien (brother) Raymond Chrétien (nephew) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | Université Laval | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation |
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Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien
Born and raised in
Chrétien was strongly opposed to the
Early life, family, and education
Chrétien was born on January 11, 1934, in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, as the 18th of 19 children (10 of whom did not survive infancy),[1] of Marie (née Boisvert, 1892–1954) and Wellie Chrétien (1887–1980).[2] His younger brother 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.[3] 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 the time.[3] 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.[4] Wellie Chrétien was a staunch Liberal who once got to shake hands as a young man with his hero, Sir Wilfrid Laurier.[5] 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.[6]
During World War II, 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.[7] Under the 1940 National Resources Mobilization Act, the federal government could conscript Canadians only for 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.[5] Furthermore, during the Grande Noirceur ("Great Darkness") when Quebec society was dominated by the corrupt Union Nationale patronage machine, the Chrétien family were excluded because of Wellie Chrétien's support for the war.[8] 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 was the only student he ever grabbed by his ears, as he was too unruly.[9] 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.[10] One of Chrétien's classmates recalled "We didn't have the right to have feelings or express them".[10]
Chrétien got his early schooling at a private boys' school in Joliette.[11] 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.[12] 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!"[13] Chrétien recalled that his assault was meant to send the message to the other students: "Don't mess with Chrétien!"[13] 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".[14] 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, 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".[15]
Later at Laval, Chrétien protested 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.[16] 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 was "Le Chef" ("the boss").[17] 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.[18] 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.[19]
Chrétien later drew attention to his humble origins, calling himself "le petit gars de Shawinigan,"[20] or 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.[21] 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.[22]
On September 10, 1957, he married
Early political career
Chrétien practised law at the Shawinigan firm of
Shortly before the 1965 election, Chrétien very briefly served as parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson.[26] 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.[26] Starting in 1966, he served for 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.[27]
In 1967, Chrétien visited western Canada for the first time, which he was curious to see.
Joins cabinet
Chrétien was appointed minister without portfolio in April 1967 and then
While at Indian Affairs, Chrétien introduced the 1969 White Paper, 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.[34] 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 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.[35] 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 the Crown had granted the Grand River valley to Joseph Brant in 1784, to which Chrétien had no reply.[35] 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.[36] To counteract such criticism, Chrétien adopted an Inuit boy from a local orphanage during a 1970 visit to the Northwest Territories.[37] 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.[38]
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 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.[39] 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 the two men openly feuding.[40] 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.[40] In a speech Chrétien said Bourassa "could go to hell", stated he did not have the right to build on or flood the land claimed by the Cree, and hired lawyers to argue for the Cree in the courts.[40] In November 1973, a judge ruled for the Cree, but a few days later the appeals court ruled for Quebec.[40]
In 1974, he was appointed
Minister of finance
In 1977, following the resignation of Finance Minister
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.[47] 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.[48] In 1978 Trudeau announced in 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.[49] Chrétien found this experience so humiliating that he seriously considering resigning in protest.[49] Chrétien was especially humiliated by the fact that Chancellor Schmidt was better informed of about what was going to happen than he was, which underlined that he was not a member of Trudeau's inner circle.[49]
Chrétien presented the two federal budgets to the House floor in 1978, one in April and the other in November.
Major role in referendum campaign
The Liberals lost the federal election of May 1979 to a minority Conservative government led by
Patriation of the Constitution
Chrétien also served as minister of state for social development and minister responsible for constitutional negotiations, playing a significant role in the debates leading to the
Chrétien was the chief negotiator of what would be called the "
Minister of energy
In 1982, Chrétien was appointed
1984: First leadership bid and relationship with Turner
After Trudeau announced his retirement in early 1984 as Liberal Party leader and prime minister, Chrétien was one of the candidates seeking the leadership of the
After winning the leadership race, Turner wanted a to forge a reconciliation with Chrétien to lead a united party into the coming general election and so asked Chrétien what terms he would accept.[64] Chrétien, angry about losing the leadership race, asked for terms that he knew that Turner could never give him. Chrétien demanded to be appointed Quebec lieutenant, with control of patronage and organization in Quebec. Turner had already promised the position to André Ouellet in exchange for support in the leadership race.[64][65] That would have forced Turner to break his promise to Ouellet and so Turner compromised by creating a troika to run Liberal operations in Quebec of Chrétien, Ouellet, and Lalonde.[65] The troika was a sham, and during the 1984 general election, the three members of the troika spent more time feuding with one another than in combating the Conservatives.[65]
Chrétien's demand for the Quebec lieutenancy was not the only thing that divided him from Turner. Almost immediately, Chrétien and Turner clashed over the issue of an early election. Chrétien advised Turner not to ask the governor general to dissolve Parliament but to keep Parliament in session for the fall of 1984 to give the government a record to run on in a winter election in early 1985. An election had to be called no later than February 1985 since the last election had been in February 1980.[66] Since Turner believed that a boost in the polls after he became prime minister in late June 1984 justified asking for Parliament to be dissolved for an election in September 1984, Chrétien's advice was disregarded.[67]
1984–1993: Liberals in opposition
Relations between Chrétien and Turner were strained, especially after the Liberals had been severely defeated in the 1984 election. He was one of only 17 Liberal MPs elected from Quebec (the party had won 74 out of 75 seats in 1980). He was also one of only four Liberal MPs from the province elected from 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.
1986: Temporarily leaves politics
In February 1986, Chrétien, whose relations with Turner were very poor, resigned his seat and left public life for a time. On February 27, 1986, Chrétien, accompanied by his special executive assistant
In November 1986, when the Liberals held a leadership review, Chrétien attempted to organize against Turner, which led to a bruising battle between factions loyal to the two men.
In the 1988 election, the Liberals only experienced a moderate recovery, doubling the number of seats they won in 1984. Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney won a second consecutive majority government. Turner losing for a second time led him to announce his resignation as Liberal leader in 1989, triggering the June 1990 Liberal leadership election. Chrétien returned to politics in 1990 for the purpose of becoming leader.
