I have always been interested in politics. . . . My family has always been rouge, Liberal in the free-thinking, anti-clerical, anti-establishment tradition of the nineteenth century.
During the 1968 election I was campaigning in British Columbia when someone asked, "Mr. Chrétien, what will the politics of the Trudeau government be for the Indians of Canada?" As I was Minister of National Revenue at the time, I was somewhat taken aback. "Do you want a frank answer? I don't know a damn thing about it!" Everyone laughed. Three weeks later Trudeau invited me to become Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.
To stay strong a minister must show compromise and agility. He may have great authority within his department, but within the cabinet he is merely part of a collectivity, just another adviser to the prime minister. He can be told what to do, and on important matters his only choice is to do it or resign. So survival and success become a matter of judgment. You have a sense of skating on thin ice all the time and you never know when there will be a hole that will swallow you up. That's why politicians develop a lot of adrenalin, because they live a very dangerous life in the sense that they can lose everything they've built over years in a single day.Chrétien's comments on his relationship with Trudeau are calculated.
Some people made a career out of being seen close to Trudeau, but I chose to keep my distance because I wanted to keep my own independence. . . . Years later, after Trudeau and I fought the Quebec referendum and the constitution issue, we became closer. . . . I wouldn't say I became a confidant, because Trudeau didn't seem to need confidants, but I would hope that if he drew up a list of good friends my name would be on it. He's an extremely private person, apparently self-sufficient, like a monk in some ways. Certainly I never dared stop at his house, knock on the door, and invite him out for a beer.Quebec separatism was a defining issue in Chrétien's political career.
When the Liberal Party returned to office in February 1980, Trudeau asked me to become Minister of Justice with special responsibility to lead the federal forces in the upcoming referendum campaign. Accepting that responsibility was the most difficult decision of my life. . . . The consequences of failing were so enormous, not just for me or for my party, but for the entire country.
Like the poets and the singers, the intellectuals were carried away by the romance of independence. . . . Part of their intense reaction against me came because I had to demystify their great dream. That wasn't an easy thing to accomplish. It was like taking a toy from a child or shattering a hope. It hurts as much to destroy a dream as to have one destroyed, and it particularly hurts when you have to be tough on your own people.
Happily, I was right. . . . The "No" side won a majority in almost every riding in the province, and I was both delighted and relieved that we had won in my own riding of St-Maurice. . . . It was a great day for Canada, but I can't say I was swept up in the victory celebration. Instead of the euphoria that usually follows an election win, I felt only the sadness that comes when you destroy someone else's dream.
Canada was in dire condition. It was racked by recession, unemployment, massive deficits, and in Quebec, the momentum was ominously building toward another appointment with destiny. . . . It was hardly the time to be turning over the country to a politician who was mocked for never having uttered an original thought and who showed signs of being burdened by an inferiority complex.As the quote above shows, Martin faces squarely all the criticisms of Chrétien as a political hack, an intellectual lightweight, and a partisan bully. The author never tries to make Chrétien the object of admiration. He does, however, show the Liberal leader as true to himself and as worthy of respect for concrete accomplishments.
Beginning as Liberal leader in 1990, Chrétien seemed bumbling and without direction. Fortunately, PM Brian Mulroney and the Progressive Conservatives were self-destructing. His successor, Kim Campbell, was initially attractive but proved a lightweight; Preston Manning's Reform Party was regional in its appeal, while Lucian Bouchard's Bloc Québécois was confined to Quebec. Chrétien thus became PM in the 1993 election as, Martin says with a chapter title, "The Only One Left Standing." (Since then the Liberal Party has been the only truly national and competitive party in Canada.) Chrétien brought his rival and nemesis, Paul Martin, into cabinet as Finance Minister.
On February 27, 1995, Martin announced the biggest federal spending cuts in Canadian history . . . and the deficit crisis--for the time being, at least--was eased.The economic crisis was dealt with to good effect, but separatism in Quebec threatened to make Chrétien, as he said he feared, "the last prime minister of Canada." The public regard for Bouchard was heightened when he narrowly escaped death from a disease of flesh-eating bacteria, then bounced back to lead the fight for secession by referendum. The Prime Minister's office was overconfident and lethargic heading toward the Quebec referendum of 1995. The narrow victory for federalism left the country unhappy with Chrétien for almost having lost.
In years to come, too, criticism and discontent with the PM mounted, as one financial scandal after another emerged, taking down many cabinet officials and leaving a general impression of sleaze. Chrétien often seemed to maintain himself in power by browbeating fellow Liberals into submission. Nevertheless, he won elections in 1997 and 2000.
Martin and other party discontents, however, had bided their time long enough. With revolt in his caucus, Chrétien announced in August 2002 he would not seek another term. Martin succeeded him in December 2003, the Liberals retaining control of the government.
Before leaving office Chrétien pushed through several pieces of legislation that bore the stamp of his principles. One was a revision of national health care, and more conroversial yet was the recognition of same-sex marriage.
Chrétien often made anti-American statements for their political effect at home. He got along well personally with President Bill Clinton, but disliked George W. Bush. His opposition to the second Iraq war made the feeling mutual.
Lawrence Martin allows that much of Chrétien's political durability was owing to circumstance, but urges also that he be given his due.
You have to be an iron man to see it through. . . . We wanted to restore the economy, and we wanted to build back the unity of the country and have a country that is independent. . . . I delivered the goods. Canada is in good shape today. So I'm going home. My job is done.