(Featured March 2003)
Prime Minister Chrétien is a lawyer by trade, having acquired his degree from Laval University in Quebec. He initially practiced law with the firm of Chrétien, Landry, Deschênes, Trudel and Normand in Shawinigan.
In 1963 Chrétien was elected for the first time to the House of Commons and held many positions within the Canadian Government.
Political Career Timeline:
* 1963: Elected to the House of Commons
* 1965: re-elected to the House of Commons
* 1966: Appointed parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson
* 1966: Appointed Minister of Finance
* 1967: Minister of State attached to the Minister of Finance
* 1968: Appointed Minister of National Revenue
* 1968: Elected to the House of Commons
* 1968: Appointed Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
* 1974: Re-elected to the House of Commons
* 1974: Appointed President of the Treasury Board
* 1976: Minister of Industry, Trade and Commerce
* 1977: Minister of Finance
* 1979: Elected for his sixth consecutive term in the House of Commons
* 1980: Re-elected
* 1980: Appointed Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
* 1980: Appointed Minister of State for Social Development
* 1982: Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources
* 1984: Candidate for Liberal Party leader
* 1984: Appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for External Affairs
* 1984: Re-elected Member of Parliament and as a member of the opposition
* 1984: Appointed Critic for External Affairs
* 1986: Resigned from the House of Commons
* 1990: Elected Leader of the Liberal Party
* 1990: Elected member of Parliament
* 1990: Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons
* 1993: Re-elected Member of Parliament
* 1993: Elected Prime Minister of Canada
* 2000: Re-elected Member of Parliament
Prior to the 1997 election a Globe & Mail biographer wrote the following about Chrétien:
“Jean Chrétien in youth is small, skinny, deaf in one ear, deformed at the mouth, slightly dyslexic, poor of pocket and intellectually unadorned.”
Appears as though ‘le petit gars de Shawinigan’ didn’t let anything stop him from achieving his dreams.