John Turner
Encyclopedia
John Napier Wyndham Turner, PC
, CC
, QC
(born June 7, 1929) is an English Canadian lawyer
and retired politician
, who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Canada
from June 30 to September 17, 1984.
In his political career, Turner held several prominent Cabinet
posts, including minister of justice and minister of finance, under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
from 1968 to 1975. Amid a world recession and the prospect of having to implement the unpopular wage and price controls, Turner surprisingly resigned his position in 1975. After a hiatus from politics from 1975 to 1984, Turner returned and successfully contested the Liberal leadership. Turner held the office of Prime Minister for 79 days (the second shortest tenure in Canadian history after Charles Tupper
), as he dissolved Parliament immediately after being sworn in as Prime Minister, and went on to lose the 1984 election in a landslide. Turner stayed on as Liberal leader and headed the Official Opposition for the next six years, leading his party to a modest recovery in the 1988 campaign, resigning from politics in 1990.
, England
to Leonard Turner and Phyllis Gregory
, in 1929. When Turner's father died in 1932, he moved to Canada
with his Canadian-born mother, and settled in her childhood home in Rossland, British Columbia
. His mother remarried in 1945 to Frank Mackenzie Ross
, who later served as Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia, and the family relocated to Vancouver
.
and St Patrick's College, Ottawa (senior matriculation). He enrolled at the University of British Columbia
in 1945 at age 16, and was among Canada's outstanding track sprinters in the late 1940s, qualifying for the 1948 Olympic team. He held the Canadian record for the 100 metres, but a bad knee kept him from competing in the 1948 London Olympics. He graduated from UBC with a B.A. Honours in 1949, becoming a Rhodes Scholar
. He went on to Magdalen College
at the University of Oxford
, where he earned a B.A., Jurisprudence, 1951; a Bachelor of Civil Law, 1952; and an M.A., 1957. He was on the track and field team at Oxford; one of his teammates was Roger Bannister
, who became the first runner to break the four-minute barrier in the mile. At Oxford, Turner was a classmate and friend of future Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser
. He also pursued doctoral studies at the University of Paris
from 1952-53. While attending UBC, he became a member of the fraternity, Beta Theta Pi
.
, Turner spent a considerable amount of time dancing with Princess Margaret
, one year his junior. This was the first time that Turner received significant press attention in Canada: there was considerable speculation about whether the two were a serious couple, though as Turner was Catholic the two could not marry without either Turner renouncing his faith or Margaret her right to the Crown.
(b. 1937) who was a great-niece of Canadian Army doctor John McCrae
, the author of what is probably the best-known First World War poem In Flanders Fields
, and sister of David Kilgour
, a long-time Canadian Member of Parliament
. The Turners have a daughter named Elizabeth and three sons: David, Michael, and Andrew.
in Montreal
, Quebec
, and was elected as a member of Parliament
in 1962. Their children attended Rockcliffe Park Public School
, in Ottawa
. All three of their sons attended Upper Canada College
, in Toronto
.
In 1965, while vacationing in Barbados
, Turner noticed that former prime minister and Leader of the Opposition
John Diefenbaker
, staying at the same hotel, was struggling in the strong surf
and undertow
and Turner, being a competitive swimmer during university days, jumped in and pulled Diefenbaker to shore.
Turner was also generally respected for his work as a Cabinet Minister in the 1960s and 1970s, under prime ministers Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau
. Colleague Walter Gordon
wrote that Turner was exceptionally loyal and respectful when dealing with senior ministers in the 1960s.
He served in the Cabinet
of Prime Minister Lester Pearson
in various capacities, most notably as Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs. When Pearson retired, Turner ran to succeed him at the 1968 leadership convention. The youthful Turner, at age 38 the youngest of the dozen leadership candidates, claimed that "My time is now," and remarked during his speech that he was "not here for some vague, future convention in say, 1984." (The next Liberal Leadership Convention was in actual fact held in 1984 where Turner successfully won the leadership.) Turner stayed on until the fourth and final ballot despite finishing a distant third behind Pierre Trudeau
and runner-up Robert Winters
.
for four years. Turner then served as Minister of Finance
from 1972 until 1975, when he surprisingly resigned from cabinet, reportedly due to personality conflicts with Trudeau. The Liberals had won the 1974 election
by attacking Robert Stanfield
's Progressive Conservatives
over their platform involving wage and price controls. However, Trudeau decided to implement the wage and price controls in late 1975, so some have suggested that Turner quit rather than carry out that proposal.
In his memoirs, Trudeau wrote that Turner said he resigned as Finance Minister in 1975 because he was tired of politics, after 13 years in Ottawa, and wanted to move on to a better-paying job as a lawyer in Toronto, to better support his family and to be with them more, as his children were growing up. Trudeau wrote that he understood Turner's reasoning. Trudeau also suggested that Turner's years as finance minister were very difficult because of turbulent and unusual conditions in the world economy, characterized as stagflation
, largely caused by enormous increases in the price of oil.
law firm McMillan Binch. When Pierre Trudeau resigned as Liberal leader in 1979 following an election loss
, Turner announced that he would not be a candidate for the Liberal leadership. Trudeau was talked into rescinding his resignation after the government of Joe Clark
was defeated by a Motion of No Confidence
, and returned to contest and win the 1980 federal election
. Trudeau would serve as Prime Minister until 1984.
, his successor as finance minister, on the second ballot of the June 1984 Liberal leadership convention. He was formally appointed prime minister on June 30. When he was sworn in, Turner was not an MP or Senator. Had he wished to summon Parliament, he would not have been able to appear on the floor of the House of Commons. He also announced that he would not run in a by-election to get into the Commons, but would instead run in the next general election as the Liberal candidate in Vancouver Quadra, British Columbia
. This was a sharp departure from usual practice, in which the incumbent in a safe seat
resigns to allow a newly elected party leader a chance to get into Parliament.
