Jean Chrétien

The Right Honourable

Jean Chrétien
The Right Honourable; Jean Chrétien;
	Chrétien in 2010
20th Prime Minister of Canada
	In office; November 4, 1993 – December 12, 2003
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor General	Ray Hnatyshyn; Roméo LeBlanc; Adrienne Clarkson
Deputy	Sheila Copps (1993–1996, 1996–1997) ; Herb Gray (1997–2002) ; John Manley (2002–2003)
Preceded by	Kim Campbell
Succeeded by	Paul Martin
Leader of the Opposition
	In office; December 21, 1990 – November 4, 1993
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor General	Ray Hnatyshyn
Prime Minister	Brian Mulroney; Kim Campbell
Preceded by	Herb Gray
Succeeded by	Lucien Bouchard
Leader of the Liberal Party
	In office; June 23, 1990 – December 12, 2003
Preceded by	John Turner
Succeeded by	Paul Martin
Prime Minister	In office; March 3, 1980 – September 16, 1982
More offices held
36th Minister of Justice; Attorney General of Canada
	In office; March 3, 1980 – September 16, 1982
Prime Minister	Pierre Trudeau
Preceded by	Jacques Flynn
Succeeded by	Mark MacGuigan
Member of Parliament; for Saint-Maurice; Saint-Maurice—Laflèche (1963–1968)
	In office; April 8, 1963 – February 27, 1986
Preceded by	Gérard Lamy
Succeeded by	Gilles Grondin
	In office; October 25, 1993 – December 12, 2003
Preceded by	Denis Pronovost
Succeeded by	Last member
Member of Parliament; for Beauséjour
	In office; December 10, 1990 – October 24, 1993
Preceded by	Fernand Robichaud
Succeeded by	Fernand Robichaud
Personal details
Born	Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien; January 11, 1934 (age 90); Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Aline Chaîné (m. 1957; d. 2020)
Children	3, including France Chrétien Desmarais
Relatives	Michel Chrétien (brother); Raymond Chrétien (nephew)
Alma mater	Université Laval
Occupation	Lawyer
Signature

Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian politician. He was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003 and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 1990 to 2003. During his career, he was a Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of Canada for over 35 years.

Chrétien was born in Shawinigan, Quebec.^[1] He studied law at Université Laval.^[2] He became a politician in 1963, when he was first elected to the House of Commons. While Pierre Trudeau was Prime Minister, Chrétien was a member of his cabinet. He was the Minister of Justice, Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. He was also the Deputy Prime Minister when John Turner was Prime Minister.

Chrétien was elected leader of the Liberal Party in 1990. The Liberals won 177 seats in the House of Commons in the 1993 election, meaning they were the largest party and could form a government. He was re-elected two times in 1997 and 2000 and led a majority government the entire time he was Prime Minister.

Chrétien retired in 2003. He was replaced as the Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Party by Paul Martin.^[3]

Beginning of career

For the 1963 federal election, Chrétien was chosen to be the Liberal Party's candidate for the riding of Saint-Maurice—Laflèche in Shawinigan. He was elected in this riding and became a Member of Parliament for the first time.^[4] After this, he became the parliamentary secretary for the Prime Minister at the time, Lester B. Pearson.

Beginning in 1966, he was the parliamentary secretary for Mitchell Sharp, who was the Minister of Finance at the time.^[5] He spent a longer amount of time working with Sharp than he did with Pearson.

Chrétien was chosen by Pearson to be the Minister of National Revenue in January 1968.

In Trudeau's second cabinet

The Liberal Party lost the 1979 federal election. The Progressive Conservatives formed a very short government led by Joe Clark.^[6] After Trudeau and the Liberals won the election the year after, Trudeau chose Chrétien to become the Minister of Justice.

Chrétien was a very important person in the 1980 Quebec referendum, when there was a referendum on whether Quebec should leave Canada.^[5] He fought very hard for the federal government and was against Quebec leaving Canada.

As Leader of the Opposition

Turner stopped being the leader of the Liberal Party in 1990. There was an election to decide who would be the person to replace him at the June 1990 party conference.^[7]

When Chrétien won the Liberal Party leadership election, the Liberals had the second-most seats in the House of Commons. Because of this, he also became the Leader of the Opposition. At first, he had many problems as the leader. For example, some Quebec Liberal MPs chose to leave the party after he became the leader.