1990: Returns to politics and wins Liberal leadership
Chrétien announced that he would run for the party leadership at the June 1990 Liberal leadership convention in Calgary, Alberta. At a press conference in Ottawa on January 23, 1990, he declared that he would run to be the leader and proudly stated that the day would be remembered as the beginning of the "Chrétien era" in Canada.[75] Chrétien's principal opponent, 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 a Bay Street "big shot," like Turner.[76]
The most controversial issue facing Canada during the first half of 1990 was the Meech Lake Accord. It proposed a set of 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 speech in January 1990 that he 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, the latter would always prevail.[77] 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." That made the clause very popular in Quebec and arose much passionate opposition by many quarters in English Canada. In a much-discussed essay, Trudeau had warned that giving Quebec 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.[77] In private, Chrétien opposed Meech Lake, but the accord was extremely popular in Quebec and so running as an out-and-out opponent of Meech was judged to be too risky politically. That caused Chrétien's public conditional opposition.[78] Meech Lake placed Chrétien in a difficult position, as it was very popular in Quebec and loathed by the Trudeau wing of the Liberals, both of whose support Chrétien needed.[79] Chrétien tried to avoid talking about Meech as much as possible, which was a minefield issue for him; he instead stuck to generalities about national unity.[80] 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.[81]
Chrétien's key campaign man was Jim Karygiannis, who specialized in signing up immigrants to serve as delegates for Chrétien. 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 the clear front-runner compared to Martin's 500 delegates.[82]
A key moment in the race 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 that divided Martin and Chrétien. At the debate on June 2, 1990, Martin attempted to force Chrétien to abandon the latter's nuanced position on Meech Lake and speak out for or against it by arguing that Chrétien's position of opposing Meech Lake as it is but being willing to support it with amendments was trying to have it both ways.[83] When Chrétien refused to endorse Meech 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.[84] One of Chrétien's aides frenetically 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 Quebec youth were "hotheads," whom nobody could control.[85] In private, 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.[85] Martin denied involvement in "coordinating" any response from the floor or a similar outburst by his supporters at the convention.[85] Ultimately, Chrétien defeated Martin on the first and only ballot, but Chrétien's position on Meech Lake had irreversibly damaged his reputation in his home province.
Leader of the Official Opposition
As his victory at the convention on June 23, 1990, occurred on the same day that the Meech Lake accord died, Chrétien was heavily criticized in the Quebec media for his opposition to Meech Lake. Photographs of Chrétien embracing Newfoundland Premier
In September 1990, Chrétien seeing a chance to make a strong impression on public opinion after a shaky start as a leader reaped a major windfall after Mulroney introduced an unpopular
Chrétien's decision to oppose the GST in 1990 was taken for reasons of political expediency rather than for principle, namely that Chrétien needed an issue to oppose the government on that would allow him to connect with the public; sources close to Chrétien were later to claim that he had wanted to support the GST bill, but had been forced by his caucus against his will to oppose it.[91][92] 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".[89] To capitalize on widespread public dislike on 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 8 Conservative senators to give the Tories a majority using a never-before-used section of the Constitution Act, the so-called "Deadlock Clause".[93] At that point, Chrétien ordered the Liberal senators to filibuster the GST bill, reducing the Senate to scenes of chaos for the entire fall of 1990.[94] 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.[95]
In December 1990, Chrétien returned to the House of Commons after winning a by-election in the safe Liberal riding of Beauséjour, New Brunswick. The incumbent, Fernand Robichaud, stood down in Chrétien's favour, which is traditional practice when a newly elected party leader does not have a seat in House of 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".[96] Gray's appeal changed Chrétien's mind about when to seek a seat in 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.[97] Michel Chrétien suffered from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and had a long history of legal trouble.[97]
In October 1991, Chrétien first gave his views about how best to end the recession which had begun in 1990. Chrétien argued that the answer was a policy of slow devaluation where the dollar would be allowed to decline against other major world currencies, which would have the effect of both pricing out foreign imports and by giving Canadian firms a competitive advantage in world markets, boost exports.[98] 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.[98] In order to make his plans to export Canada back into prosperity work, Chrétien decided that the solution was globalization.[98] 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 the Bank of Canada Governor John Crow to achieve his target of zero percent inflation, which Chrétien argued was needlessly crippling the economy.[98]
In November 1991, Chrétien organised a party conference in Aylmer, Quebec where the Liberals formally disallowed most of the economic nationalism and protectionism of the Pearson-Trudeau years, and instead embraced globalization as the cure for the recession of the early 1990s.[99] Reflecting the changed emphasis, at the Aylmer conference, the Liberals declared their support for the 1987 free trade agreement with the United States, which the party had famously promised to tear up if they won the 1988 election, and 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, which proposed devolving federal powers to the provinces and once again recognized Quebec as a "distinct society".[100] Chrétien endorsed the Charlottetown accord on the rather negative grounds that the constitutional debate of the late 1980s-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 political debate back to the economic recession, which had begun in 1990.[100] At 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 to reject it would increase support for Quebec separatism.[101]
When Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian 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 the final say over riding nominations and to veto any candidate that displeased him.[102] Chrétien's use of this power caused some protests within the Liberal 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".[102] 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.[103]
The 1993 election
Mulroney announced his retirement in February, and was succeeded by Minister of National Defence
On September 19, Chrétien released the Liberal platform. The 112-p. document, Creating Opportunity, quickly became known as the Red Book because of its bright red cover. Paul Martin, the man who led the team that produced the Red Book was less complimentary about the Red Book in private as during his time in office as Finance Minister, 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!".[104]
The Liberals promised to remove the GST, which had previously been imposed by the Conservatives.[89] Sheila Copps famously promising to resign within a year of taking office if the GST was not repealed.[89]
Chrétien promised to renegotiate the
But last night, the Conservative Party reached a new low; they tried to make fun of the way I look. God gave me a physical defect, and I accepted that since I'm a kid. [sic] It's true, that I speak on one side of my mouth. I'm not a Tory, I don't speak on both sides of my mouth.