In his final days of office, Trudeau recommended that Governor General
Jeanne Sauvé
appoint over 200 Liberals to well-paying patronage
positions, including Senators, judges, and executives on various governmental and crown corporation boards, widely seen as a way to offer "plum jobs" to loyal party members. These appointments generated a severe backlash across the spectrum. Turner had the right to recommend that the appointments be cancelled: advice that Sauvé would have been required to follow by constitutional convention
. However, he let them stand and made a further 70 appointments himself. Turner refused to produce a written agreement he'd made with Trudeau before taking office, documenting a secret deal that saw Trudeau step down early. This hampered his attempt to distance himself from Trudeau's policies and practices.
in the summer of 1984 posed a problem for Turner before the election. Her policy of non-interference in politics led to Turner making a visit to London
to advise the Queen of a pending election call and to ask her to postpone her trip. Turner was also aware of papal non-interference policies, so the election also had to be timed around a planned visit of Pope John Paul II
to Canada in the autumn. Mulroney had expected Turner to tour Canada during the summer and early autumn, accompanying the Queen and the Pope on their visits, gaining some free publicity, then call the election for later in the autumn.
Accordingly, on July 9 only ten days after being sworn in he asked Sauvé to dissolve parliament and advised her to call an election
for early September. Although the Governor General was not obligated to dissolve parliament until early 1985, Turner was persuaded by internal polls that showed the Liberals were ahead of the Tories
; after Turner won the leadership his party surged in the polls to take a lead, after trailing by more than 20 percentage points before he was selected. However, the Liberals' polling data was faulty; they had in fact not polled since May and the situation had since changed, not least because of the public uproar over Trudeau's last minute patronage. As the campaign unfolded, the Tories, led by Brian Mulroney
, who was fighting his first general election in any capacity, soon took the lead.
Early in the campaign, Turner appeared rusty and old fashioned, using outmoded slang on several occasions. Most famously, he spoke of creating "make work programs", a concept from the 1970s that had been replaced by the less patronizing "job creation program
s". He was also caught on television patting the bottoms of Liberal Party President Iona Campagnolo
and Vice-President Lise St. Martin-Tremblay, causing an uproar among feminists, who saw such behaviour as sexist and condescending.
During the televised leaders' debate, Turner attacked Tory
(PC) leader Brian Mulroney
over the patronage machine that the latter had allegedly set up in anticipation of victory, comparing it to the old days of the Union Nationale in Quebec. However, Mulroney turned the tables by pointing to the raft of patronage appointments made on the advice of Trudeau and Turner. Mulroney demanded that Turner apologize to the country for what he called "these horrible appointments", but Turner claimed that "I had no option" except to let them stand, since otherwise he may have not been able to form a government. Mulroney famously responded, "You had an option, sir
to say 'no' and you chose to say 'yes' to the old attitudes and the old stories of the Liberal Party." Mulroney further noted that as the Liberals had been governing continuously since 1963 (save for Joe Clark
's short-lived minority in 1979-80), virtually all federal patronage appointments had been made by the Liberals. Many observers believed that Mulroney clinched the election at this point, as it made Turner look weak, indecisive, and a carbon copy of Trudeau.
Turner discovered in the latter half of the campaign that the Liberals' electoral hopes were poor in their traditional stronghold of Quebec. The party relied on Trudeau's appeal, patronage, and traditional dislike of the Progressive Conservatives for victory in the recent elections. Trudeau himself did not endorse Turner as a leader, instead only showing up to support some MP candidates. Turner rehired much of Trudeau's staff during the final weeks in an attempt to turn the tide, but this had little effect. Another problem was Quebec's disaffection with the federal Liberals for being left out of the patriation of constitution
in 1982. Mulroney, a native Quebecker, was able to harness that discontent to the Progressive Conservatives' advantage by promising a new constitutional agreement.
The last days of the campaign saw one Liberal blunder piled upon another. Turner continued to speak of "make work programs" and made other gaffes that caused voters to see him as incompetent and a relic from the past.
On September 4, the Liberals were swept from power in a massive Tory landslide. The Liberals were cut down to 40 seats, the fewest in the party's history until 2011, against 211 for the Progressive Conservatives. They were decimated in Quebec, falling to 17 seats, only four of which were outside Montreal. Eleven members of Turner's cabinet were defeated. At the time, it was the worst defeat ever suffered for a governing party in the federal parliament. Turner stepped down as prime minister on September 17. The election having been called just over a week after his being sworn in, Turner held the office of prime minister for two months and seventeen days; in Canadian history, longer only than that of Sir Charles Tupper
, who took office after dissolution of parliament. Turner, along with Tupper and Campbell, were the only PMs to have never faced a parliament and never implement any legislative initiatives.
), and became leader of the opposition
. The Liberals, amid their worst showing in party history and led by an unpopular Turner, were said by some pundits to be following the British Liberals
into oblivion. Though the Liberals had not fared much better in the 1958 election
, they had clearly emerged as the main opposition party back then. After the 1984 election
, however, the NDP were not far behind with 30 seats, and their leader Ed Broadbent
consistently outpolled Turner and even Mulroney.
The Liberals responded by using their large Senate
majority, built up over years of Liberal majorities in the Commons, to stall Mulroney's legislation. In addition, a group of young Liberal MPs, known as the "Rat Pack
", pestered Mulroney at every turn. The group included Sheila Copps
, Brian Tobin
, Don Boudria
and John Nunziata
.
Turner's leadership was frequently questioned, and in the lead up to the 1986 Liberal convention, a vote of confidence loomed large. The popular Chrétien resigned his seat, creating a stir in caucus. The ongoing and often open unpopularity of Turner within his own party led to many editorial cartoonist
s to draw him with a back stabbed full of knives. Keith Davey
and other Liberals began a public campaign against Turner, coinciding with backroom struggles involving Chrétien's supporters. The public conflict is said to have influenced many Liberals to support Turner, and he ended up getting 75% of the delegate vote.
