chretien final

JEAN CHRETIEN By: Kirusan, Nailah & Cynthia

CHRETIEN  1993 – 2003  Resigned in 2003  Liberal  MP for 40 years

DOMESTIC

ECONOMIC CHANGES & CHALLENGES  When Jean Chrétien became leader in 1990, he inherited a party that was disorganized and almost bankrupt.  Liberals emphasized job creation and released a platform answered that the party would return to the spending extravagances of previous Liberal governments.  the Chrétien government embarked on a vigorous effort, led by Finance Minister Paul Martin to balance the federal budget  The government eliminated the $42 billion deficit it had inherited – resulted in a booming industry  Economy went form deficit to surplus in 4 years.

 By end of term, government has gotten rid of 50 billion of Canada's national debt.

SOCIAL CHANGES & CHALLENGES  In an attempt to improve economy – there were large cuts to social programs and to provincial transfer payments  active social agenda included Child Tax Benefit  He pursued progressive reforms, drafting a law in 2003 that would recognize same-sex marriages  supported official bilingualism and multiculturalism  Chrétien largely ignored Québec nationalists, confident that he was providing good government and that this would be an effective answer to calls for Québec sovereignty  led to Quebec Referendum in 1995

SOCIAL CHANGES & CHALLENGES  On November 4 1993 Chretien was sworn in as Canada’s 20th Prime Minister.  Major theme in Chretien’s time as Prime Minister was his electoral success  The Liberals three consecutive majority governments  This was also due to the fact that the Conservative Party was reduced from 151 seats to only 2 seats.  Conservative Party lost their support in Quebec with voters turning to the pro-sovereignty with the Bloc-Québécois  Liberals capitalized on this fragmented system by gaining support from other regions in the country and dominating the votes in Ontario.

 Transfer payments to the provinces were greatly reduced, social programs cut back, taxes maximized and additional revenue sources maximized in order to help with the deficit which in 1993 was 42 billion dollars. Within 5 years this was eliminated.

Political Challenge

QUEBEC REFERENDUM -1995  Known as the Quebec Sovereignty Referendum  The pro-sovereigntist Parti Québécois, which was governing Quebec at the time, instituted the province-wide referendum  If majority of Quebeckers responded "Yes" to the referendum question, then the governing Parti Québécois would have a mandate to pursue some form of national sovereignty for the province.  The final results of the referendum were very close, with the "No" side winning a narrow victory of 50.58 percent of the vote, compared to 49.42 percent for the "Yes" side.  If the Yes side had won Canada would be divided into 2 political entities.

 Many criticized Chretien for not doing anything to support the unity of Canada however he did take action after the Referendum by passing a bill in the house of Commons to recognize Quebec as the “Distinct Society”. (French language and unique culture)  Also passed the clarity bill which said that there would have to be a clear majority win when it came to Referendums.

FOREIGN

MAJOR FOREIGN POLICIES  1) Launch international action to rescue Rwandan refugees (1994)  2) Government continued to move away from military commitments to NATO (1999)  3) Regional Initiatives in Pacific, Americas and Africa.  4) Place sanctions against the Nigerian government for executing activist, Ken Saro Wiwa at the Commonwealth. (2002)  5) Refusal to join American-British invasion of Iraq (2003)  6) Wanted to distance Canada from the US, but develop a close trade and security policy with the US  ** Foreign Policy focused on trade: diversify Canada’s trade dependence on the US by pursuing expanded trade opportunities with other countries.

REASONS FOR&HOW WERE THEY IMPLEMENTED? 1) Launch international action to rescue Rwandan refugees (1994)

 Chretien was concerned to rescue Rwandan refugees threatened by the geographical extension of the Rwandan civil war.  Chretien attempted to initiate an international effort to send home Rwandan refugees fro their camps in eastern Zaire  The Prime minister’s initiative was marred from the beginning by Canada’s limited capacities, the reluctance of other parties, notably the united states to get involved

REASONS FOR&HOW WERE THEY IMPLEMENTED? 2) Government continued to move away from military commitments to NATO (1999)

 Did not fully support all of the missions by NATO and therefore did not want to send any armed forces to NATO  Moved away from military commitments to NATO but there were still a significant amount of Canadian armed forces who were committed to NATO

DOCUMENT ANALYSIS Jean Chrétien, Prime Minister of Canada,at the Commemorative Ceremonyof the 50th Anniversary of NATO Right now, in the heart of Europe, NATO is fighting for the cause of humanity. NATO cannot fail. NATO will not fail. The world has changed in 50 years but our values do not change and the need for NATO is as great as ever. Today we welcome the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary, which once were cut off from our family, and let us look to the day, very soon, when those with whom we are now in conflict join us as brothers and sisters in peace and freedom.

REASONS FOR&HOW WERE THEY IMPLEMENTED? 3) Regional Initiatives in Pacific, Americas and Africa.

 When discussing foreign policy matters he often invoked the internationalist legacy of Lester B Pearson as his inspiration.

 Wanted an active role in the global community as a peace keeper  He championed various regional initiatives in Pacific, Americas and Africa and appointed ministers to look after these regional concerns but each received very minimal attention

REASONS FOR&HOW WERE THEY IMPLEMENTED? 4) Place sanctions against the Nigerian government for executing activist, Ken Saro Wiwa at the Commonwealth. (2002)

 the Nigerian government executed an activist Ken Saro Wiwa and his 8 colleagues  At the commonwealth heads of Government meeting called the Nigerian government to account for what they had done

 Aspired to place sanctions against the Government

REASONS FOR&HOW WERE THEY IMPLEMENTED? 5) Refusal to join American led invasion of Iraq (2003)

 He asserted the importance of a UN mandate before entering the invasion of Iraq  Did not join invadin coalition but still participated in conflict by joining belligerent nations in helping to rebuild the country post-invasion.

 Though no declaratiion of war was issued they did send a number of Canadian forces personnel to serve actively in Iraq

REASONS FOR&HOW WERE THEY IMPLEMENTED? 6) Wanted to distance Canada from the US, but develop a close trade and security policy with the US

 Did not support some of the things the US were doing at the time  Chretien was focused on bettering Canada domestically  Got into a few small trade quarrels with the us but all in all had a positive relationship

bibliography  Farries, Greg. "Legacy of Former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien | Mapleleafweb.com." Legacy of Former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien | Mapleleafweb.com. N.p., 1 June 2006. Web. 09 Apr. 2013. .  "Jean Chretien." CBC News. CBC, 13 July 2009. Web. Apr. 2013. .  Harder, Lois, and Steve Patten. The Chrétien Legacy: Politics and Public Policy in Canada. Montreal: Published for the Centre for Constitutional Studies by McGill-Queen's UP, 2006. Print.