—Jean Chretien responding to the "face ad", 1993. Source video
By late September 1993, the Liberals had a double-digit lead in most opinion polls. By October, the Liberals were the favourites to win at least a minority government. Even at this stage, however, Chrétien's personal approval ratings were far behind those of Campbell. Realizing this, the PC campaign team released a series of ads attacking Chrétien. The ads were viewed as a last-ditch effort to keep the Liberals from winning a majority. The second ad, released on October 14, appeared to mock Chrétien's facial paralysis, and generated a severe backlash from all sides.[109] Even some Tory candidates called for the ad to be removed. Campbell was not directly responsible for the ad, and ordered it off the air over her staff's objections.
On October 25, the Liberals were elected to a majority government, winning 177 seats – the third-best performance in the Liberals' history, and their most impressive win since their record of 190 seats in 1949. The PCs were nearly wiped out, winning only two seats in the worst defeat ever suffered by a governing party at the federal level. Chrétien himself yielded Beauséjour back to Robichaud in order to run in his old riding, Saint-Maurice. However, he was unable to lead the Liberals back to their traditional dominance in Quebec. He was one of only four Liberal MPs elected from that province outside the Montreal area. With few exceptions, most of the support that had switched from the Liberals to the PCs nine years earlier flowed to the Bloc Quebecois, which became the Official Opposition.
Prime Minister (1993–2003)
On November 4, 1993, Chrétien became prime minister. While Trudeau, Joe Clark, and Mulroney had been relative political outsiders prior to becoming prime minister, Chrétien had served in every Liberal cabinet since 1965. This experience gave him knowledge of the Canadian parliamentary system, and allowed Chrétien to establish a very centralized government that, although highly efficient, was also lambasted by critics such as Jeffrey Simpson and the media as being a "friendly dictatorship" and intolerant of internal dissent.[110] Chrétien liked to present himself as the heir to Trudeau, but his governing style had little in common with the intense bouts of governmental activism that had characterised the Trudeau era. The Chrétien government had a cautious, managerial approach to governing, reacting to issues as they arose, and was otherwise inclined to inactivity.[111]
Quebec
1995 Quebec referendum
One of Chrétien's main concerns in office was separation of the province of Quebec, which was governed by the sovereigntist Parti Québécois for nearly the entirety of his term. When the 1995 Quebec independence referendum began in September, Chrétien was relaxed and confident of victory as polls showed federalist forces were leading by a wide margin.[112] On October 8, 1995, Lucien Bouchard replaced the separatist premier of Quebec, Jacques Parizeau, as the de facto chair of the oui committee and, at that point, the support for the oui side started to dramatically increase, aided by the non committee's complacency.[113] In the weeks leading to the referendum on October 30, 1995, the federal government was seized with fear and panic as polls showing that, under the leadership of Bouchard, the oui side was going to win.[114] On October 30, 1995, the federalist non side won by the narrowest of margins, with 50.58%.
Aftermath of referendum
On November 5, 1995, six days after the referendum, Chrétien and his wife escaped injury when André Dallaire, armed with a knife, broke in the prime minister's official residence at 24 Sussex Drive. Aline Chrétien shut and locked the bedroom door until security came, while Chrétien held a stone Inuit carving in readiness.[115] Dallaire was a separatist who was angered by the result of the referendum.
In the aftermath of the narrow victory in the referendum, Chrétien started in late 1995 a new policy of "tough love", also known as "Plan B", where the federal government sought to discredit Quebec separatism by making it clear to the people of Quebec how difficult it would be to leave Canada.[116] Though Chrétien had promised to enshrine recognition of Quebec as a "distinct society" in the constitution in order to win the referendum, this promise was quickly forgotten in the aftermath of victory with Chrétien arguing that the very vocal opposition of Ontario Premier Mike Harris to amending the constitution to recognize Quebec as a "distinct society" made that impossible.[117] Instead, Chrétien had Parliament pass a resolution recognizing Quebec as a "distinct society", which had no constitutional force and was only a symbolic step.[117] Though Harris's promise to veto any sort of "distinct society" clause in the constitution made fulfilling Chrétien's commitment to put such a clause into the constitution impossible, Chrétien did not seem to champion the idea of a "distinct society" clause with any great conviction.[117]
In early 1996, the federal government launched an advertising program to increase the presence of Canada in Quebec, a policy that Chrétien believed would avoid a repeat of the near-defeat of 1995, and was to lead eventually to the Sponsorship scandal.[118] As part of his "Plan B" for combatting Quebec separatism, in a speech in January 1996, Chrétien endorsed the idea of partitioning Quebec in the event of a oui vote in another referendum, stating all of the regions of Quebec that voted non would remain part of Canada, regardless of what the Quebec separatists thought.[119] On February 15, 1996, Chrétien was confronted by a protester, Bill Clennett, during a walkabout in Hull, Quebec. Chrétien responded with a choke-hold. The press referred to it as the "Shawinigan handshake" (from the name of his home town).[120]
Clarity Act
After the 1995 referendum very narrowly defeated a proposal on Quebec sovereignty, Chrétien started to champion what eventually become the Clarity Act as part of his "Plan B". In August 1996, the lawyer Guy Bertrand won a ruling in a Quebec court declaring that the sovereignty question was not just a political matter between the federal and Quebec governments, but also a legal matter subject to court rulings.[121] Following that ruling, Chrétien decided that here was a means of defeating the Quebec sovereignty movement and, in September 1996, ordered the Justice Minister Allan Rock to take the question of the legality of Quebec separating to the Supreme Court.[121] Stéphane Dion advised Chrétien that, if the federal government won the reference to the Supreme Court as expected, the government should draft a bill stating the precise rules for Quebec to leave—telling Chrétien if the people of Quebec could be shown how difficult it would be to leave, then support for separatism would fall.[122] Along the same lines, Dion started to send much-publicised open letters to Quebec ministers questioning the assumptions behind the separatist case.[123]
In December 1999 the Chrétien government tabled the Clarity Act, which passed Parliament in June 2000. The Clarity Act, which was Chrétien's response to his narrow victory in the 1995 referendum requires that no Canadian government may acknowledge any province's declaration of independence unless a "clear majority" supports a "clear question" about sovereignty in a referendum, as defined by the Parliament of Canada, and a constitutional amendment is passed. The size of a "clear majority" is not specified in the Act. After the Clarity Act had passed by the House of Commons in February 2000, a poll showed that the federalist forces enjoyed a 15 percent lead in the polls on the question if Quebec should become independent, which Chrétien argued meant that the sovereignty option was now effectively off the table as Bouchard had always said he would only call another referendum if he could obtain "winning conditions", which he plainly did not possess at the moment.[124]
Domestic affairs
In November 1997, the
In August 1999, the Anglo-Canadian media magnate
Electoral affairs
In July 2003 Chretien passed a bill to reform the way elections are financed.≥
Social issues
In 1995, the Chrétien government introduced and passed the Canadian Firearms Registry, also called the long-gun registry. This would require the registration of all non-restricted firearms in Canada. This gun registry would document and record information of the firearms, their owners, and their owners' licenses.
