Chrétien, Jean, << kray TYEHN, zhahn >> (1934-…), served as prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. He became prime minister in late 1993, when the Liberal Party beat the Progressive Conservatives, led by Kim Campbell, in a general election. Chrétien remained in office following general elections in 1997 and 2000.
Chrétien became active in Canada’s Liberal Party at the age of 12. In 1963, at 29, he was elected to Canada’s House of Commons. He remained a member of the Commons for the next 23 years. During this time, he held various posts in the cabinets of Prime Ministers Lester B. Pearson, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, and John N. Turner.
In 1984, Chrétien campaigned for leadership of the Liberal Party, but he lost to Turner. In 1986, Chrétien resigned from the House of Commons after a dispute with Turner. Following his resignation, Chrétien practiced law in Ottawa and Montreal. He reentered politics in 1990, when he was elected leader of the Liberal Party. Later that year, Chrétien returned to the House of Commons after winning a by-election, a special election to fill a vacant seat.
Chrétien’s forceful speaking style, passionate patriotism, sense of humor, and ability to identify with the Canadian people made him one of the most popular political figures in English-speaking Canada. But his earthy populism and his opposition to Quebec nationalism made him unpopular in his home province of Quebec.
When Chrétien first became prime minister, Canada’s economy was struggling to recover from a recession that had started in 1990. Chrétien made economic growth and the creation of jobs his top priorities. He also aimed to cut the federal deficit.
Early life
Boyhood.
Joseph-Jacques Jean Chrétien was born on Jan. 11, 1934, in Shawinigan, Quebec. He was the 18th of 19 children of Wellie Chrétien and Marie Boisvert Chrétien. Ten of his siblings died in infancy, leaving him with five brothers and three sisters. Chrétien’s father was a machinist in a paper mill and an organizer for the Liberal Party.
A childhood disease partially paralyzed Chrétien’s mouth and left him permanently deaf in his right ear. Jean’s parents sent him and his brothers and sisters away to boarding schools. They felt the children would get a better education there than in the small town of Shawinigan. By the age of 12, Jean was distributing Liberal Party pamphlets.
College years and early career.
Chrétien earned a B.A. degree from the College of Three Rivers in Trois-Rivières in 1955. He then entered Laval University in Quebec City to study law. He became president of the university’s Liberal Club and organized the Liberal Party’s campaign in Quebec for the 1956 general elections. Chrétien earned his law degree from Laval in 1958. That same year, he helped found the law firm of Chrétien, Landry, Deschenes, Trudel and Normand in Shawinigan.
In 1957, Chrétien married Aline Chaine. The couple had a daughter, France, and a son, Hubert. They adopted an American Indian boy, Michel, in the early 1970’s.
Political career
Member of Parliament.
In 1963, Chrétien won election to the House of Commons, representing the riding (district) of St.-Maurice-Laflèche, which included Shawinigan. At that time, Chrétien spoke French but knew little English. He immediately began studying English so he could function effectively in the national government. A majority of Canada’s people speak English. Chrétien was reelected in 1965. In 1968, he won election to the new riding of St.-Maurice and was reelected in 1972, 1974, 1979, 1980, and 1984.
Early posts.
In the Commons, Chrétien was quickly recognized as a promising politician. Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson appointed him as his parliamentary secretary in 1965 and as secretary to the minister of finance in 1966. In 1967, Chrétien served as minister of state in the ministry of finance, where he helped prepare the government’s budget. He became minister of national revenue in 1968. Pearson retired that year, and Chrétien supported Minister of Justice Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s successful bid for leadership of the Liberal Party. As party leader, Trudeau succeeded Pearson as prime minister. The Liberals retained power after winning most of the seats in the House of Commons in a general election in June.
In Trudeau’s Cabinet,
Chrétien held several important posts. Trudeau appointed him minister of Indian affairs and northern development in 1968. Chrétien held this post for six years. During this time, he improved government relations with Canada’s native peoples and reorganized the governments of the Yukon and Northwest territories. He also created 10 national parks.
