John Turner | |||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Turner in 1987 | |||||||||||||||||||||
17th Prime Minister of Canada | |||||||||||||||||||||
In office June 30, 1984 – September 17, 1984 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Monarch | Elizabeth II | ||||||||||||||||||||
Governor General | Jeanne Sauvé | ||||||||||||||||||||
Deputy | Jean Chrétien | ||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Pierre Trudeau | ||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Brian Mulroney | ||||||||||||||||||||
Leader of the Opposition | |||||||||||||||||||||
In office September 17, 1984 – February 7, 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Brian Mulroney | ||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Herb Gray | ||||||||||||||||||||
Leader of the Liberal Party | |||||||||||||||||||||
In office June 16, 1984 – June 23, 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Pierre Trudeau | ||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Jean Chrétien | ||||||||||||||||||||
Minister of Finance | |||||||||||||||||||||
In office January 28, 1972 – September 10, 1975 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister | Pierre Trudeau | ||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Edgar Benson | ||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Donald Stovel Macdonald | ||||||||||||||||||||
Minister of Justice Attorney General of Canada | |||||||||||||||||||||
In office July 6, 1968 – January 28, 1972 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister | Pierre Trudeau | ||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Pierre Trudeau | ||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Otto Lang | ||||||||||||||||||||
Solicitor General of Canada | |||||||||||||||||||||
In office April 20, 1968 – July 5, 1968 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister | Pierre Trudeau | ||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Lawrence Pennell | ||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | George McIlraith | ||||||||||||||||||||
In office December 21, 1967 – July 5, 1968 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister |
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Preceded by | Guy Favreau | ||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | George McIlraith | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||
Born | John Napier Wyndham Turner June 7, 1929 Richmond, Surrey, England | ||||||||||||||||||||
Died | September 19, 2020 (aged 91) Toronto, Ontario, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||
Resting place | Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto | ||||||||||||||||||||
Citizenship |
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Political party | Liberal | ||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||
Children | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Parent |
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Alma mater |
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Occupation |
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Signature | ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||
John Napier Wyndham Turner PC CC QC (June 7, 1929 – September 19, 2020) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Canada from June to September 1984. He served as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and leader of the Official Opposition from 1984 to 1990.
Turner practised law before being elected as a member of Parliament in the 1962 federal election. He served in the cabinet of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau as minister of justice and attorney general from 1968 to 1972, and minister of finance from 1972 to 1975. As a cabinet minister, Turner came to be known as a leader of the Business Liberal faction of the Liberal Party. Amid a global recession and the prospect of having to implement unpopular wage and price controls, Turner resigned from his position in 1975.
From 1976 to 1984, Turner took a hiatus from politics, working as a corporate lawyer on Bay Street. Trudeau's resignation in 1984 triggered a leadership election, in which Turner successfully contested. Turner held the office of prime minister for just 79 days,[1] as he advised the governor general to dissolve Parliament immediately after being sworn in. He went on to lose the 1984 election in a landslide to Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives, leading the Liberals to the second-worst defeat for a governing party at the federal level (in terms of proportion of seats). Turner stayed on as Liberal leader and led the Opposition for the next six years. In the 1988 election, he vigorously campaigned against Mulroney's proposed free trade agreement with the United States, and led the Liberals to a modest recovery. Turner resigned as party leader in 1990 and did not seek re-election in 1993.
Turner was Canada's first prime minister born in the United Kingdom since Mackenzie Bowell in 1896, Canada's second shortest-serving prime minister behind Charles Tupper,[2] and Canada's fourth longest-lived prime minister, living to the age of 91.
23rd Ministry (1984/06/30 - 1984/09/16) 79 days
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