The Liberals faced more internal conflict in the next few years, but polls frequently had them in front of the Progressive Conservatives (however, with Turner last in preferred Prime Minister categories). The upcoming Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and Meech Lake Accord
threatened to divide the party until Turner took the position of being pro-Meech Lake and against the FTA. Turner asked the Liberal Senators to hold off on passing the legislation to implement the agreement until an election was held. It was later revealed that Mulroney planned to call an election anyway.
, the Liberals had some early struggles, notably during one day in Montreal where 3 different costs were given for the proposed Liberal daycare program. The campaign was also hampered by a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
report that stated there was a movement in the backroom to replace Turner with Chrétien.
Turner campaigned much more vigorously than in 1984, rallying support against the proposed FTA, an agreement that he said would lead to the abandonment of Canada's political sovereignty to the United States. His performance in the debate and his attacks on Mulroney and the FTA, where he accused the Progressive Conservative Prime Minister of 'selling Canada out with one signature of a pen', raised his poll numbers, and soon the Liberals were hoping for a majority. This prompted the Progressive Conservatives to stop the relatively calm campaign they had been running, and go with Allan Gregg
's suggestion of "bombing the bridge" that joined anti-FTA voters and the Liberals: Turner's credibility. The ads focused on Turner's leadership struggles, and combined with over $6 million CAD
in pro-FTA ads, stopped Turner's momentum. Also not helping the Liberals was that the NDP had opposed the FTA as well (though not as vocally); this likely resulted in vote-splitting between the opposition parties.
The Liberals more than doubled their representation to 83 seats, and kept their role as the Official Opposition
; the NDP had also made gains but finished a distant third with 43 seats. The Progressive Conservatives won a reduced majority government with 169 seats. Although this election confirmed the Liberals as Canada's second major party, the results were considered a disappointment for Turner. Polls in mid-campaign had predicted a Liberal majority.
The election loss seemed to confirm Turner's fate; he announced he was standing down from the party leadership in May 1989, officially resigning in June 1990. Turner resigned as Official Opposition leader, while still holding the Liberal leadership, so Herb Gray
became the caucus leader
for the interim. Chrétien won that year's leadership convention over Paul Martin
. Although not officially endorsed by Turner himself, Martin was widely the favorite of Turner's supporters.
Turner continued to represent Vancouver Quadra in the House of Commons for another few years as a backbencher before retiring from politics in the 1993 election.
In 1994, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada
.
In late 2004, Turner headed the delegation of Canadian election monitors to Ukraine
who helped monitor the Ukrainian presidential runoff vote
of December 26. The monitoring was the first mission of the new Canada Corps
.
Turner, along with other former Prime Ministers, has taken part in the reality series Canada's Next Great Prime Minister. He was intending on taking part during the 2007 edition, but due to illness, had to be replaced at the last minute by Paul Martin
. Turner's health had recovered sufficiently for him to participate in the 2008 edition of the show. He is the oldest living former Canadian Prime Minister.
The Centre for the Study of Democracy
at Queen's University
produced in 2008 a revised and updated 40th anniversary edition of selected Turner speeches and writings, entitled Politics with Purpose, published by McGill-Queen's University Press
; the book had been published originally in 1968. Turner's career was honoured by CSD in a special day-long tribute at Queen's on October 24, 2008.
for life.
Turner was ranked #18 out of the first 20 Prime Ministers of Canada (through Jean Chrétien
) by a survey of Canadian historians in 1999. The survey was used in the book Prime Ministers: Ranking Canada's Leaders by J.L. Granatstein and Norman Hillmer
.
Turner was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada
on October 19, 1994, and was invested on May 3, 1995. His citation reads: "He became Canada's seventeenth Prime Minister, crowning a distinguished parliamentary career during which he held several key Cabinet portfolios. Parallel to his political life, he has been a respected member of the law profession and supporter of many charitable organizations, in particular Mount Sinai Hospital and the Community Foundation of Toronto. His passion for his country is admired by all Canadians."
(LL.D) in 1968 York University
(LL.D) in 1969 Mount Allison University
(LL.D) in 1980 Mount Allison University
(DCL
) in 1980 University of British Columbia
(LL.D) in 1986 University of Toronto
(LL.D) in 1996 Assumption University (LL.D) in 2002
Queen's Privy Council for Canada
The Queen's Privy Council for Canada ), sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council, is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign or her viceroy,...
, CC
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
, QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
(born June 7, 1929) is an English Canadian lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and retired politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
from June 30 to September 17, 1984.
In his political career, Turner held several prominent Cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
posts, including minister of justice and minister of finance, under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
from 1968 to 1975. Amid a world recession and the prospect of having to implement the unpopular wage and price controls, Turner surprisingly resigned his position in 1975. After a hiatus from politics from 1975 to 1984, Turner returned and successfully contested the Liberal leadership. Turner held the office of Prime Minister for 79 days (the second shortest tenure in Canadian history after Charles Tupper
Charles Tupper
Sir Charles Tupper, 1st Baronet, GCMG, CB, PC was a Canadian father of Confederation: as the Premier of Nova Scotia from 1864 to 1867, he led Nova Scotia into Confederation. He later went on to serve as the sixth Prime Minister of Canada, sworn in to office on May 1, 1896, seven days after...
), as he dissolved Parliament immediately after being sworn in as Prime Minister, and went on to lose the 1984 election in a landslide. Turner stayed on as Liberal leader and headed the Official Opposition for the next six years, leading his party to a modest recovery in the 1988 campaign, resigning from politics in 1990.
Early life
He was born in Richmond, SurreySurrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to Leonard Turner and Phyllis Gregory
Phyllis Ross
Phyllis Gregory Ross, OC, CBE was a Canadian economist, civil servant, the first woman Chancellor of the University of British Columbia and in the Commonwealth of Nations, and the mother of the 17th Prime Minister of Canada, John Turner.-Parentage:Though elsewhere listed as Phyllis Gregory, born...
