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The Right Honourable
Jean Chrétien
PC OM CC KC
Jean Chrétien 2010.jpg
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
Herb Gray
John Manley
Preceded by Kim Campbell
Succeeded by Paul Martin
Personal details
Born
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien

(1934-01-11) January 11, 1934 (age 90)
Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Canada
Political party Liberal
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1957; died 2020)​
Children 3, including France Chrétien Desmarais
Relatives Michel Chrétien (brother)
Raymond Chrétien (nephew)
Alma mater Université Laval
Occupation
  • Lawyer
  • politician
Signature

Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien PC OM CC KC (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ kʁe.tsjɛ̃]; born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003.

Chrétien ranks above-average in rankings of Canadian prime ministers. At age 90, Chrétien is the oldest living former Canadian prime minister.

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), of Marie (née Boisvert, 1892–1954) and Wellie Chrétien (1887–1980). 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. 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. 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.

Chrétien got his early schooling at a private boys' school in Joliette. He then attended Séminaire Saint-Joseph de Trois-Rivières. He obtained excellent grades and then studied law at Université Laval, the training ground of the French-Canadian elite.

On September 10, 1957, he married Aline Chaîné, whom he had met when he was 18 and she was 16. They had three children: France (b. 1958), Hubert (b. 1965) and Michel (b. 1968), who was adopted in 1970. France Chrétien Desmarais, who is a lawyer, is married to André Desmarais, the son of Paul Desmarais, Sr., and the president and co-chief executive officer of his father's company, Power Corporation, based in Montreal, Canada. Reflecting Chrétien's poor relations with the Catholic church, the local priest in Shawinigan, Father Auger, refused to marry Chrétien in his church, saying only bleus (blues, i.e. Union Nationale supporters) were welcome in his church and rouges (reds, i.e. Liberals) were not.

Political career

Trudeau, Turner, Chretien, and Pearson
Chrétien, second from right as a minister in Lester Pearson's Cabinet in 1967.
Pierre Trudeau (1975)
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 2004
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.
Jean Chrétien, 1996
Chrétien in 1996
Jesse Flis, Bishop Georgije, Jean Chrétien and Patriarch Pavle
Chrétien with Bishops and the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, 1994.
APEC Summit 1993 - Jean Chrétien and Bill Clinton shaking hands
Chrétien shaking hands with US President Bill Clinton, at the 1993 APEC Summit.
Chrétien and Bush shaking hands Sept 9 2002
President George W. Bush and Jean Chrétien address the media before a 2002 bilateral meeting.

Chrétien was first elected to the House of Commons in 1963. He served in various cabinet posts under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, most prominently as minister of Indian affairs and northern development, president of the Treasury Board, minister of finance, and minister of justice. He ran unsuccessfully for the leadership of the Liberal Party in 1984, losing to John Turner.

Chrétien served as deputy prime minister in Turner's short-lived government which would be defeated in the 1984 federal election. After Turner led the Liberals to their second defeat at the polls in 1988, Chrétien became leader of the Liberals and leader of the Opposition in 1990. In the 1993 federal election, Chrétien led the Liberals to a strong majority government before leading the party to two additional majorities in 1997 and 2000.

Prime Minister (1993–2003)

On November 4, 1993, Chrétien became prime minister. One of Chrétien's main concerns in office was separation of the province of Quebec. Chrétien was strongly opposed to the Quebec sovereignty movement. 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. 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. 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. Along the same lines, Dion started to send much-publicised open letters to Quebec ministers questioning the assumptions behind the separatist case.

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.

His government also established the long-gun registry, advanced the Youth Criminal Justice Act, laid the groundwork to legalize same-sex marriage, and eliminated the nearly-30-year old budget deficit mainly through spending cuts. He implemented several major environmental laws, including an updated Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the Pest Control Products Act, and the Species At Risk Act. In foreign policy, Chrétien ordered Canadian military intervention during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia and the War in Afghanistan but opposed participation in the Iraq War. Although his popularity and that of the Liberal Party were seemingly unchallenged for three consecutive federal elections, he became subject to various political controversies. In December 2003, Chrétien resigned as prime minister and retired from politics.

Retirement

Liberal rally Brampton 2008 election 82
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.
Ignatieff and Chrétien at Rise Up for Canada Rally 013 (5663165931)
Chrétien at the Rise Up For Canada rally, 2011

In April 2007, Chrétien and Canadian book publishers Knopf Canada and Éditions du Boréal announced they would be publishing his memoirs, My Years as Prime Minister, which will recount Chrétien's tenure as prime minister. The book was announced under the title of A Passion for Politics. It arrived in bookstores in October 2007, in both English and French, but the promotional tour was delayed due to heart surgery. As well Straight from the Heart was republished with a new preface and two additional chapters detailing his return to politics as the leader of the Liberal Party and his victory in the election of 1993. Publisher Key Porter Books timed the re-issuing to coincide with the publication of My Years as Prime Minister.

