Jean Chrétien

Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien, usually known as Jean Chrétien, PC, QC, BA, LLL, LLD (born January 11, 1934), was the twentieth Prime Minister of Canada, serving from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003. He was the ninth leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 1990 to 2003.

Early life

Born in Shawinigan, Quebec, as the 18th of 19 children (a number of whom did not survive infancy) to Willie Chrétien and Marie Boisvert, Jean Chrétien studied law at Université Laval. Chrétien would later make light of his humble origins, calling himself "le petit gars de Shawinigan," or the "little guy from Shawinigan." In his youth, he suffered an attack of Bell's palsy, leaving the left side of his face permanently 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."

On September 10, 1957, he married Aline Chainé. They have two sons (Hubert and Michel) and one daughter (France).

Early career

Chrétien in 1967

Chrétien practised law in Shawinigan until he was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the Canadian Shawnigan-based riding, renamed Saint-Maurice, for 23 years. After re-election in the 1965 election, he served as parliamentary secretary (junior minister) to Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson (1965) and then to Minister of Finance Mitchell Sharp (1966). He was appointed Minister of National Revenue in 1968 by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

After the June 1968 election, he was appointed Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. During the October Crisis, Chretien told Trudeau to "act now, explain later," when Trudeau was hesitant to invoke the War Measures Act. 85% of Canadians agreed with the move. In 1974, he was appointed President of the Treasury Board; and beginning in 1976, he served as Minister of Industry, Trade and Commerce. In 1977, following the resignation of Finance Minister John Turner, Chretien succeeded him.

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 ironically considering his eventual success.

The Liberals lost power in 1979. When they regained power in 1980, Chrétien was appointed Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. In this role, he 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, and his blunt warnings of the consequences of separation earned him a reputation as a "straight shooter." He also served as Minister of State for Social Development and Minister Responsible for Constitutional Negotiations, playing a significant role in the patriation of the Constitution of Canada. He was the chief negoitator of what would be called the "Kitchen Accord", an agreement which led to the agreement of 9 provinces to patriation. His role in the dealings, however, would forever follow him in his native Quebec, who did not ratify the Constitution (although the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Quebec was bound by it). In 1982, Chrétien was appointed Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources.

After Trudeau announced his retirement in early 1984 as Liberal Party leader and Prime Minister, Chrétien sought the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada. The experience was a hard one for Chrétien, as many of his longtime Cabinet allies supported the Turner campaign. He was thought to be a dark horse until the end, but lost on the second ballot to John Turner at the leadership convention that June. Iona Campagnolo would ominously introduce Chrétien as, "Second on the ballot, but first in our hearts."

Turner appointed him Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for External Affairs (foreign minister). Relations between the two were strained, especially after the Liberals were severely defeated in the 1984 election. Chrétien was one of only 17 Liberals elected from Quebec (the party had won 74 out of 75 seats in 1980) In 1986, Chrétien resigned his seat and left public life for a time. Now working in the private sector again, Chrétien sat on the boards of several corporations. These corporations included the Power Corporation of Canada subsidiary Consolidated Bathurst, the Toronto-Dominion Bank, and the Brick Warehouse Corporation, among others.

Chrétien would be a major focal point of dissatisfaction with Turner, with many polls showing his popularity. His book, Straight from the Heart, was a best-seller.

Early years as Liberal leader

After Turner's resignation as leader in 1989, Chrétien announced he would run for the party leadership at the June 1990 Liberal leadership convention in Calgary, Alberta.

Chrétien's principal opponent, Paul Martin, was generally seen as the ideological heir to Turner, while Chrétien was the ideological heir to Trudeau. A key moment in that race took place at an all-candidates debate in Montreal, where the discussion quickly turned to the Meech Lake Accord. Martin attempted to force Chrétien to abandon his nuanced position on the deal and declare for or against it. When Chrétien refused to endorse the deal, young Liberal delegates crowding the hall began to chant "vendu" ("sellout" in French) and "Judas" at Chrétien. Martin continues to state he had nothing to do with the response from the floor, or a similar outburst by his supporters at the convention, in which Chrétien defeated Martin on the first and only ballot. However, his reputation in his home province never recovered.