, in 1929. When Turner's father died in 1932, he moved to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
with his Canadian-born mother, and settled in her childhood home in Rossland, British Columbia
Rossland, British Columbia
Rossland is a city in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia.Tucked high in the Monashee Mountains, Rossland is at an elevation of 1023 metres . Population today is approximately 3500; a number that fluctuates from season to season. The population is at its peak during the winter...
. His mother remarried in 1945 to Frank Mackenzie Ross
Frank Mackenzie Ross
Frank Mackenzie Ross, CMG, MC was the 19th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia.Ross’ first job was as a bank clerk in Montreal in 1910. He joined the Canadian Army at the outbreak of World War I, serving with the 8th Battalion...
, who later served as Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia, and the family relocated to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
.
Education
Turner was educated at Ashbury CollegeAshbury College
Ashbury College is an independent day and boarding school located in Rockcliffe Park, Ottawa, Canada. It was founded in 1891 and moved to its current venue in 1910. Previously, it occupied what now houses Canadian Senate offices. It is an International Baccalaureate World School, a member of the...
and St Patrick's College, Ottawa (senior matriculation). He enrolled at the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
in 1945 at age 16, and was among Canada's outstanding track sprinters in the late 1940s, qualifying for the 1948 Olympic team. He held the Canadian record for the 100 metres, but a bad knee kept him from competing in the 1948 London Olympics. He graduated from UBC with a B.A. Honours in 1949, becoming a Rhodes Scholar
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
. He went on to Magdalen College
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, where he earned a B.A., Jurisprudence, 1951; a Bachelor of Civil Law, 1952; and an M.A., 1957. He was on the track and field team at Oxford; one of his teammates was Roger Bannister
Roger Bannister
Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister, CBE is an English former athlete best known for running the first recorded mile in less than 4 minutes...
, who became the first runner to break the four-minute barrier in the mile. At Oxford, Turner was a classmate and friend of future Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser
Malcolm Fraser
John Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role...
. He also pursued doctoral studies at the University of Paris
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
from 1952-53. While attending UBC, he became a member of the fraternity, Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi , often just called Beta, is a social collegiate fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, USA, where it is part of the Miami Triad which includes Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Chi. It has over 138 active chapters and colonies in the United States and Canada...
.
Dances with Princess Margaret
On May 19, 1959, at a party hosted by his stepfather to celebrate the opening of Government HouseGovernment House (British Columbia)
Government House of British Columbia is the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, as well as that in Victoria of the Canadian monarch, and has casually been described as "the Ceremonial Home of all British Columbians." It stands in the provincial capital on a 8.9 ha ...
, Turner spent a considerable amount of time dancing with Princess Margaret
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon was the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II and the younger daughter of King George VI....
, one year his junior. This was the first time that Turner received significant press attention in Canada: there was considerable speculation about whether the two were a serious couple, though as Turner was Catholic the two could not marry without either Turner renouncing his faith or Margaret her right to the Crown.
Marriage and family
Turner was married on May 11, 1963, to Geills McCrae KilgourGeills Turner
Geills McCrae Kilgour Turner is the wife of John Napier Turner, a former Prime Minister of Canada...
(b. 1937) who was a great-niece of Canadian Army doctor John McCrae
John McCrae
Lieutenant Colonel John Alexander McCrae was a Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I and a surgeon during the Second Battle of Ypres...
, the author of what is probably the best-known First World War poem In Flanders Fields
In Flanders Fields
"In Flanders Fields" is one of the most notable poems written during World War I, created in the form of a French rondeau. It has been called "the most popular poem" produced during that period...
, and sister of David Kilgour
David Kilgour
David Kilgour, PC is a former Canadian politician.Kilgour graduated from the University of Manitoba in economics in 1962 and the University of Toronto law school in 1966. From crown attorney in northern Alberta to Canadian Cabinet minister, Kilgour ended his 27 year tenure in the Canadian House of...
, a long-time Canadian Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
. The Turners have a daughter named Elizabeth and three sons: David, Michael, and Andrew.
Politics
Turner practised law, initially with the firm of Stikeman ElliottStikeman Elliott
Stikeman Elliott LLP is a Canadian corporate law firm. It is known as one of the "seven sisters" in Toronto and has approximately 500 lawyers in five Canadian offices as well as offices in New York, London , and Sydney. It was founded in 1952 by H...
in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, and was elected as a member of Parliament
Parliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...
in 1962. Their children attended Rockcliffe Park Public School
Rockcliffe Park Public School
Rockcliffe Park Public School is a public elementary school in the Rockcliffe Park neighbourhood of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1922. Located in the centre of Ottawa's wealthiest neighbourhood, it has long educated the children of politicians and ambassadors...
, in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
. All three of their sons attended Upper Canada College
Upper Canada College
Upper Canada College , located in midtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is an independent elementary and secondary school for boys between Senior Kindergarten and Grade Twelve, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The secondary school segment is divided into ten houses; eight are...
, in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
.
In 1965, while vacationing in Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
, Turner noticed that former prime minister and Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Opposition (Canada)
The Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition , or simply the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of Canada's Official Opposition, the party with the most seats in the House of Commons that is not a member of the government...
John Diefenbaker
John Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker, PC, CH, QC was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 21, 1957, to April 22, 1963...
, staying at the same hotel, was struggling in the strong surf
Ocean surface wave
In fluid dynamics, wind waves or, more precisely, wind-generated waves are surface waves that occur on the free surface of oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, and canals or even on small puddles and ponds. They usually result from the wind blowing over a vast enough stretch of fluid surface. Waves in the...
and undertow
Undertow (wave action)
Undertow is a subsurface flow of water returning seaward from shore as result of wave action. This type of shore current can play a role in material deposition such as creating sand bars....
and Turner, being a competitive swimmer during university days, jumped in and pulled Diefenbaker to shore.