The government under Chrétien's premiership introduced a new and far-reaching
In July 2003, Chrétien reversed his position on gay marriage, which he had previously been opposed to (in 1999 Chrétien had voted for a resolution sponsored by the Reform saying marriage was a union of a man and a woman only).[137] After a Toronto court ruled that laws forbidding homosexual marriage violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, legalizing same-sex marriage throughout Ontario, Chrétien embraced the idea of gay marriage and introduced a bill in the House of Commons that would have legalized gay marriage despite the very vocal opposition of the Roman Catholic Church with the bishop of Calgary warning in a sermon that Chrétien's "eternal salvation" was at risk.[138]
Economic policy
Chrétien cancelled the privatization of Toronto's Pearson airport.[139] The consortium that was due to take ownership of Pearson sued for breach of contract, which led the government to settle out of court in April 1997 for $60 million in damages.[140]
Chrétien was not keen on making deep cuts to government spending, but given the crisis caused by the skyrocketing interest rates had decided "reluctantly" there was no alternative.[145] Once he had decided upon making deeper cuts than he promised, Chrétien proved to be firm supporter of the new course, and supported Martin's cuts to other departments despite the complaints of the other ministers.[146] Chrétien's advisor Eddie Goldenberg later recalled that Chrétien was unyielding in the face of efforts by other ministers to "spare" their departments, and that Chrétien kept on saying "If I change anything, everything will unravel".[145] In a 2011 interview, Chrétien recalled about the 1995 budget that: "There would have been a day when we would have been the Greece of today. I knew we were in a bind and we had to do something."[147] In order to silence objections from left-wing Liberal backbenchers and Cabinet ministers, Chrétien ensured that the Program Review Committee chaired by Marcel Massé that would decide what programs to end and which to cut had a majority comprising the leftist MPs Brian Tobin, Sheila Copps, Sergio Marchi and Herb Gray, people who would not normally be supporting cutting programs, and thereby underlined the seriousness of the crisis.[148] It was only with the budget that Martin introduced on February 27, 1995, that the Chrétien government began a policy of cuts designed to eliminate the deficit in order to reassure the markets.[149] Much of the Liberal caucus was deeply unhappy with the 1995 budget, arguing that this was not what they had been elected for in 1993, only to be informed by the prime minister that there was no alternative.[150] Chrétien himself expressed his unhappiness with his budget in a radio interview with Peter Gzowski in March 1995, saying about the budget: "It is not our pleasure sir, I have to tell you that. I've been around a long time. It's no pleasure at all. I'm not doctrinaire, a right-winger. I'm a Liberal, and I feel like a Liberal, and it is painful. But it is needed".[150]
The government began a program of deep cuts to provincial transfers and other areas of government finance. During his tenure as prime minister, a $42 billion deficit was eliminated, five consecutive budget surpluses were recorded (thanks in part to favorable economic times), $36 billion in debt was paid down, and taxes were cut by $100 billion (cumulatively) over five years.[151][152] Using the low incomes cut-offs after tax measure, the percentage of Canadians who had low income in 1993 was 14.1 percent; in 1995, when the budget was introduced, that figure had jumped to 14.5; in 2003, the end of Chrétien's time in office, that number had fallen to just 11.6 percent.[153] The share of Canadians living in persistent poverty (i.e. low income for at least 3 years out of 6 years) has declined by almost half since the mid-1990s to 2010.[153] Social spending as a percentage of GDP fell from 20.35 percent in 1993, to 18.35 percent in 1995, eventually falling to 16.94 percent in 1997 and 15.76 percent in 2000, and eventually rising to 16.29 percent in 2003.[154] The 1995 budget, which was called by Peter C. Newman a "watershed document" that marked the first time in recent memory that anybody had made a serious effort to deal with the deficit, won a favorable reaction from the international markets, and a led to an immediate fall in interest rates.[155] There were, however, undeniable costs associated with this endeavour. The cuts resulted in fewer government services, most noticeably in the health care sector, as major reductions in federal funding to the provinces meant significant cuts in service delivery. Moreover, the across-the-board cuts affected the operations and achievement of the mandate of most federal departments. Many of the cuts were restored in later years of Chrétien's period in office.[156]
In March 1996, when the Chrétien government presented
In February 1998, for the first time since 1969 a balanced budget was presented by the government.[158] Shortly afterwards, the Chrétien government introduced the National Child Benefit program for the children of low-income parents.[159]
Foreign policy
Canada in the Yugoslav Wars
In 1999, Chrétien supported Canada's involvement in the
China