In December, 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 doesn't have a seat in Parliament.

Chrétien later revealed himself to be as staunchily federalist as Trudeau. However, he supported the Charlottetown Accord while Trudeau opposed it.

When Tory Prime Minister Brian Mulroney began to lose ground in the polls, Chrétien was the major beneficiary. In particular, Chrétien reaped a major windfall after Mulroney introduced an unpopular Goods and Services Tax.

The 1993 election

Mulroney's approval numbers soon fell into the teens, and by 1993, opinion polls showed that he would almost certainly be defeated by Chrétien in the election due that year. He announced his retirement in February, and was succeeded by Justice Minister Kim Campbell. Campbell managed to pull within a few points of Chrétien by the time the writs were dropped in September.

Campbell, however, had little luck overcoming the tremendous antipathy toward Mulroney, despite a substantial bounce from the leadership convention. Chrétien saw an opportunity, and on September 19, he dropped a bombshell by releasing the entire Liberal platform. The 112-page document, Creating Opportunity, quickly became known as the Red Book because of its bright red cover. It was a very specific and detailed statement of exactly what a Chrétien government would do in office. Chrétien promised to scrap the GST, renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and reform the unemployment insurance system. Above all, Chrétien promised to return Canada to fiscal solvency. As proof, the Red Book gave costs for each of the Liberals' policy goals--the first time a Canadian party had gone to such lengths to prove that its proposals were fiscally responsible.

The Red Book gave the Liberals the reputation as the party with ideas, and none of the other parties had anything that even matched it. The Liberals quickly surged to a double-digit lead in most opinion polls. By October, it was obvious that Chrétien would 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 Tory campaign team released a series of ads attacking Chrétien. The second ad, released on October 14, appeared to mock Chrétien's facial paralysis, and generated a severe backlash from all sides. Even some Tory candidates called for the ad to be yanked. Campbell was not directly responsible for the ad, but ordered it off the air over her staff's objections. However, she didn't apologize and lost a chance to contain the fallout from the ad.

Chrétien turned the furor to his advantage, likening the Tories to the children who teased him when he was a boy in Shawnigan. "When I was a kid people were laughing at me," he said at an appearance in Nova Scotia. "But I accepted that because God gave me other qualities and I'm grateful." The speech, which one Tory described as one Chrétien had waited his whole life to deliver, moved many in the audience to tears. Chrétien's approval ratings shot up, nullifying the only advantage the Conservatives still had over him. All told, the ad flap all but assured that the Liberals would win a majority government.

On October 25, Chrétien and the Liberals were elected to an overwhelming majority government, winning 177 seats — the third-best performance in the Liberals' history, and their most since their record of 190 seats in 1949. The Tories were nearly wiped off the map, falling to 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.

Prime minister

On November 4, Chrétien took office as 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 a masterful knowledge of the Canadian Parliamentary system, and allowed Chrétien to establish a very centralized government that, although highly efficient, was also lambasted by critics as being a "friendly dictatorship" and intolerant of internal dissent.

Chrétien entered office in as strong a position as any newly elected Liberal prime minister since Louis St. Laurent. With 123 more seats than the next largest party, he could have enacted virtually any program he wanted. He turned most of his attention to clearing away the massive debt he'd inherited from Mulroney. He was assisted by Martin, who had been promised the Finance portfolio for his work in authoring the Red Book. 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, $36 billion in debt was paid down, and taxes were cut by $100 billion (cumulatively) over 5 years, the largest tax cut in Canadian history. There were, however, undeniable costs associated with this endeavour. The cuts would result 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 would be restored in later years of Chrétien's period in office.

