John Turner

17th Prime Minister of Canada

John Napier Wyndham Turner PC CC QC (June 7, 1929 – September 18, 2020) was a Canadian politician. He was the 17th Prime Minister of Canada from June 30 to September 17, 1984. He was the leader of the Liberal Party. He was born in Surrey, England. He and his mother moved to British Columbia in 1932 when his father died.


John Turner

Turner in 1987
17th Prime Minister of Canada
In office
June 30, 1984 – September 17, 1984
MonarchElizabeth II
Governor GeneralJeanne Sauvé
DeputyJean Chrétien
Preceded byPierre Trudeau
Succeeded byBrian Mulroney
Leader of the Opposition
In office
September 17, 1984 – February 7, 1990
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterBrian Mulroney
Preceded byBrian Mulroney
Succeeded byHerb Gray
Minister of Finance
In office
January 28, 1972 – September 10, 1975
Prime MinisterPierre Trudeau
Preceded byEdgar Benson
Succeeded byBud Drury (Acting)
Minister of Justice
Attorney General of Canada
In office
July 6, 1968 – January 28, 1972
Prime MinisterPierre Trudeau
Preceded byPierre Trudeau
Succeeded byOtto Lang
Solicitor General of Canada
In office
April 20, 1968 – July 5, 1968
Prime MinisterPierre Trudeau
Preceded byLawrence Pennell
Succeeded byGeorge McIlraith
Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs
Registrar General of Canada
In office
December 21, 1967 – July 5, 1968
Prime MinisterLester Pearson
Pierre Trudeau
Preceded byGuy Favreau
Succeeded byGeorge McIlraith
Member of Parliament
for St. Lawrence—St. George
In office
June 18, 1962 – June 25, 1968
Preceded byEgan Chambers
Succeeded byDistrict abolished
Member of Parliament
for Ottawa—Carleton
In office
June 25, 1968 – February 12, 1976
Preceded byPaul Tardif
Succeeded byJean Pigott
Member of Parliament
for Vancouver Quadra
In office
September 4, 1984 – October 25, 1993
Preceded byBill Clarke
Succeeded byTed McWhinney
Personal details
Born
John Napier Wyndham Turner

(1929-06-07)June 7, 1929
Richmond, Surrey, England, United Kingdom
DiedSeptember 18, 2020(2020-09-18) (aged 91)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Political partyLiberal
Spouse(s)
Geills Kilgour (m. 1963)
Children4
ParentsLeonard Turner
Phyllis Ross
ResidenceDeer Park, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Alma materUniversity of British Columbia
Magdalen College, Oxford
University of Paris
OccupationLawyer
Signature

Turner was elected as a member of Parliament in 1962. He held several positions in Cabinet, including minister of justice and minister of finance under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau from 1968 to 1975.[1] He resigned his ministry in 1975,[2] and took a break from politics until 1984. During this time, he worked as a lawyer in Toronto. In 1984, Turner returned and successfully ran for the leadership of the Liberal Party. Turner held the office of Prime Minister for just 79 days. Immediately after being sworn in as Prime Minister, he dissolved Parliament and called for new elections.[3] He lost that election by a wide margin.[4] Turner remained as leader of the Liberal Party, and was the Leader of the Opposition for the next six years. His party slightly recovered in the 1988 election. Turner resigned as Opposition leader in 1990, and retired from politics in 1993. He worked as a lawyer he stopped being a politician.

Turner died on September 18, 2020 in Toronto at the age of 91.[5]

References change

  1. Paul Litt (2011). Elusive Destiny:The Political Vocation of John Napier Turner. UBC Press. pp. 5–7.
  2. Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Memoirs, (McClelland & Stewart, 1993).
  3. Mulroney: The Politics of Ambition, by John Sawatsky, Toronto 1991, McFarlane, Walter, and Ross publishers.
  4. Howard Rae Penniman (1988). Canada at the Polls, 1984: A Study of the Federal General Elections. Duke U.P. p. 37.
  5. "John Turner, PM and Liberal leader who battled free trade with U.S., dead at 91". CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. September 19, 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2020.

Other websites change

  Media related to John Turner at Wikimedia Commons   Quotations related to John Turner at Wikiquote