In 1974, Trudeau appointed Chrétien president of the Treasury Board of Canada, where Chrétien made huge cuts in government spending. Chrétien’s success in this post led to his appointment as minister of industry, trade, and commerce in 1976. In 1977, he became the first French-Canadian minister of finance. At that time, Canada’s economy was suffering from a recession, growing unemployment, and soaring inflation. Chrétien tried to stimulate the economy by cutting taxes, but the recession continued. In 1979 elections, the Progressive Conservative Party, led by Joe Clark, gained control of the government, and Clark became prime minister.
In a 1980 general election, the Liberals regained control of the government. Trudeau returned as prime minister. He appointed Chrétien minister of justice, attorney general, and minister of state for social development. Trudeau also gave Chrétien the task of organizing federal opposition to a growing independence movement in Quebec. The government of Quebec called a provincial referendum for May 1980, asking voters for the authority to negotiate Quebec’s political independence. Chrétien campaigned vigorously to preserve Canada’s national unity, and the people of Quebec voted against independence.
During the next two years, Chrétien worked with representatives from Canada’s 10 provinces to develop a plan to give Canada complete control over the Canadian constitution. At that time, all amendments to the constitution required the approval of the British Parliament. In November 1981, after extended negotiations, Trudeau and Chrétien won acceptance of the proposed changes to the constitution from the premiers of all the provinces except Quebec. The proposals became part of the Constitution Act of 1982, which the British Parliament passed in March. The act took effect on April 17, when Queen Elizabeth II approved it. Later that year, Trudeau named Chrétien minister of energy, mines, and resources.
First bid for party leadership.
In February 1984, Trudeau announced he would resign as leader of the Liberal Party. Chrétien announced his candidacy for leadership of the party in March. He ran against six others, including John N. Turner, a former finance minister.
Although Chrétien and Turner ran a close race, Turner won the party’s leadership in a convention in June. Chrétien placed a strong second. Turner succeeded Trudeau as prime minister and appointed Chrétien deputy prime minister and secretary of state for external affairs. In a general election in September, however, Brian Mulroney led the Progressive Conservatives to a landslide victory over the Liberals. After the general election, Chrétien wrote an autobiography, Straight from the Heart (1985), which became a best seller.
Resignation from Parliament.
In February 1986, a dispute arose between Chrétien and Turner over the leadership of the Liberal Party in Quebec. Chrétien supported Francis Fox, a former minister of communications. Turner, however, favored another candidate and persuaded Fox to withdraw from the race. Chrétien felt Turner had betrayed him by failing to consult him in the matter. He angrily accused Turner of interfering in the election and working to keep experienced Liberals out of the party organization in Quebec. In late February, Chrétien resigned from the House of Commons. He then worked for the law firm of Lang, Michener, Lawrence, and Shaw in Ottawa and for Gordon Capital Corporation, an investment firm in Montreal.
Election as party leader.
The Progressive Conservatives again won a majority of seats in the House of Commons in a general election in 1988. In 1990, Turner resigned as Liberal Party leader. Chrétien then ran against four other candidates to replace Turner as party leader.
Debate about the Meech Lake Accord overshadowed Chrétien’s campaign. The Meech Lake Accord was an agreement between Mulroney and the 10 provincial premiers to amend the 1982 constitution. The proposed amendment would have recognized the province of Quebec as a distinct society in Canada. It also would have given provincial governments the power to veto future amendments. Chrétien had criticized the accord before he became a candidate, claiming it weakened the federal government. But during his campaign, he avoided speaking against the plan. The accord was not ratified. However, disagreement about it divided Canada and the Liberal Party and made Chrétien more unpopular in Quebec.
In June, Chrétien was elected head of the Liberal Party by a wide margin. He vowed to help reunify both the country and the Liberal Party. In December 1990, he won a seat in a by-election to the House of Commons from the riding of Beauséjour in New Brunswick.
In 1992, Mulroney and the provincial premiers agreed on a second plan for amending the constitution, and Chrétien supported it. Like the Meech Lake Accord, this plan—called the Charlottetown accord—recognized Quebec as a distinct society in Canada. In addition, it called for replacing Canada’s appointed Senate with an elected Senate, granting self-government to the native peoples of Canada, and transferring some federal powers to the provinces. In a nationwide referendum held in October 1992, Canadian voters rejected the reforms.