One of Chrétien's main focuses in office was preventing the separation of the province of Quebec, which was ruled by the separatist Parti Québécois for nearly the Prime Minister's entire term. After the 1995 referendum very narrowly defeated a proposal on Quebec sovereignty, Chrétien's government passed what became known as the Clarity Act, which said that no Canadian government would acknowledge a Quebec declaration of independence unless a "clear majority" supported sovereignty in a referendum based on a "clear question", as defined by the Parliament of Canada. The size of a "clear majority" was left unspecified, but the Supreme Court of Canada made it clear that such a majority would not be "50% plus one vote".

Chrétien in office.

On November 5, 1995, Chretien and his wife escaped injury when a man, 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. Jean was ready to defend himself with a shape-edged Inuit carving.

In 1996, Chrétien was confronted by anti-poverty protester Bill Clennett at the first National Flag of Canada Day ceremony. The Prime Minister responded by putting him in a chokehold and shoving him aside, before the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) security detail was able to react. The move was dubbed the Shawinigan Handshake by the press, after Chrétien's hometown of Shawnigan.

Chrétien's government also introduced a new and far-reaching Youth Criminal Justice Act, which replaced the old Young Offenders Act, and changed the way youths were prosecuted for crimes in Canada.

Following the September 11 terrorist attacks upon the United States, North American airspace was shut down and many Canadians opened up their homes to stranded travellers. Chrétien praised Operation Yellow Ribbon, saying that it was one of the ways it showed the best of Canadians in a time of tragedy for their American friends and neighbours down south. In response to those attacks, Canadian forces joined with multinational forces that invaded Afghanistan to pursue al-Qaeda forces there.

Under Chrétien, Canada 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.) Although criticism from right-wing opposition was vocal, the move proved popular with the Canadian public in general. In December of 2003, it emerged that Chrétien's government had prepared plans for Canada to send as many as 800 Canadian troops to Iraq if the UN Security Council had authorized it; however, a UN request for an increased deployment of Canadian peacekeepers to Afghanistan removed this option from the table. This led some of Chrétien's anti-war critics on the left to accuse the Prime Minister of never really being fully opposed to the war. Nonetheless, Canada was the first non-member of the US-led coalition to provide significant financial aid to the post-war reconstruction effort, relative to Canada's size. This move allowed Canadian companies to bid on reconstruction contracts.

Chrétien's term was marked by two major brushes with scandal. In 2000, after initial denials, he acknowledged having lobbied the Business Development Bank of Canada to grant a $2 million loan to Yvon Duhaime, a friend and constituent to whom the Prime Minister had sold his interest in a local resort. The bank had turned down the initial application, but later approved a $615,000 loan following further lobbying by Chrétien. The application became controversial when it was revealed that Chrétien had never been paid for his share in the sale of the adjoining golf course, and by criminal charges against Duhaime. The Prime Minister's ethics counsellor determined that Chrétien had not violated any conflict-of-interest rules, noting that there were no clear guidelines on such matters.

The other major controversy of the Chrétien years was the sponsorship scandal. The Gomery Commission, First Phase Report, which later assigned blame for the scandal, cast most of the indemnity for misspent public funds and fraud on Chrétien and his Prime Minister's Office staff. The lingering repercussions of the scandal reduced the Liberal Party to a minority in 2004, and contributed to the government's defeat in 2006.

Chrétien came under fire for backtracking on some of his promises, most notably the GST. Instead of scrapping it, he replaced it with the Harmonized Sales Tax in three Atlantic provinces. However, Chrétien claimed that the fiscal situation was far worse than expected. Despite slipping poll numbers, he called an election for 1997, a year ahead of schedule. Many of his own MPs criticized him for this move, especially in light of the devastating Red River Flood. He was reelected with a considerably reduced mandate. However, they still finished with 95 more seats than the next-largest party. The Liberals rebounded in 2000, nearly tying their 1993 total.

During his time in office, Chrétien never faced any real opposition in the Commons. During his first term, the Official Opposition was the Bloc Québecois, a pro-sovereigntist party led by former Tory cabinet minister Lucien Bouchard. In 1997, they were replaced by the Reform Party of Canada, a right-wing Western protest party that replaced the Tories as the main right-wing party in Canada. Reform's agenda was seen as too extreme for most Canadians, and was unable to gain any traction east of Manitoba. Even after Reform restructured into the Canadian Alliance, it gained little ground on Chrétien.