Chrétien was known to be a Sinophile and an admirer of the People's Republic of China. In November 1994, he led the first of four "Team Canada" trade missions comprising himself and nine premiers to China (Quebec Premier Jacques Parizeau having declined to go), which had as their stated objective increasing Sino-Canadian trade. The Team Canada mission was meant to be the beginning of the export offensive that would stimulate the economy out of the recession, and also to achieve Chrétien's goal going back to the 1970s of a Canadian economy less dependent on trade with the United States.[161][162] Under his leadership, China and Canada signed several bilateral relations agreements. The Team Canada missions attracted criticism that Chrétien seemed concerned only with economic issues, that he rarely raised the subject of China's poor human rights record, and that on the few occasions that he did mention human rights in China he went out of his way to avoid offending his hosts.[163] Moreover, Chrétien attracted criticism for presenting the case for improved human rights in purely economic terms, arguing that a better human rights record would allow China to join the WTO and thus sell more goods to the West. Chrétien argued that there was no point in criticizing China's human rights record because the Chinese never listened to such criticism, and instead were greatly annoyed about being lectured by Western leaders about their poor human rights record.[164] Given that Canada could not really do anything to change the views of China's leaders about human rights, Chrétien contended that the best that could be done was to improve Sino-Canadian economic relations while ignoring the subject of human rights.[164]
United States
Chrétien phoned U.S. President Bill Clinton in November 1993 to ask him to renegotiate aspects of NAFTA.[165] Clinton bluntly refused, saying that it had been extremely difficult to get Congress to ratify NAFTA, and if NAFTA was renegotiated, then he would have to submit the renegotiated treaty again for ratification, which was not something that he was going to do just for the sake of Chrétien.[165] Clinton informed the prime minister that he could either scrap NAFTA or accept it as it was, and that the most he could offer were a few cosmetic concessions like writing a letter saying the United States was not interested in taking over Canada's energy and water.[165] Chrétien chose the latter, and sought to portray Clinton's letter as a major American concession that constituted a renegotiated NAFTA, though in fact Clinton's letter was not legally binding and meant nothing.[165] Only treaties ratified by Congress are legally binding on the U.S. government and presidential letters impose only a moral obligation, not a legal one, on the U.S government.[166]
Following the September 11 attacks, Canadian forces joined with multinational to pursue al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. U.S. President George W. Bush had also commended how Canada responded to the crisis. Among them included Operation Yellow Ribbon and the memorial service on Parliament Hill three days after 9/11. In January 2002, Chrétien together with the Defence Minister Art Eggleton were accused of misleading Parliament. When asked in Question Period if Canadian troops had handed over captured Taliban and al-Qaeda members in Afghanistan to the American forces amid concerns about the treatment of POWs at Guantanamo Bay, Chrétien stated this was only a "hypothetical question" that could not be answered as the Canadians had taken no POWs.[167] Critics of the government, such as Joe Clark, then pointed out that in the previous week, The Globe & Mail had run on its front page a photo of Canadian soldiers turning over POWs to American troops.[167] Eggleton claimed that he had only learned of the policy of handing over POWs several days after the photo had appeared in The Globe and Mail.[167] When pressed by opposition critics about his apparent ignorance of what was Canada's policy on turning over POWs captured in Afghanistan, Eggleton then claimed that he had not only forgotten that he had been briefed by senior bureaucrats that Canadian Forces were to hand over POWs to the Americans, but that he had also forgotten to inform the Cabinet.[168]
One year after the 9/11 attacks, Chrétien gave controversial remarks about what led to the attacks, suggesting they were a reaction to Western foreign policy. During the 2002 CBC interview, Chrétien said "I do think that the Western world is getting too rich in relations to the poor world. And necessarily, we're looked upon as being arrogant, self-satisfied, greedy and with no limits. And the 11th of September is an occasion for me to realize it even more. When you are powerful like you are, you guys, it's the time to be nice. And it is one of the problems—you cannot exercise your powers to the point of humiliation of the others. And that is what the Western world—not only the Americans but the Western world—has to realize.” The comments were condemned by the new Official Opposition leader and the new Canadian Alliance leader, Stephen Harper, who charged Chretien with victim blaming, while the leaders of the New Democratic Party and Progressive Conservative Party did not interpret Chrétien's comments as critical of the United States.[169][170]
Refusal to join the Iraq War
Chrétien's government did not support the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. His reasoning was that the war lacked UN Security Council sanction; while not a member of the Security Council, Canada nevertheless attempted to build a consensus for a resolution authorizing the use of force after a short (two- to three-month) extension to UN weapon inspections in Iraq. Critics also noted that, while in opposition, he had also opposed the first US-led Gulf War, which had been approved by the UN Security Council and in 1999 supported NATO air strikes against Serbia, which had no Security Council approval. In order to avoid damaging relations with the United States, Chrétien agreed to another and larger deployment of Canadian troops to Afghanistan on February 12, 2003, in order to prove that Canada was still a good American ally, despite opposing the upcoming Iraq war.[171] Canada sent 2,000 soldiers to Afghanistan in the summer of 2003.[172] Twenty years later, in a French-language interview, Chretien recalled the personalities and events that led up to his refusal. At the time some in the business community were petrified that the US would look elsewhere for Canadian products; 85% of Canadian trade was with the US.