Prime ministership of Lester Pearson
Turner was seen as "The Golden Boy" of the Liberal Party from the time he entered Parliament. An outstanding scholar and athlete, Turner was a successful lawyer, was fluently bilingual, was considered physically attractive by his contemporaries, and had developed political networks across the country.Turner was also generally respected for his work as a Cabinet Minister in the 1960s and 1970s, under prime ministers Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
. Colleague Walter Gordon
Walter Gordon
Walter Gordon may refer to:*Jamaa Fanaka, African-American filmmaker . He is sometimes credited as either Walt Gordon or Walter Gordon....
wrote that Turner was exceptionally loyal and respectful when dealing with senior ministers in the 1960s.
He served in the Cabinet
Cabinet of Canada
The Cabinet of Canada is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada...
of Prime Minister Lester Pearson
Lester B. Pearson
Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson, PC, OM, CC, OBE was a Canadian professor, historian, civil servant, statesman, diplomat, and politician, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for organizing the United Nations Emergency Force to resolve the Suez Canal Crisis...
in various capacities, most notably as Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs. When Pearson retired, Turner ran to succeed him at the 1968 leadership convention. The youthful Turner, at age 38 the youngest of the dozen leadership candidates, claimed that "My time is now," and remarked during his speech that he was "not here for some vague, future convention in say, 1984." (The next Liberal Leadership Convention was in actual fact held in 1984 where Turner successfully won the leadership.) Turner stayed on until the fourth and final ballot despite finishing a distant third behind Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
and runner-up Robert Winters
Robert Winters
Robert Henry Winters, PC was a Canadian politician and businessman.Born in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, the son of a fishing captain, Winters went to Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, and then to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to complete his degree in electrical engineering...
.
Prime ministership of Pierre Trudeau
Turner served in Trudeau's cabinet as Minister of JusticeMinister of Justice (Canada)
The Minister of Justice is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for the Department of Justice and is also Attorney General of Canada .This cabinet position is usually reserved for someone with formal legal training...
for four years. Turner then served as Minister of Finance
Minister of Finance (Canada)
The Minister of Finance is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible each year for presenting the federal government's budget...
from 1972 until 1975, when he surprisingly resigned from cabinet, reportedly due to personality conflicts with Trudeau. The Liberals had won the 1974 election
Canadian federal election, 1974
The Canadian federal election of 1974 was held on July 8, 1974 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 30th Parliament of Canada. The governing Liberal Party won its first majority government since 1968, and gave Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau his third term...
by attacking Robert Stanfield
Robert Stanfield
Robert Lorne Stanfield, PC, QC was the 17th Premier of Nova Scotia and leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. He is sometimes referred to as "the greatest prime minister Canada never had", and earned the nickname "Honest Bob"...
's Progressive Conservatives
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
over their platform involving wage and price controls. However, Trudeau decided to implement the wage and price controls in late 1975, so some have suggested that Turner quit rather than carry out that proposal.
In his memoirs, Trudeau wrote that Turner said he resigned as Finance Minister in 1975 because he was tired of politics, after 13 years in Ottawa, and wanted to move on to a better-paying job as a lawyer in Toronto, to better support his family and to be with them more, as his children were growing up. Trudeau wrote that he understood Turner's reasoning. Trudeau also suggested that Turner's years as finance minister were very difficult because of turbulent and unusual conditions in the world economy, characterized as stagflation
Stagflation
In economics, stagflation is a situation in which the inflation rate is high and the economic growth rate slows down and unemployment remains steadily high...
, largely caused by enormous increases in the price of oil.
Bay Street
From 1975 to 1984, Turner worked as a corporate lawyer at Bay StreetBay Street
Bay Street, originally known as Bear Street, is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James Street in that role in the 1970s...
law firm McMillan Binch. When Pierre Trudeau resigned as Liberal leader in 1979 following an election loss
Canadian federal election, 1979
The Canadian federal election of 1979 was held on May 22, 1979 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 31st Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of Liberal Party of Canada after 11 years in power under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Joe Clark led the Progressive...
, Turner announced that he would not be a candidate for the Liberal leadership. Trudeau was talked into rescinding his resignation after the government of Joe Clark
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...
was defeated by a Motion of No Confidence
Motion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence is a parliamentary motion whose passing would demonstrate to the head of state that the elected parliament no longer has confidence in the appointed government.-Overview:Typically, when a parliament passes a vote of no...
, and returned to contest and win the 1980 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1980
The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 32nd Parliament of Canada...
. Trudeau would serve as Prime Minister until 1984.
Prime minister
Trudeau retired after polls showed the Liberals faced certain defeat in the next election if he remained in office. Turner then re-entered politics, and defeated Jean ChrétienJean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
, his successor as finance minister, on the second ballot of the June 1984 Liberal leadership convention. He was formally appointed prime minister on June 30. When he was sworn in, Turner was not an MP or Senator. Had he wished to summon Parliament, he would not have been able to appear on the floor of the House of Commons. He also announced that he would not run in a by-election to get into the Commons, but would instead run in the next general election as the Liberal candidate in Vancouver Quadra, British Columbia
Vancouver Quadra
Vancouver Quadra is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1949....
. This was a sharp departure from usual practice, in which the incumbent in a safe seat
Safe seat
A safe seat is a seat in a legislative body which is regarded as fully secured, either by a certain political party, the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both...
resigns to allow a newly elected party leader a chance to get into Parliament.
In his final days of office, Trudeau recommended that Governor General
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
Jeanne Sauvé
Jeanne Sauvé
Jeanne Mathilde Sauvé was a Canadian journalist, politician, and stateswoman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 23rd since Canadian Confederation....
appoint over 200 Liberals to well-paying patronage
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...
positions, including Senators, judges, and executives on various governmental and crown corporation boards, widely seen as a way to offer "plum jobs" to loyal party members. These appointments generated a severe backlash across the spectrum. Turner had the right to recommend that the appointments be cancelled: advice that Sauvé would have been required to follow by constitutional convention
Constitutional convention (political custom)
A constitutional convention is an informal and uncodified procedural agreement that is followed by the institutions of a state. In some states, notably those Commonwealth of Nations states that follow the Westminster system and whose political systems derive from British constitutional law, most...