Prime Minister, 1993–2003

1993 election

Main page: 1993 Canadian federal election

When Brian Mulroney retired in 1993, he was replaced as the Prime Minister and as the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party by Kim Campbell. She was a part of Mulroney's cabinet at the time.^[8] Because elections in Canada have to happen at least once every five years, there was going to be an election in October of that year.

One of Chrétien's promises was that a Liberal government would remove the Goods and Service Tax.^[9] It was created by Mulroney's government and was not very popular among the Canadian public.^[10] Chrétien also promised that they would negotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) a second time, and to bring down Canada's deficit.

Chrétien and the Liberal Party won the election. The Liberals won 177 seats and became the largest party in the House of Commons. The Progressive Conservatives lost almost all their seats in that election, winning only two seats.^[11]

Chrétien with South-African President Thabo Mbeki (left), Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in June 2003.

Political views

Chrétien was part of the Liberal Party's left-wing in the beginning of his career.^[12] While he was Prime Minister, however, he was very neoliberal and fiscally conservative.^[13]^[14]^[15]

Personal life

His parents were Wellie Chrétien and Marie Boisvert.

Chrétien married Aline Chaîné in 1957. They both knew each other when they were young in Shawinigan. Chaîné became one of the people Chrétien trusted the most when making important decisions.^[16] They stayed married until she died in 2020.^[17] They had 2 sons and 1 daughter.

Offices held

Parliament of Canada
Preceded by Herb Gray	Leader of the Official Opposition 1990–1993	Succeeded by Lucien Bouchard
Preceded by '	Deputy Leader of the Official Opposition 1984–1986	Succeeded by
Preceded by Gérard Lamy	Member for Saint-Maurice—Laflèche 1963–1968	Last member
First	Member for Saint-Maurice 1968–1986	Succeeded by Gilles Grondin
Preceded by Fernand Robichaud	Member for Beauséjour 1990–1993	Succeeded by Fernand Robichaud
Preceded by Denis Pronovost	Member for Saint-Maurice 1993–2004	Last member
Party political offices
Preceded by John Turner	Leader of the Liberal Party 1990–2003	Succeeded by Paul Martin
Preceded by Allan MacEachen	Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party 1984–1986	Succeeded by
26th Ministry – Cabinet of Jean Chrétien
Cabinet post (1)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Kim Campbell	Prime Minister of Canada 1993–2003	Paul Martin
23rd Ministry – Cabinet of John Turner
Cabinet posts (2)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Allan MacEachen	Deputy Prime Minister of Canada 1984	Erik Nielsen
Allan MacEachen	Secretary of State for External Affairs 1984	Joe Clark
22nd Ministry – Second cabinet of Pierre Trudeau
Cabinet posts (2)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Marc Lalonde	Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources 1982–1984	Gerald Regan
Jacques Flynn	Minister of Justice 1980–1982	Mark MacGuigan
20th Ministry – First cabinet of Pierre Trudeau
Cabinet posts (5)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Donald Stovel Macdonald	Minister of Finance 1977–1979	John Crosbie
Don Jamieson	Minister of Industry, Trade and Commerce 1976–1977	Jack Horner
Charles Drury	President of the Treasury Board 1974–1976	Bob Andras
Arthur Laing	Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development 1968–1974	Judd Buchanan
cont'd from 19th Min.	Minister of National Revenue 1968	Jean-Pierre Côté
19th Ministry – Cabinet of Lester B. Pearson
Cabinet posts (2)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Edgar Benson	Minister of National Revenue 1968	cont'd into 20th Min.
	Minister without Portfolio 1967–1968

Jean Chrétien Media

Jean Chrétien at a fundraising meeting for the Liberal Party at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montréal, Québec.
When Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announced his retirement in 1984, Chrétien ran for the leadership of the Liberal Party by portraying himself as the candidate who would best continue Trudeau's policies and defend his legacy.
Paul Martin was Chrétien's main opponent for the leadership of the Liberal Party in 1990. The campaign between them started a political rivalry that would endure throughout and beyond Chrétien's premiership.
From left to right Marcel Vezina is at left, and in the middle, former prime minister of Canada, Jean Chretien, far right, Tony Blais.
Chrétien with Bishops and the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, 1994.
Chrétien shaking hands with US President Bill Clinton, at the 1993 APEC Summit.
President George W. Bush and Jean Chrétien address the media before a 2002 bilateral meeting.
Stéphane Dion makes a speech on October 10, 2008, in Brampton West. Former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien was among notable Liberals at this rally; this was his first time campaigning for anyone since retirement.
Chrétien at the Rise Up For Canada rally, 2011