The 1993 election.
In 1993, Mulroney resigned as prime minister and Progressive Conservative Party leader. Kim Campbell succeeded him. Campbell called a general election for Oct. 25, 1993. In the election campaign, Chrétien led the Liberal Party against the Progressive Conservatives, led by Campbell; the Bloc Quebecois, led by Lucien Bouchard; the Reform Party, led by Preston Manning; and the New Democratic Party, led by Audrey M. McLaughlin.
During the campaign, Chrétien criticized the way the Progressive Conservatives had run the government. He pointed out the growth of the budget deficit under the Progressive Conservatives. Chrétien promised to reduce the federal budget deficit. He also insisted that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) be renegotiated to get terms more favorable to Canada. The pact called for the gradual elimination of tariffs and other trade barriers among Canada, the United States, and Mexico. It had been signed by leaders of the three countries but required ratification by the national legislatures.
In the general election in October, the Liberal Party won 177 of 295 seats in the House of Commons, and Chrétien became the prime minister on November 4. The Bloc Quebecois, which favors sovereignty for Quebec, came in second. The Progressive Conservative Party came in last, winning only two seats in the Commons.
Prime minister.
As prime minister, Chrétien concentrated primarily on economic matters and national unity. Chrétien’s budgets focused mainly on reducing the federal budget deficit. They included cuts in unemployment benefits and defense spending, reductions in federal spending for welfare and some other social programs, and changes in the federal pension system.
In January 1994, NAFTA went into effect with Chrétien’s support, though he did not get the changes he had sought. But he did win agreement from the United States to continue negotiations on certain issues.
Canadian unity.
The issue of Canadian unity gained worldwide attention in October 1995, when Quebec held a referendum on whether it should separate from the rest of Canada and become independent. Chrétien was a leading opponent of Quebec independence. The separatist proposal was defeated by an extremely narrow margin, and Quebec remained part of Canada.
Following the Quebec vote, in December 1995, Chrétien proposed several parliamentary resolutions aimed at promoting national unity. In late 1995 and early 1996, Parliament passed two resolutions. One recognized Quebec’s unique language, culture, and civil law. The second granted five regions what amounted to a veto over changes in the Canadian constitution. The regions are the Atlantic Provinces, British Columbia, Ontario, the Prairie Provinces, and Quebec.
The 1997 election.
With public opinion polls showing the Liberal Party well ahead of its opponents, Chrétien decided to call an early election for June 1997. During the election campaign, Chrétien emphasized his success in reducing the federal budget deficit. The general election was held on June 2. The Liberals again won, but with a reduced majority of seats in the House of Commons. Chrétien remained prime minister. The Reform Party, which strongly opposed any special constitutional status for Quebec, came in second and replaced the Bloc Quebecois as the official opposition. In 2000, members of the Reform Party voted to join the newly created Canadian Alliance. The new party, officially called the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance, then became the official opposition.
The 2000 election.
In 2000, Chrétien decided once again to call an early election. The vote was held on November 27. The Liberal Party increased its majority in the House of Commons, and Chrétien continued to serve as prime minister. The Canadian Alliance remained the official opposition.
Resignation.
In 2002, Chrétien announced he would resign as prime minister and Liberal Party leader in February 2004. During 2003, Chrétien made several controversial decisions. He refused to support a United States-led invasion of Iraq and ended contributions to political parties by corporations and labor unions. He also introduced legislation favoring same-sex marriage and decriminalization of possession of marijuana.
In November 2003, former finance minister Paul Martin was elected leader of the Liberal Party. Chrétien then decided to step down on December 12, and Martin succeeded him as prime minister. In 2007, Chrétien was appointed to the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honors. The same year, Chrétien’s second volume of memoirs, My Years As Prime Minister, was published. In 2009, Queen Elizabeth II appointed Chrétien to the Order of Merit, the United Kingdom’s highest civilian honor.
See also Campbell, Kim; Canada, History of; Martin, Paul; Prime minister of Canada.