. However, he let them stand and made a further 70 appointments himself. Turner refused to produce a written agreement he'd made with Trudeau before taking office, documenting a secret deal that saw Trudeau step down early. This hampered his attempt to distance himself from Trudeau's policies and practices.
1984 Election
Queen Elizabeth II's scheduled tour of CanadaRoyal tours of Canada
Canadian royal tours have been taking place since 1786, and continue into the 21st century, either as an official tour, a working tour, a vacation, or a period of military service by a member of the Canadian Royal Family...
in the summer of 1984 posed a problem for Turner before the election. Her policy of non-interference in politics led to Turner making a visit to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to advise the Queen of a pending election call and to ask her to postpone her trip. Turner was also aware of papal non-interference policies, so the election also had to be timed around a planned visit of Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
to Canada in the autumn. Mulroney had expected Turner to tour Canada during the summer and early autumn, accompanying the Queen and the Pope on their visits, gaining some free publicity, then call the election for later in the autumn.
Accordingly, on July 9 only ten days after being sworn in he asked Sauvé to dissolve parliament and advised her to call an election
Canadian federal election, 1984
The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada...
for early September. Although the Governor General was not obligated to dissolve parliament until early 1985, Turner was persuaded by internal polls that showed the Liberals were ahead of the Tories
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
; after Turner won the leadership his party surged in the polls to take a lead, after trailing by more than 20 percentage points before he was selected. However, the Liberals' polling data was faulty; they had in fact not polled since May and the situation had since changed, not least because of the public uproar over Trudeau's last minute patronage. As the campaign unfolded, the Tories, led by Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
, who was fighting his first general election in any capacity, soon took the lead.
Early in the campaign, Turner appeared rusty and old fashioned, using outmoded slang on several occasions. Most famously, he spoke of creating "make work programs", a concept from the 1970s that had been replaced by the less patronizing "job creation program
Job creation program
Job Creation Programs are programs or projects undertaken by a government of a nation to assist unemployed members of the population in securing employment. A cornerstone of Keynesian economics, they are especially common during time of high unemployment...
s". He was also caught on television patting the bottoms of Liberal Party President Iona Campagnolo
Iona Campagnolo
Iona Campagnolo, is a Canadian politician, and was the first woman and 27th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. Prior to becoming Lieutenant Governor she was a Canadian politician and cabinet member in the Liberal government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.-Career:Born Iona Victoria Hardy...
and Vice-President Lise St. Martin-Tremblay, causing an uproar among feminists, who saw such behaviour as sexist and condescending.
During the televised leaders' debate, Turner attacked Tory
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
(PC) leader Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
over the patronage machine that the latter had allegedly set up in anticipation of victory, comparing it to the old days of the Union Nationale in Quebec. However, Mulroney turned the tables by pointing to the raft of patronage appointments made on the advice of Trudeau and Turner. Mulroney demanded that Turner apologize to the country for what he called "these horrible appointments", but Turner claimed that "I had no option" except to let them stand, since otherwise he may have not been able to form a government. Mulroney famously responded, "You had an option, sir
You had an option, sir
"You had an option, sir" was a phrase used by Brian Mulroney against John Turner during the English-language leaders debate in the 1984 Canadian federal election...
to say 'no' and you chose to say 'yes' to the old attitudes and the old stories of the Liberal Party." Mulroney further noted that as the Liberals had been governing continuously since 1963 (save for Joe Clark
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...
's short-lived minority in 1979-80), virtually all federal patronage appointments had been made by the Liberals. Many observers believed that Mulroney clinched the election at this point, as it made Turner look weak, indecisive, and a carbon copy of Trudeau.
Turner discovered in the latter half of the campaign that the Liberals' electoral hopes were poor in their traditional stronghold of Quebec. The party relied on Trudeau's appeal, patronage, and traditional dislike of the Progressive Conservatives for victory in the recent elections. Trudeau himself did not endorse Turner as a leader, instead only showing up to support some MP candidates. Turner rehired much of Trudeau's staff during the final weeks in an attempt to turn the tide, but this had little effect. Another problem was Quebec's disaffection with the federal Liberals for being left out of the patriation of constitution
Patriation
Patriation is a non-legal term used in Canada to describe a process of constitutional change also known as "homecoming" of the constitution. Up until 1982, Canada was governed by a constitution that was a British law and could be changed only by an Act of the British Parliament...
in 1982. Mulroney, a native Quebecker, was able to harness that discontent to the Progressive Conservatives' advantage by promising a new constitutional agreement.
The last days of the campaign saw one Liberal blunder piled upon another. Turner continued to speak of "make work programs" and made other gaffes that caused voters to see him as incompetent and a relic from the past.
On September 4, the Liberals were swept from power in a massive Tory landslide. The Liberals were cut down to 40 seats, the fewest in the party's history until 2011, against 211 for the Progressive Conservatives. They were decimated in Quebec, falling to 17 seats, only four of which were outside Montreal. Eleven members of Turner's cabinet were defeated. At the time, it was the worst defeat ever suffered for a governing party in the federal parliament. Turner stepped down as prime minister on September 17. The election having been called just over a week after his being sworn in, Turner held the office of prime minister for two months and seventeen days; in Canadian history, longer only than that of Sir Charles Tupper
Charles Tupper
Sir Charles Tupper, 1st Baronet, GCMG, CB, PC was a Canadian father of Confederation: as the Premier of Nova Scotia from 1864 to 1867, he led Nova Scotia into Confederation. He later went on to serve as the sixth Prime Minister of Canada, sworn in to office on May 1, 1896, seven days after...
, who took office after dissolution of parliament. Turner, along with Tupper and Campbell, were the only PMs to have never faced a parliament and never implement any legislative initiatives.
Leader of the Opposition
Turner managed to defeat the Tory incumbent in Vancouver Quadra, becoming his party's only MP from British Columbia (and anywhere west of WinnipegWinnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
), and became leader of the opposition
Leader of the Opposition (Canada)
The Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition , or simply the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of Canada's Official Opposition, the party with the most seats in the House of Commons that is not a member of the government...