Retirement

Relations between Chrétien and Martin were frequently strained, and Martin was reportedly angling to replace Chrétien as early as 1997. In the summer of 2002, Chrétien tried to curtail Martin's by-now open campaign for the leadership of the party. By most accounts, Chrétien fired Martin from Cabinet, while Chrétien says Martin resigned. In any case, Martin's departure generated a severe backlash from his supporters. Martin's supporters largely controlled the party machinery, and all signs indicated that they were prepared to oust Chrétien at a leadership review in January 2003. After less than half the caucus committed to support him, Chrétien announced that he would not lead the party into the next election, and set his resignation date for February 2004. Martin's supporters had by this time gained control of the party machinery, all but assuring Martin's victory at the 2003 leadership convention.

Chrétien maintained a high approval rating near the end of his term thanks to several developments. The cooperation of federal, provincial, and municipal governments enabled Vancouver to win the right to host the 2010 Winter Olympics. The election victory of the federalist Jean Charest was largely seen by the rest of the provinces as a vote of confidence in Chrétien's unity efforts. His decision not to participate in the Iraq war was popular with a large majority of Canadians.

Chrétien's final sitting in the House of Commons took place November 6, 2003, with many tributes, standing ovations, and even some hearty laughs at humorous stories told by the Prime Minister. He made an emotional farewell to the party on November 13 at the Liberal Convention. The following day his rival Martin was elected his successor. U2 lead singer Bono attended the Convention and made a speech, joking "I'm the only thing these two can agree upon."

On December 12, 2003, Jean Chrétien officially resigned as prime minister, formally handing power over to Paul Martin. According to Canadian protocol, as a former prime minister, he is styled "The Right Honourable" for life. Mr. Chrétien joined the law firm of Heenan Blaikie on January 5, 2004, as counsel. The firm announced he would work out of its Ottawa, Ontario, offices four days per week and make a weekly visit to the Montreal office.

On May 27, 2004, he received an honorary LL.D from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario; and on June 8, 2005, an honorary degree from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

Jean Chrétien testified for the Gomery commission regarding the sponsorship scandal in 2005. Earlier that year his lawyers tried, but failed, to have Justice John Gomery removed from the commission because they claimed he lacked objectivity (see [1]) Chrétien contends that the Gomery commission was set up to make him look bad, and that it was not a fair investigation. He cites comments Gomery made calling him "small town cheap", referring to the management of the sponsorship program as "catastrophically bad," and calling Chuck Guité, a "charming scamp". Subsequent to the release of the first report, Chrétien has decided to take an action in Federal Court to review the commission report on the grounds that Gomery showed a "reasonable apprehension of bias", and that some conclusions didn't have an "evidentiary" basis (see [2]) Chrétien believes that the appointment of Bernard Roy, a former chief of staff to former Progressive Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney, as chief counsel for the commission was a mistake, as he failed to call some relevant witnesses such as Don Boudria and Ralph Goodale.

Supreme Court appointments

Chretien appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of Canada:
* Michel Bastarache - (September 30, 1997 - present)
* William Ian Corneil Binnie - (January 8, 1998 - present)
* Louise Arbour - (September 15, 1999 - June 30, 2004)
* Louis LeBel - (January 7, 2000 - present)
* Beverly McLachlin (Chief Justice) - (July 7, 2000 - present) (appointed a Puisne Justice by Brian Mulroney in 1989)
* Marie Deschamps - (August 7, 2002 - present)
* Morris J. Fish - (August 5, 2003 - present)

Legacy

In general, Chrétien supported Pierre Trudeau's ideals of official bilingualism and multiculturalism, but his government oversaw the erosion of the welfare state established and built under William Lyon Mackenzie King, Louis St. Laurent, Lester Pearson and Trudeau. His government advocated neo-liberal (or left-of-centre) polices on a number of economic fronts, cutting transfer payments to the provinces and social programs, supporting globalization and free trade and implementing large personal and corporate tax cuts.