Defence policy
In 1993, Chrétien canceled the contract to buy the EH-101 helicopters, requiring the search for new helicopters to start over, and paid a $478 million termination fee to AgustaWestland.[173][174]
In January 1998, Chrétien's government announced that the CH-113 helicopters would be replaced by a scaled-down search-and-rescue variant of the EH101, carrying the designation
Reelections
1997 federal election
Chrétien called
2000 federal election
Chrétien called another
Scandals and controversies
Shawinigate
In late 2000 and early 2001, politics were dominated by questions about the Grand-Mere Affair (or the Shawinigate scandal). Opposition parties frequently charged that Chrétien had broken the law in regards to his lobbying for Business Development Bank of Canada for loans to the Auberge Grand-Mère inn.[188] Questions were especially centered around the firing of the president of the bank, François Beaudoin, and the involvement of Jean Carle, formerly of the PMO, in sacking Beaudoin.[188] Carle served as Chrétien's chief of operations between 1993 and 1998 before leaving to take up an executive post at the Business Development Bank.[189] Chrétien claimed that Carle was not involved in any way with the loans to the Grand-Mere Inn, only to be countered by Joe Clark, who produced a leaked document showing that he was.[190] After initial denials, Chrétien acknowledged having lobbied the Business Development Bank to grant a $2 million loan to Yvon Duhaime. Duhaime was a friend and constituent to whom the Prime Minister stated that he had sold his interest in the Grand-Mère Inn, a local Shawinigan-area hotel and golf resort, eventually providing evidence of the sale—a contract written on a cocktail napkin. Duhaime was a local businessman with an unsavoury reputation and a criminal record, who received a loan from the Business Development Bank that he was ineligible to collect on the account of his criminal record (Duhaime did not mention his record when applying for the loan).[191] The bank had turned down the initial loan application, but later approved a $615,000 loan following further lobbying by Chrétien. When the bank refused to extend the loan in August 1999 under the grounds that Duhaime had a bad financial history, Beaudoin was fired by Chrétien in September 1999, which led to a wrongful dismissal suit that Beaudoin was to win in 2004.[192] It was revealed that Chrétien had never been paid for his share in the sale of the adjoining golf course, and criminal charges were laid against Duhaime. On February 19, 2001, the RCMP announced that there they did not find sufficient evidence to lay criminal charges against anyone in regards to the Grand-Mere Affair, and Chrétien accused Clark of waging a "witch hunt" against the Liberals.[188] On March 2, 2001, the federal ethics counselor Howard Wilson cleared Chrétien of wrongdoing in the Grand-Mere Affair.[188] On April 5, 2001, the National Post received documents purportedly from an anonymous source within the bank, indicating that Chrétien was still owed $23,040 by Duhaime for his share in the Auberge Grand-Mère.[193] The revelation of the Grand-Mère affair did not affect the outcome of the 2000 election. Chrétien and his circle believed that the breaking of the Grand-Mère story was the work of the Martin faction.[194]
Sponsorship Scandal
The major controversy of the later Chrétien years was the
Chrétien and Martin: Liberal Party infighting
Relations between Chrétien and Martin were frequently strained, and Martin was reportedly angling to replace Chrétien as early as 1997. Martin had long hoped that Chrétien would just retire at the end of his second term, thereby allowing him to win the Liberal leadership, and were greatly disappointed in January 2000 when Chrétien's communications director Françoise Ducros had fired "a shot across the bow" by confirming what had been strongly hinted at since the summer of 1999 in an announcement to the caucus that Chrétien would seek a third term.[199][200]
Chrétien was due to face a leadership review in February 2002, but the Liberal national executive, which was controlled by partisans of Paul Martin, agreed to Chrétien's request in early January 2001 that the leadership review be pushed back to February 2003.[201] In agreeing to this request, Martin believed that this was the quid pro quo for allowing Chrétien a decent interval to retire with dignity sometime in 2002, an interpretation that Chrétien did not hold.[201]
Rebellion and resignation
By early 2002, the long-simmering feud with Martin came to a head. A particular concern that had badly strained relations between the prime minister and the finance minister by early 2002 was Martin's control of the Liberal Party apparatus, especially his control over the issuing of membership forms, which he reserved largely for his own supporters.[202] In January 2002, Brian Tobin complained to Chrétien that the Liberal Party machinery had been "captured" by Martin's followers to the extent that it was now virtually impossible for anyone else to sign up their own followers.[202] This posed a major problem for Chrétien as the Liberals were due to hold a leadership review in February 2003. However, it was still quite possible that Chrétien would win the review by a slim margin.[203]
In January 2002, an incident occurred which was to greatly damage Chrétien's relations with the Liberal caucus. After Chrétien reorganized the Cabinet in late January 2002, Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett criticised Chrétien at a caucus meeting for not appointing more women to the Cabinet.[204] Chrétien exploded with rage at Bennett's criticism, saying that as a mere backbencher she did not have the right to criticise the prime minister in front of the caucus, and attacked her with such fury that Bennett collapsed in tears.[205] In February 2002, reflecting a growing number of Liberal MPs' displeasure with Chrétien, the Liberal caucus elected the outspoken pro-Martin MP Stan Keyes (who had already openly mused in 2001 about how it was time for Chrétien to go) as their chairman, who defeated pro-Chrétien MP Steve Mahoney.[196] Chrétien had expected Mahoney to win, and was reported to be shocked when he learned of Keyes's victory, which now gave Martin more control of the caucus.[196]
In late May 2002, Chrétien tried to curtail Martin's campaign for the leadership of the party by delivering a lecture to Cabinet to stop raising money for leadership bids within the Liberal Party. At what was described as a "stormy" Cabinet meeting on May 30, 2002, Chrétien stated that he intended to serve out his entire term, and ordered the end of all leadership fundraising.[206] Martin left his cabinet on June 2, 2002. Martin claimed that Chrétien dismissed him from Cabinet, while Chrétien said that Martin had resigned.[207] In his memoirs, Chrétien wrote that he regretted not having fired Martin a few years earlier.[207]
Martin's departure generated a severe backlash from Martin's supporters, who controlled much of the party machinery, and all signs indicated that they were prepared to oust Chrétien at a leadership review in February 2003. To win the leadership review, Chrétien formed a team in early June 2002 comprising his close associates John Rae, David Collenette, Jean Carle, and David Smith who were ordered to sign up as many pro-Chrétien ("Chrétienist") Liberals as possible for the leadership review.[208] The open split, which was covered extensively on national media, increasingly painted Chrétien as a lame duck. During the summer of 2002, a number of backbencher Liberal MPs associated with Martin started to openly criticise Chrétien's leadership, calling on him to resign now or suffer the humiliation of losing the leadership review.[209] Chrétien asked Jim Karygiannis, who had been so effective in signing up supporters for him in 1990 to repeat that performance, only to be told by Karygiannis that Chrétien had never rewarded him by appointing him to the Cabinet as he asked for many times over the years, had not even returned his phone calls to set up a meeting to discuss his possible appointment to the Cabinet and that he was now a Martin man.[210] Karygiannis then called a press conference on July 13, 2002, where he called for Chrétien to retire "with dignity", rather than risk losing a potentially divisive leadership review and avoid having his career end that way.[211]
After less than half the caucus committed to support him in August 2002 by signing a letter indicating their support for the prime minister in the up-coming leadership review, Chrétien announced that he would not lead the party into the next election, and set his resignation date for February 2004. Martin was not happy with the 2004 departure date, preferring that Chrétien retire at the end of 2002, but considered it better if Chrétien were to retire than having to defeat him at the 2003 leadership review, which would have been more divisive and would have established the ominous precedent of a prime minister being ousted by his own party for no other reason other that someone else wanted the job.
