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Canada has had 23 prime ministers, a look at the six who are alive.
Authors: National Post Staff. Published Mar 04, 2024
Source
Canada has had 23 prime ministers, a look at the six who are alive.
Authors: National Post Staff. Published Mar 04, 2024
Canada’s 20th PM, Chrétien’s leadership saw the Liberal party win three consecutive majority governments in 1993, 1997 and 2000.
His government handled a number of high profile events and policy decisions, including the 1995 Quebec referendum and its aftermath, same-sex marriage legislation, criminal justice reform and made efforts to eliminate the national deficit, which led to budget surpluses and debt reduction.
His government also faced controversies such as the sponsorship scandal and the "Shawinigate" affair. His government also refused to participate in the Iraq War in 2003, a decision that was controversial at the time.
Internal party strife under his leadership eventually led to Chrétien announcing his resignation in 2003. He went on to join the now defunct law firm Heenan Blaikie, where Trudeau worked until his death in 2000. Chrétien later joined Denton’s and his work has occasionally put the ex-PM into some controversial territory, such as when a business consortium hired him to lobby for a nuclear waste dump in Labrador in 2021.