. The Liberals, amid their worst showing in party history and led by an unpopular Turner, were said by some pundits to be following the British Liberals
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
into oblivion. Though the Liberals had not fared much better in the 1958 election
Canadian federal election, 1958
The Canadian federal election of 1958 was the 24th general election in Canada's history. It was held to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 24th Parliament of Canada on March 31, 1958, just nine months after the 23rd election...
, they had clearly emerged as the main opposition party back then. After the 1984 election
Canadian federal election, 1984
The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada...
, however, the NDP were not far behind with 30 seats, and their leader Ed Broadbent
Ed Broadbent
John Edward "Ed" Broadbent, is a Canadian social democratic politician and political scientist. He was leader of the federal New Democratic Party from 1975 to 1989. In the 2004 federal election, he returned to Parliament for one additional term as the Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre.-Life...
consistently outpolled Turner and even Mulroney.
The Liberals responded by using their large Senate
Canadian Senate
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...
majority, built up over years of Liberal majorities in the Commons, to stall Mulroney's legislation. In addition, a group of young Liberal MPs, known as the "Rat Pack
Liberal Party of Canada Rat Pack
The Rat Pack was the nickname given to a group of young, high-profile Canadian Liberal opposition Members of Parliament during the Progressive Conservative government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney....
", pestered Mulroney at every turn. The group included Sheila Copps
Sheila Copps
Sheila Maureen Copps, PC is a former Canadian politician who also served as Deputy Prime Minister of Canada from November 4, 1993 to April 30, 1996 and June 19, 1996 to June 11, 1997....
, Brian Tobin
Brian Tobin
Brian Vincent Tobin, PC is a Canadian businessman and former politician. Tobin served as the sixth Premier of Newfoundland from 1996 to 2000. Tobin was also a prominent Member of Parliament and served as a Cabinet Minister in Jean Chrétien's Liberal government.- Early life, education, and family...
, Don Boudria
Don Boudria
Donald "Don" Boudria, PC is a former Canadian politician. He served in the Canadian House of Commons from 1984 to 2005 as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Jean Chrétien....
and John Nunziata
John Nunziata
John Nunziata is a Canadian politician. He served in the Canadian House of Commons from 1984 to 2000, initially as a Liberal and later as an independent member.-Background:...
.
Turner's leadership was frequently questioned, and in the lead up to the 1986 Liberal convention, a vote of confidence loomed large. The popular Chrétien resigned his seat, creating a stir in caucus. The ongoing and often open unpopularity of Turner within his own party led to many editorial cartoonist
Editorial cartoonist
An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary....
s to draw him with a back stabbed full of knives. Keith Davey
Keith Davey
Keith Douglas Davey, was a Canadian politician, Senator, and campaign organizer.Born in Toronto to Charles Minto Davey and Grace Viola , Keith Davey attended high school at North Toronto Collegiate Institute...
and other Liberals began a public campaign against Turner, coinciding with backroom struggles involving Chrétien's supporters. The public conflict is said to have influenced many Liberals to support Turner, and he ended up getting 75% of the delegate vote.
The Liberals faced more internal conflict in the next few years, but polls frequently had them in front of the Progressive Conservatives (however, with Turner last in preferred Prime Minister categories). The upcoming Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and Meech Lake Accord
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and ten provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of the Province of Quebec to endorse the 1982 Canadian Constitution and increase...
threatened to divide the party until Turner took the position of being pro-Meech Lake and against the FTA. Turner asked the Liberal Senators to hold off on passing the legislation to implement the agreement until an election was held. It was later revealed that Mulroney planned to call an election anyway.
1988 federal election
When the election was called in 1988Canadian federal election, 1988
The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ....
, the Liberals had some early struggles, notably during one day in Montreal where 3 different costs were given for the proposed Liberal daycare program. The campaign was also hampered by a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
report that stated there was a movement in the backroom to replace Turner with Chrétien.
Turner campaigned much more vigorously than in 1984, rallying support against the proposed FTA, an agreement that he said would lead to the abandonment of Canada's political sovereignty to the United States. His performance in the debate and his attacks on Mulroney and the FTA, where he accused the Progressive Conservative Prime Minister of 'selling Canada out with one signature of a pen', raised his poll numbers, and soon the Liberals were hoping for a majority. This prompted the Progressive Conservatives to stop the relatively calm campaign they had been running, and go with Allan Gregg
Allan Gregg
Allan Gregg is a Canadian pollster, political advisor, and pundit.-Early life:Gregg was born in Edmonton, Alberta. He was the eldest child in his family which consisted of four boys and one girl. Gregg graduated from Harry Ainley High School at the second top of his class with honors...
's suggestion of "bombing the bridge" that joined anti-FTA voters and the Liberals: Turner's credibility. The ads focused on Turner's leadership struggles, and combined with over $6 million CAD
Canadian dollar
The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
in pro-FTA ads, stopped Turner's momentum. Also not helping the Liberals was that the NDP had opposed the FTA as well (though not as vocally); this likely resulted in vote-splitting between the opposition parties.
The Liberals more than doubled their representation to 83 seats, and kept their role as the Official Opposition
Official Opposition (Canada)
In Canada, Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition , commonly known as the Official Opposition, is usually the largest parliamentary opposition party in the House of Commons or a provincial legislative assembly that is not in government, either on its own or as part of a governing coalition...
; the NDP had also made gains but finished a distant third with 43 seats. The Progressive Conservatives won a reduced majority government with 169 seats. Although this election confirmed the Liberals as Canada's second major party, the results were considered a disappointment for Turner. Polls in mid-campaign had predicted a Liberal majority.