Retirement
On February 18, 2004, François Beaudoin won his wrongful dismissal suit against the Business Development Bank of Canada.
Jean Chrétien testified for the Gomery Commission regarding the sponsorship scandal in February 2005. Earlier that year his lawyers tried, but failed, to have Justice John Gomery removed from the commission, arguing that he lacked objectivity.
In April 2007, Chrétien and Canadian book publishers
On October 1, 2007, Chrétien was playing at the
In November 2008, Chrétien and former NDP leader Ed Broadbent came out of retirement to negotiate a formal coalition agreement between the Liberals, the New Democratic Party and the Bloc Québécois, the first power-sharing coalition since the Union government of 1917–1918 founded in response to the conscription crisis caused by World War I, in a bid to form a new government to replace the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Harper's request to prorogue parliament was granted by Governor General Michaëlle Jean, staving off the opposition's scheduled motion of non-confidence.[218]
On August 5, 2010, Chrétien complained of experiencing difficulty walking, and was admitted to a hospital.[219][220] A brain scan was conducted the next day, and it revealed that a 3 centimeter wide subdural hematoma was pushing 1.5 centimeters into his brain. Emergency surgery was then performed that afternoon, and the blood was successfully drained.[220] He was released from hospital on August 9, 2010. Doctors, who were impressed with the speed of his recovery, ordered him to rest for two to four weeks.[221]
Chrétien's name was rumoured as a replacement for Kofi Annan as secretary-general of the United Nations.[222]
Chrétien is a member of the
Chrétien is named in the Paradise Papers, a set of confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investment that were leaked to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.[226]
Chrétien was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada on June 29, 2007.[227][228] He was appointed to the Order of Merit by Queen Elizabeth II in July 2009[229] and received the insignia of the order from the Queen on October 20, 2009.[230]
In December 2011, Chrétien claimed that the
In October 2021, Chrétien faced controversy during a promotional press interview for his recent book publication in which he denied having knowledge of the ongoing abuse happening to indigenous children in residential schools during his time as Indian Affairs Minister.[234] He went on to compare the experience of Indian Residential Schools, which inflicted lifelong psychological and physical trauma and led either directly or indirectly to the deaths of thousands of children who attended the schools, to his own experience at a private boarding school. NDP MP Charlie Angus contested that the residential school abuse was reported to the department while Chrétien was minister, citing a letter from a teacher at St. Anne's Residential School in Fort Albany, Ont. It was dated 1968. In it, the teacher told him “that crimes are being committed against children," and "that he as Indian affairs minister had to step up and do something." Chrétien never responded.[235]
In September 2022, Chrétien attended Elizabeth II's state funeral, along with other former Canadian prime ministers.[236]
Legacy
Chrétien was ranked the 9th greatest prime minister in a survey of Canadian scholars in 1999, which appeared in Prime Ministers: Ranking Canada's Leaders by
has consistently ranked Chrétien in the top ten on their assessments of Canadian prime ministers; he was ranked 9th greatest in 1997, 6th greatest in 2011 and 7th greatest in 2016.Writing in Policy Options, historian and author Bob Plamondon pointed out that "After demonizing Chrétien, Quebec nationalists could not reconcile themselves to the reality that he gave their province new tools to protect the French language and culture. Canada had not been as united in the previous 50 years as when Chrétien left office. Economists were left to wonder how Chrétien turned around the national finances without triggering a recession. Canadians said in a survey that staying out of Iraq was the country's greatest foreign policy achievement. University presidents still marvel at how Chrétien rebuilt Canada's intellectual infrastructure, turning a brain drain into a brain gain."[238]
Historian Michael Bliss wrote that Chrétien was "moderately competent and only moderately corrupt."[239] Bliss also wrote, "Jean Chrétien's career shows how much can be accomplished in Canadian politics by someone who is ambitious, hard-working, and has good luck — even if they speak English with a very thick accent."[240]
Supreme Court appointments
Chrétien chose the following jurists to be appointed as justices of the Supreme Court of Canada:
- Michel Bastarache (September 30, 1997 – June 30, 2008)
- William Ian Corneil Binnie(January 8, 1998 – October 21, 2011)
- Louise Arbour (September 15, 1999 – June 30, 2004)
- Louis LeBel (January 7, 2000 – November 30, 2014)
- puisne justiceunder Prime Minister Mulroney, March 30, 1989)
- Marie Deschamps (August 7, 2002 – August 7, 2012)
- Morris J. Fish(August 5, 2003 – August 31, 2013)
Honours
Ribbon | Description | Notes |
Order of Merit (O.M.) | ||
Companion of the Order of Canada (C.C.) |
| |
Centennial Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal |
| |
Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal for Canada |
| |
125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal |
| |
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal for Canada |
| |
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for Canada |
| |
Russian Federation |
||
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun from the Japanese government |
|
|
Honorary degrees
Location | Date | School | Degree |
---|---|---|---|
Ontario | 1981 | Wilfrid Laurier University | Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[248]
|
Ontario | 1982 | Laurentian University | Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[249] |
Ontario | 1986 | York University | Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[250] |
Alberta | 1987 | University of Alberta | Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[251] |
Ontario | 1988 | Lakehead University | Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[252] |
Ontario | 1994 | University of Ottawa | Doctor of the University (D.Univ)[253]
|
New Brunswick | 1994 | University of Moncton |
|
Japan | 1996 | Meiji University | Doctorate |
Poland | 1999 | Warsaw School of Economics |
Doctorate[254] |
Michigan | 1999 | Michigan State University | Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[255] |
Israel | 2000 | Hebrew University of Jerusalem | [256] |
Newfoundland and Labrador | 2000 | Memorial University of Newfoundland | Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[257] |
Dominican Republic | 2003 | Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra | |
Ontario | 2004 | Queen's University | Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[258] |
Ontario | 2005 | McMaster University | Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[259] |
Ukraine | 2007 | National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy | |
Ontario | October 23, 2008 | University of Western Ontario | Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[260] |
Quebec | 2008 | Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières | |
Quebec | June 2010 | Concordia University | Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[261] |
Quebec | 2011 | Université de Montréal | |
Manitoba | June 12, 2014 | University of Winnipeg | Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[262][263] |
Electoral record
See also
Notes
References
- ^ "The Life and Times of Jean Chrétien". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 2003. Archived from the original on December 14, 2006. Retrieved January 29, 2007.
