CHRETIEN, JEAN

born Jan. 11, 1934, Shawinigan, Que., Can. Jean Chretien, 1994. in full Joseph-Jacques-Jean Chrtien Canadian lawyer and Liberal Party politician who became prime minister of Canada in 1993. Born the 18th of 19 children of a working-class family, Chrtien studied law at Laval University and was called to the bar in Quebec in 1958. Long interested in politics, he was first elected to the House of Commons in 1963 and was reelected thereafter through 1984. In the successive administrations of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Chrtien became a parliamentary secretary to the prime minister in 1965, a minister of state in 1967, and minister of national revenue in 1968. He served as minister of Indian affairs and northern development from 1968 to 1974 and became the first French Canadian ever to hold the post of minister of finance in 1977. Known as an incisive and shrewd administrator, he went on to serve as minister of justice and attorney general (1980-82), minister of energy (1982-84), and deputy prime minister (1984). After losing to John Turner in a contest to succeed Trudeau as head of the Liberal Party, Chrtien resigned his seat in the House of Commons in 1986. He was reelected to Parliament in 1990 and took over the leadership of the Liberals that same year. Chrtien led his party to a landslide victory over the governing Progressive Conservative Party in national elections on October 25, 1993, and became prime minister of Canada on November 4. In 1995 he faced a great crisis as voters in Quebec, a predominantly French-speaking province, narrowly rejected secession. Quebec independence remained a central concern, though the movement had weakened by the end of the 20th century.