Throughout 1983-84, the
Liberals recognized that Trudeau was
going to resign before the next election
and many supports of Turners tried to
lay the groundwork for his return as
leader. Although he was viewed by many
within the party and across the country
as the natural successor to Trudeau, the
Chretien forces put up a strong fight
and the battle between the two split the
party just enough to make Turners win
bitter sweet.
Upon become
leader of the Liberal party in 1984 and
hence Prime Minister he faced a nation
which, except for Clark's brief
interlude, had been governed by the
Liberals for almost 20 years. The polls
took a big upswing for Turner and the
Liberals during the leadership
convention and right after he entered
office. He was face with the choice of
gambling that his popularity as new
leader might help him win a quick
election call or he could wait and try
to put together a new plan and rally the
troops while hoping that the poll
numbers for him would not evaporate. He
chose to go to people early.
The campaign was a
difficult one with a still tired Turner,
from the leadership campaign, out on the
road again. He was also saddled with the
negative issues of the Trudeau years and
the desire by many for a change. ne of
the main issues of the election were
some patronage appointments which were
made and which he approved of which
although traditional and in line with
past practices and standards, did not go
down well with the electorate. The
Conservatives jumped on these
appointments and made them into a banner
of corrupt Liberal practices. Turner and
the Liberals were badly beaten.
When Joe Clark received
just over 66% of the parties support at
a convention in 1982 he called a
leadership convention and Mulroney
immediately began to campaign behind he
scenes. On June 11th, 1983 he beat Clark
on ballot 4 and took over the leadership
with no Parliamentary experience but a
good chance of winning the next
election.
The race against the new
Liberal leader, John Turner in September
of 1984 resulted in the largest victory
in Canadian Federal electoral history
and made Mulroney Prime Minster.
Once in power Mulroney
began to dismantle and discard many
Liberal policies and programs from the
previous 20 years. He was faced with a
difficult combination of expectations
within his caucus and party. The western
Conservatives were mainly interested in
provincial rights and socially
conservative issues, Ontario and
maritime conservatives wanted to support
business and get the economy under
control and the Quebec nationalist which
had joined his coalition expected
considerable concessions for the
province.
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