Chrétien was repeatedly attacked by both his opponents and supporters for failing to live up to certain election promises, such as replacing the GST and renegotiating NAFTA. He also came under fire for cancelling the purchase of new military helicopters to replace the aging Sea Kings which were plagued with mechanical failures. Some point to the "No" result of the 1995 Quebec referendum on separation as a political victory for Chrétien, while others interpret the extremely slim margin as a near-disaster for which Chrétien, as de facto leader of the "No" campaign, was responsible. In 2002, Chrétien promoted a plan to help Africa financially. It is not completely clear for what he will be most remembered.

One of the most pressing issues in Chrétien's final years in office was Canada's relationship with the United States. Chrétien had a close relationship with President Bill Clinton, after attacking Brian Mulroney for being too friendly with both Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, but when George W. Bush took office in the United States, relations began to cool. Chrétien's lack of support for the Iraq war, while immensely popular, was criticized by some as a damaging move for the Canadian-US military alliance.

Very soon after his retirement, Chrétien's legacy was marred by the sponsorship scandal. Although implicated, no direct evidence has yet been found directly linking him to it. Nevertheless, many of his closest and longtime political allies were fired from government jobs by his successor Paul Martin, who he had fought a bitter leadership battle with. The scandal also put a question mark over Chrétien's preferred style of governance, which had been in question long before his retirement due to various scandals, particularly involving cabinet minister Alfonso Gagliano. Chrétien's loyalty to Gagliano was such that he appointed him as Canada's ambassador to Denmark notwithstanding the controversy surrounding the minister's role in the sponsorship program.

Martin, who was cleared by Justice Gomery, moved to sharply distance himself from the Chrétien legacy, although this was also due to the at times bitter political rivalry between the two men. Chrétien's supporters have accused Martin of trying to elude responsibility by blaming the scandal on the former. In an unprecedented move, many of Chrétien's most loyal ministers were not included in Martin's cabinet and many of those were also forced to contest their nominations in uphill contests again Martin's appointed candidates. As a result, most of them were forced to retire, although Sheila Copps contested and lost the Liberal nomination in her riding. The Chrétien-Martin rift has also divided the Liberals in the 2004 and 2006 elections, with some Chrétien supporters complaining of being sidelined despite their extensive campaign expertise.

Honorary Degrees

*Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario in 1981 (LL.D)
*Laurentian University in Sudbury in 1982 (LL.D)
*University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario in 1986 (LL.D)
*York University in Toronto in 1987 (LL.D)
*University of Alberta in Edmonton in 1988 (LL.D)
*Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario
*University of Ottawa in 1994
*Meiji University in Tokyo, Japan in 1996
*Warsaw School of Economics in Poland in 1999
*Michigan State University in 1999
*Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2000
*Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's in 2000
*McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario in 2005

Entertainment

Comedian Rick Mercer and Chrétien at a Harvey's fast food restaurant

In 1997, Chrétien was a guest star on This Hour Has 22 Minutes as former member Rick Mercer (right) took him to lunch at a Harvey's fast food restaurant, where the topic was Chrétien's life story. The scene is the most memorable of Chrétien's several guest appearances (as himself) on Canadian sketch comedy shows such as The Royal Canadian Air Farce and This Hour Has 22 Minutes, where he was often an active participant in the sketch at hand. Rick Mercer has praised Chrétien's comedic timing.

Trivia

*Chrétien formed a band, "True Grit", with fellow Liberals Joe Fontana and Roger Gallaway. Chretien played trombone.
*During the 1998 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Chretien made a bet with American President Bill Clinton on the playoff series between the Ottawa Senators and the Washington Capitals where the loser of the series had to wear the opposing team's jersey, The Capitals won the series four games to one and Chretien had to wear a Capitals jersey.

External links

*Political biography from the Library of Parliament
*Article about Jean Chretien's Honourary degrees
*Jean Chretien Editorial Cartoon Gallery
*CBC Digital Archives â€" Jean Chrétien: From pool hall to Parliament Hill

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