On October 1, 2007, Chrétien was playing at the Royal Montreal Golf Club, north of Montreal, at a charity golf event. Playing alongside a cardiologist, he mentioned his discomfort, saying he "had been suffering some symptoms for some time" and the doctor advised he come for a check up. After examination, Chrétien was hospitalized at the Montreal Heart Institute, with unstable angina, a sign a heart attack might be imminent. He underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery as a result on the morning of October 3, 2007. The operation forced Chrétien to delay a promotional tour for his book. He was "expected to have a full and complete recovery".

On August 5, 2010, Chrétien complained of experiencing difficulty walking, and was admitted to a hospital. 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. 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.

Chrétien was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada on June 29, 2007. He was appointed to the Order of Merit by Queen Elizabeth II in July 2009 and received the insignia of the order from the Queen on October 20, 2009.

Justin Trudeau and Jean Chrétien at campaign rally in Hamilton
Chrétien at a rally in support of Justin Trudeau, 2015

In September 2022, Chrétien attended Elizabeth II's state funeral, along with other former Canadian prime ministers.

Legacy

Jean Chrétien wax figure - Royal London Wax Museum (5034822983)
Wax figure of Chrétien at the Royal London Wax Museum

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 J.L. Granatstein and Norman Hillmer. Maclean's 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."

Historian Michael Bliss wrote that Chrétien was "moderately competent and only moderately corrupt." 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."

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)
  • Beverly McLachlin (as chief justice, July 7, 2000 – December 15, 2017; appointed a puisne justice under Prime Minister Mulroney, March 30, 1989)
  • Marie Deschamps (August 7, 2002 – August 7, 2012)
  • Morris J. Fish (August 5, 2003 – August 31, 2013)

Honours

Order of Merit (Commonwealth realms) ribbon.svg Order of Canada (CC) ribbon bar.svg
Canada100 ribbon.png QEII Silver Jubilee Medal ribbon.png Canada125 ribbon.png
QEII Golden Jubilee Medal ribbon.png QEII Diamond Jubilee Medal ribbon.png Orden of Friendship-wide.png JPN Kyokujitsu-sho 1Class BAR.svg

Ribbon Description Notes
Order of Merit (Commonwealth realms) ribbon.svg Order of Merit (O.M.)
  • July 13, 2009
Order of Canada (CC) ribbon bar.svg Companion of the Order of Canada (C.C.)
  • Awarded on May 3, 2007
  • Invested on February 22, 2008
Canada100 ribbon.png Centennial Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal
  • 1967
  • As a minister of the Crown and an elected member of the House of Commons of Canada, Jean Chrétien would be awarded the medal as a member of the Canadian order of precedence.
QEII Silver Jubilee Medal ribbon.png Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal for Canada
  • 1977
  • As a minister of the Crown and an elected member of the House of Commons of Canada, Jean Chrétien would be awarded the medal as a member of the Canadian order of precedence.
Canada125 ribbon.png 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal
QEII Golden Jubilee Medal ribbon.png Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal for Canada
QEII Diamond Jubilee Medal ribbon.png Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for Canada
Orden of Friendship-wide.png Order of Friendship from the Russian Federation
  • 2014
JPN Kyokujitsu-sho 1Class BAR.svg Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun from the Japanese government
  • 2023

Honorary degrees

Location Date School Degree
 Ontario 1981 Wilfrid Laurier University Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
 Ontario 1982 Laurentian University Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
 Ontario 1986 York University Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
 Alberta 1987 University of Alberta Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
 Ontario 1988 Lakehead University Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
 Ontario 1994 University of Ottawa Doctor of the University (D.Univ)
 New Brunswick 1994 University of Moncton
 Japan 1996 Meiji University Doctorate
 Poland 1999 Warsaw School of Economics Doctorate
 Michigan 1999 Michigan State University Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
 Israel 2000 Hebrew University of Jerusalem
 Newfoundland and Labrador 2000 Memorial University of Newfoundland Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
 Dominican Republic 2003 Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra
 Ontario 2004 Queen's University Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
 Ontario 2005 McMaster University Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
 Ukraine 2007 National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy
 Ontario October 23, 2008 University of Western Ontario Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
 Quebec 2008 Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
 Quebec June 2010 Concordia University Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
 Quebec 2011 Université de Montréal
 Manitoba June 12, 2014 University of Winnipeg Doctor of Laws (LL.D)

Electoral record

Main article: Electoral history of Jean Chrétien

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Jean Chrétien para niños

  • List of prime ministers of Canada
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