Jean Chretien 10 Personal Facts, Biography, Wiki
Former Prime Minister of Canada Born: January 11, 1934 (age 87 years), Shawinigan, Canada Height: 1.83 m Spouse: Aline Chrétien (m. 1957–2020) Party: Liberal Party of Canada Children: France Chrétien Desmarais, Hubert Chrétien, Michel Chrétien Siblings: Michel Chrétien Birthday: January 11, 1934 Age: 87 Years, 87 Year Old Males Sun Sign: Capricorn Also Known As: Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien, Jean Chretien Born In: Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada Famous As: 20th Prime Minister Of Canada Spouse/Ex-: Aline Chrétien Father: Wellie Chrétien Mother: Marie Boisvert Siblings: Michel Chrétien Children: France Chrétien Desmarais, Hubert Chrétien, Michel Chrétien
Jean Chretien 10 Pics, Photos, Pictures
Jean Chretien 10 Fast Facts, Biography, Wiki
Chrétien married Aline Chaîné of Shawinigan on September 10, 1957. They were married 63 years before Aline’s death at 84 years of age, on September 12, 2020. They had three children: France (b. 1958), Hubert (b. 1965) and Michel (b. 1968), who was adopted in 1970. France Chrétien Desmarais, who is a lawyer, is married to André Desmarais, the son of Paul Desmarais, Sr., and the president and co-chief executive officer of his father’s company the Power Corporation, based in Montreal, Canada. His nephew Raymond Chrétien was appointed by his uncle as the Canadian ambassador to the United States. Like his close friend Bill Clinton (b. 1946), Jean Chretien was a moderate, pragmatic leader who presided over the “peace and prosperity” that defined the western world in the 1990s. An often goofy, fun-loving “little guy” known for his half-paralyzed face and strong French-Canadian accent, Chretien’s easygoing style and cheery patriotism kept him personally popular in the face of partisan critics. A Liberal from a young age, Chretien was raised in a poor Quebec family and never fully mastered English. Rising to become a successful lawyer, in 1963 at age 29 he was elected to Parliament where he would proceed to sit for almost 40 uninterrupted years. After serving briefly in the cabinet of Lester Pearson (1897-1972), Chretien became the right-hand man of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau (1919-2000), holding almost every important ministry at some point during Trudeau’s 15-year administration. In 1984 Chretien lost the battle to succeed Trudeau to John Turner (b. 1939), but then replaced Turner as Liberal leader in 1988. He was elected prime minister in 1993, riding a wave of disgust with the incumbent Progressive Conservatives. Chretien led Canada for the remainder of the 1990s and, working with his popular finance minister, Paul Martin (b. 1938), helped get the country’s ballooning debt and deficits under control, through spending cuts, tax cuts, and shifting more responsibilities to provincial governments. The country enjoyed a period of record economic growth, which in turn made his government broadly trusted by voters. Quebec nationalism became a defining theme of his second term, and though a 1995 referendum on separation was narrowly voted down in the French province, the outcome was nail-bitingly close. His popularity took a hit near the end of his third term after a major controversy known as the Sponsorship Scandal erupted, when it was revealed Chretien’s political party had secretly laundered tax dollars to itself through phony government contracts for anti-separatism initiatives. A critic of U.S. President George W. Bush (b. 1946), Chretien sent Canadian troops to Afghanistan to fight Islamist radicals shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, but allied with the European leaders who opposed the U.S.-led Iraq War of 2003. He stepped down in 2003 and returned to legal work. He remains an active “elder statesman” within the Liberal Party and occasionally speaks out on issues.