- ^ "Généalogie Willie Chretien". www.nosorigines.qc.ca. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
- ^ a b Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will To Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 27.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will To Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 pp. 28–29.
- ^ a b Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will To Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 44.
- ^ a b Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will To Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 89.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will To Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 pp. 25 & 44.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will To Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 26.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will To Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 pp. 34–35.
- ^ a b Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will To Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 56.
- ^ a b "Straight From The Heart", by JC, 1985
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 pp. 74–75.
- ^ a b Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 51.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Iron Man, Toronto: Viking, 2003 p. 3.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 58.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 76.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 77.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 94.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 93.
- ^ Jean Chrétien (October 6, 1995). "Notes by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, Shawinigan, Quebec". Privy Council Office. Archived from the original on August 19, 2007. Retrieved December 5, 2006.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ "Jean Chretien: Veteran fighter". November 28, 2000. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
- ^ Gray, Jeff. "Jean Chrétien: Ambition or arrogance?". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Archived from the original on January 25, 2014. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
- ^ Martin, Chrétien, pp. 104–05.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 pp. 124–125.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 131.
- ^ a b Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 163.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 183.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 177.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 pp. 177–178.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 179.
- ^ a b Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 184–185.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Iron Man, Toronto: Viking, 2003 pp. 280–281.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 222.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 pp. 196–197.
- ^ a b Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 198.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 199.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 202.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 211.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 pp. 228–230.
- ^ a b c d Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 224.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 pp. 238–239.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 240.
- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 242.
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- ^ a b c Siddiquic, Haroon (April 15, 2012). "Canada's cherished Charter could not have happened without "kitchen accord"". Toronto Star. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
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- ^ Martin, Lawrence Chrétien: The Will to Win, Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995 p. 306.
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- ^ a b c Simpson, Jeffery "The Vincible Liberals" pp. 15–28 from The Canadian General Election of 1984: Politicians, Parties, Press and Polls edited by Alan Stewart Frizzell & Anthony Westell, Ottawa: Carleton University Press, 1985 p. 23.
- ^ Weston, Greg Reign of Error, Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1988 p. 73.
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- ^ Jeffrey, Brooke Divided Loyalties: The Liberal Party of Canada, 1984–2008, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010 pp. 201–202.
- ^ Joyal, Serge Protecting Canadian Democracy: The Senate You Never Knew, Montreal: McGill-Queen's Press, 2003 p. 162.
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Further reading
Archives
- Jean Chrétien fonds. Ottawa, Ontario: Library and Archives Canada.
Bibliography
- Chrétien, Jean (2007). My Years as Prime Minister. Toronto: Knopf Canada. ISBN 978-0-676-97900-8.
Prime Ministers of Canada.
- Chrétien, Jean (1985). Straight from the Heart. Toronto: Key Porter Books. ISBN 1-55013-576-7.
- Jeffrey, Brooke (2010). Divided Loyalties: The Liberal Party of Canada, 1984–2008. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-1442610651.
- Martin, Lawrence (1995). Chrétien: The Will to Win. Toronto: Lester Publishing. ISBN 1-895555-95-7.
- Martin, Lawrence (2003). Iron Man: The Defiant Reign of Jean Chrétien. Toronto: Penguin Group (Canada). ISBN 0-670-04310-9.
- Double Vision: The Inside Story of the Liberals in Power, by ISBN 0-385-25613-2.
- One-Eyed Kings, by Ron Graham, Toronto 1986, Collins Publishers, ISBN 0-00-217749-8.
- Prime Ministers: Ranking Canada's Leaders by ISBN 0-00-200027-X.
Academic
- Harder, Lois; Patten, Steve, eds. (2006). The Chrétien Legacy:Public Policy in Canada. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 0-7735-3107-6.
- McWhinney, Edward (2003). Chrétien and Canadian Federalism: Politics and the Constitution, 1993–2003. Vancouver: Ronsdale Press. ISBN 1-55380-006-0.
External links
- Jean Chrétien – Parliament of Canada biography
- Jean Chrétien Editorial Cartoon Gallery
- CBC Digital Archives – Jean Chrétien: From Pool hall to Parliament Hill
- Joseph-Jacques-Jean Chrétien, by Robert Bothwell
- The Red Book
- Jean Chrétien at IMDb
- Order of Canada Citation
- Concordia University Honorary Degree Citation, June 2010, Concordia University Records Management and Archives
- Appearances on C-SPAN