The election loss seemed to confirm Turner's fate; he announced he was standing down from the party leadership in May 1989, officially resigning in June 1990. Turner resigned as Official Opposition leader, while still holding the Liberal leadership, so Herb Gray
Herb Gray
Herbert Eser Gray, is a retired Canadian politician. He was Canada's first Jewish federal cabinet minister, and is one of only a few Canadians ever granted the title The Right Honourable who was not so entitled by virtue of a position held.-Early life:Born in Windsor, Ontario, the son of Harry...
became the caucus leader
Parliamentary leader
A parliamentary leader is political title given in various countries to lead a caucus in a legislative body, whether it be the countries respective parliaments or provincial legislature...
for the interim. Chrétien won that year's leadership convention over Paul Martin
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
. Although not officially endorsed by Turner himself, Martin was widely the favorite of Turner's supporters.
Turner continued to represent Vancouver Quadra in the House of Commons for another few years as a backbencher before retiring from politics in the 1993 election.
After politics
Turner returned to private practice as a lawyer at Miller Thomson LLP, eventually also heading that partnership's scholarships program for talented young people. Turner is also a member of several Boards of Directors for several large Canadian companies.In 1994, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
.
In late 2004, Turner headed the delegation of Canadian election monitors to Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
who helped monitor the Ukrainian presidential runoff vote
Ukrainian presidential election, 2004
The Ukrainian presidential election, 2004 was held on October 31, November 21 and December 26, 2004. The election was the fourth presidential election to take place in Ukraine following independence from the Soviet Union...
of December 26. The monitoring was the first mission of the new Canada Corps
Canada Corps
Canada Corps was a Canadian government program created to help developing and unstable countries to promote good governance and institution building. The programme was administered by the Canadian International Development Agency...
.
Turner, along with other former Prime Ministers, has taken part in the reality series Canada's Next Great Prime Minister. He was intending on taking part during the 2007 edition, but due to illness, had to be replaced at the last minute by Paul Martin
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
. Turner's health had recovered sufficiently for him to participate in the 2008 edition of the show. He is the oldest living former Canadian Prime Minister.
The Centre for the Study of Democracy
Centre for the Study of Democracy
The Centre for the Study of Democracy is a multidisciplinary policy studies research organization which enhances the study of democracy both within Canada and abroad. Founded in the mid-1990s, CSD is a non-profit, non-partisan organization affiliated with the School of Policy Studies at Queen’s...
at Queen's University
Queen's University
Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...
produced in 2008 a revised and updated 40th anniversary edition of selected Turner speeches and writings, entitled Politics with Purpose, published by McGill-Queen's University Press
McGill-Queen's University Press
The McGill-Queen's University Press is a joint venture between McGill University in Montreal, Quebec and Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario....
; the book had been published originally in 1968. Turner's career was honoured by CSD in a special day-long tribute at Queen's on October 24, 2008.
Honours
According to Canadian protocol, as a former prime minister, he is styled The Right HonourableThe Right Honourable
The Right Honourable is an honorific prefix that is traditionally applied to certain people in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Anglophone Caribbean and other Commonwealth Realms, and occasionally elsewhere...
for life.
Turner was ranked #18 out of the first 20 Prime Ministers of Canada (through Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
) by a survey of Canadian historians in 1999. The survey was used in the book Prime Ministers: Ranking Canada's Leaders by J.L. Granatstein and Norman Hillmer
Norman Hillmer
George Norman Hillmer is a leading Canadian historian and teacher and is among the leading scholars on Canada-US relations....
.
Turner was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
on October 19, 1994, and was invested on May 3, 1995. His citation reads: "He became Canada's seventeenth Prime Minister, crowning a distinguished parliamentary career during which he held several key Cabinet portfolios. Parallel to his political life, he has been a respected member of the law profession and supporter of many charitable organizations, in particular Mount Sinai Hospital and the Community Foundation of Toronto. His passion for his country is admired by all Canadians."
Honorary Degrees
University of New BrunswickUniversity of New Brunswick
The University of New Brunswick is a Canadian university located in the province of New Brunswick. UNB is the oldest English language university in Canada and among the first public universities in North America. The university has two main campuses: the original campus founded in 1785 in...
(LL.D) in 1968 York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
(LL.D) in 1969 Mount Allison University
Mount Allison University
Mount Allison University is a primarily undergraduate Canadian liberal arts and science university situated in Sackville, New Brunswick. It is located about a half hour from the regional city of Moncton and 20 minutes from the Greater Moncton International Airport...
(LL.D) in 1980 Mount Allison University
Mount Allison University
Mount Allison University is a primarily undergraduate Canadian liberal arts and science university situated in Sackville, New Brunswick. It is located about a half hour from the regional city of Moncton and 20 minutes from the Greater Moncton International Airport...
(DCL
Doctor of Civil Law
Doctor of Civil Law is a degree offered by some universities, such as the University of Oxford, instead of the more common Doctor of Laws degrees....
) in 1980 University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
(LL.D) in 1986 University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
(LL.D) in 1996 Assumption University (LL.D) in 2002
Books
- Mulroney: The Politics of Ambition, by John SawatskyJohn SawatskyFerdinand John Sawatzky is a Canadian author, journalist and expert on interviewing techniques.-Early career:Born in Winkler, Manitoba, he graduated from Mennonite Educational Institute in Abbotsford and attended Simon Fraser University in the late 1960s. Graduating in political science, he...
, TorontoTorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
1991, McFarlane, Walter, and Ross publishers, ISBN 0921912064. - Prime Ministers: Ranking Canada's Leaders, by J.L. Granatstein and Norman HillmerNorman HillmerGeorge Norman Hillmer is a leading Canadian historian and teacher and is among the leading scholars on Canada-US relations....
, TorontoTorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
1999, HarperCollinsPublisher Ltd., ISBN 0-00-200027-X. - Politics With Purpose, by John Turner, 40th anniversary edition, McGill-Queen's University PressMcGill-Queen's University PressThe McGill-Queen's University Press is a joint venture between McGill University in Montreal, Quebec and Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario....
, 2008. - Magdalen College Register, Magdalen College, Oxford (OUP)
- Oxford University Calendar, 1956 (OUP), p. 202
- Statutes of the Province of Quebec, 1954 (Printer to The Queen), p. 977 (An Act to admit John Napier Wyndham Turner to the legal profession)