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Face in the News - Jean Chretien

25 March 2004

Jean Chretien

On the 30th March the former Prime Minster of Canada Jean Chrétien will address the annual Commonwealth lecture in London. The theme of his lecture "Making Progress through Multilateralism" is, after 40 years in politics, a topic that he is uniquely qualified to assess.
Jean Chrétien resigned as Canadian Prime Minister in December 2003 after having won three general elections and having become the longest serving western leader at that time.

In his resignation speech to the Canadian Liberal party he listed his achievements as improving the Canadian economy, pursuing an independent policy from the United States, restoring Canadian unity and promoting human rights around the world.

From the pool hall political debates of his childhood to the opulent offices of Ottawa, Jean Chrétien has always called himself "the little guy from Shawinigan." Born in this small town in Québec in 1934, Jean Chrétien began his career as a lawyer before winning his first parliamentary seat in 1963. The first rung on the ministerial ladder was as Parliamentary Secretary to then Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson in 1965. Numerous cabinet posts followed and in 1984 he became Deputy Prime Minister.

After the Liberals lost power in 1986, he left politics and briefly returned to law. But soon missing the cut and thrust of political debate, he returned to the political stage; first as leader of the opposition and then as Prime Minister in 1993, keeping his majority in the 97 and 2000 elections.

On leaving office in December 2003 he summoned up his political philosophy, "You don't wait for others to decide first. You don't duck your head. You do the right thing for today. And above all, the right thing for the future."