Chrétien, Jean (Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien) (zhōsĕf` zhäk zhäN krātyăN`), 1934–, Canadian politician and prime minister (1993–2003), b. Quebec. He received his legal education at Quebec's Laval Univ. and was a practicing lawyer until his 1963 election to parliament. A member of the Liberal party Liberal party, Canadian political party. Prior to confederation in 1867, reform parties advocating greater local participation in provincial governments, free trade, and increased separation of church and state existed in Canada West, Canada East, and the Maritime
..... Click the link for more information. , he served (1963–84) in various ministerial posts under Lester Pearson Pearson, Lester Bowles, 1897–1972, Canadian diplomat and political leader, b. Ontario prov. He served in the Canadian army in World War I. Pearson taught history at the Univ. of Toronto from 1924 to 1928 and then joined the Canadian diplomatic service.
..... Click the link for more information. and Pierre Trudeau Trudeau, Pierre Elliott (Joseph Philippe Pierre Ives Elliott Trudeau) (tr
..... Click the link for more information. . He lost a bid for his party's leadership in 1984 but served briefly as deputy prime minister under John Turner Turner, John Napier, 1929–, Canadian prime minister (1984). Born in England, he emigrated to Ontario with his Canadian-born mother in 1932. Trained as a lawyer, he entered the House of Commons as a Liberal in 1962.
..... Click the link for more information. . Chrétien was successful in his 1990 try for the party leadership and became prime minister in 1993 after he led the Liberals to victory at the polls. In office he attempted to ameliorate Canada's unemployment, improve trade relations, and to restructure Canada's economy and preserve its unity. He faced criticism from all sides, however, for having failed to recognize how close Quebec would come to seceding from Canada in the Oct., 1995, referendum; for offering Quebec either too much or too little while shortchanging other provinces; and for lacking anything more than an improvised plan for Canadian unity. He led the Liberals to victory again in 1997, against a fragmented opposition. In 1998, Chrétien introduced Canada's first balanced budget since 1970. He led the Liberals to a third consecutive victory at the polls in 2000, again aided by a fragmented conservative opposition. In Oct., 2002, following a year of ethics scandals, cabinet changes, and increasingly open opposition to Chrétien within the Liberal party, he announced that he would not seek a fourth term as prime minister. He resigned as prime minister and as a member of parliament in Dec., 2003, and was succeeded as prime minister by Paul Martin Martin, Paul Edgar Philippe, Jr., 1938–, Canadian politician, prime minister (2003–6) of Canada, b. Windsor, Ont. The scion of a politically active family (his father served in parliament and ran unsuccessfully for Liberal party leader three times),
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Bibliography

See his autobiography, Straight from the Heart (1985).

Chrétien, (Joseph-Jacques) Jean

(born Jan. 11, 1934, Shawinigan, Quebec, Can.) Canadian prime minister (1993–2003). The 18th of 19 children of a working-class family, Chrétien studied law at Laval University and was called to the bar in Quebec in 1958. He served in the Canadian House of Commons (1963–86) and held various posts in the administrations of Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, including minister of finance (1977), the first French Canadian to hold the office. In 1986, after losing the leadership battle to succeed Trudeau, he retired from parliament. Four years later he was reelected to the House of Commons and became leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. In 1993 the Liberals won a landslide victory, and Chrétien became prime minister. Under his leadership the party was again victorious in 1997 and 2000. As prime minister, he oversaw in 1998 the passage of the country's first balanced budget since 1970, and he pursued progressive social reforms, drafting a law in 2003 that would recognize same-sex marriages. Chrétien's relationship with the U.S. was sometimes tense, and he refused to commit Canadian troops to the U.S.-led war against Iraq in 2003.