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Tue 18 Nov, 2003 05:24 pm
Canadian PM Stepping Down
TORONTO, Nov. 18, 2003
Prime Minister Jean Chretien announced Tuesday he will step down on Dec. 12 after attending a Commonwealth meeting in Nigeria.
Chretien, who turns 70 in January, previously said he would retire as prime minister by February 2004. His former finance minister, Paul Martin, was chosen leader of the governing Liberal Party last week and automatically becomes prime minister when Chretien leaves office.
Chretien was expected to leave before February to comply with the desires of Martin, the Liberal Party and opposition parties for the transition to proceed.
Martin and Chretien met for 45 minutes Tuesday to work out a transition schedule, and they emerged to make the announcement.
"I'll offer him my best wishes and good luck. I will observe from the sidelines," Chretien said. "If he feels he wants to consult me, he knows my number."
Among Chretien's last orders of business will be attending the Commonwealth summit in Abuja, Nigeria, on Dec. 5-8. The meeting is expected to focus on Zimbabwe, which has been suspended from the organization of former British colonies due to repressive policies under President Robert Mugabe.
Since last week's overwhelming victory to succeed Chretien as Liberal leader, Martin has met with provincial and municipal leaders as part of a continuing campaign to promote his incoming government as a change from the three previous governments under Chretien.
In Canada's political system, the majority party in Parliament forms the government, with its leader as prime minister. No election is required for Martin to succeed Chretien, but Martin has indicated he will call one next year to seek a fresh five-year mandate instead of just serving out the final two years of Chretien's term.
Martin, 65, is a fiscal conservative credited with balancing Canada's budget during his nine years as finance minister. The son of a longtime Liberal Cabinet minister, Martin also promises an activist government for social policies.
Martin and Chretien are not close. According to the Toronto Globe & Mail, Tuesday's meeting was their first in 17 months.
A top priority will be soothing tensions between Canada and the United States after sour relations between Chretien and President Bush. The two countries share the world's biggest trade partnership, worth $1.4 billion a day.
Chretien angered Mr. Bush this year by refusing to take part in the war in Iraq, prompting the U.S. president to cancel a visit to Ottawa in May. Before then, some of Chretien's subordinates publicly ridiculed Mr. Bush over his unilateral policies, with one quoted as calling him a moron.
The prime minister said as early as August 2002 that he would be leaving office.
New prime minister takes over Dec. 12
C B C . C A N e w s - F u l l S t o r y :
New prime minister takes over Dec. 12
Last Updated Tue Nov 18 17:33:19 2003
OTTAWA-- The long-awaited transition of power from Jean Chrétien to Paul Martin will take place on Dec. 12, the two men agreed on Tuesday.
That moves up Chrétien's retirement about two months - from the February 2004 timetable he set nearly a year and a half ago - and means Martin has some fast work to do.
"We've got to prepare now for the transfer of power," Martin said. "The first priority will be obviously to put together a cabinet and set up the Prime Minister's Office."
Tuesday was the first time the longtime rivals had a face-to-face business meeting in 17 months, since Martin left Chrétien's cabinet in which he served as finance minister.
Martin won the Liberal leadership at a weekend convention in Toronto, where Chrétien had joked that the secrecy surrounding his date of departure was the only source of drama.
There had been speculation Chrétien would stay in 24 Sussex Drive through Christmas, but he told reporters on Tuesday he was ready to move.
"The apartment is ready since six weeks," he said. "The bed is already made
"Some say that Paul was patient - my wife was even much more patient."
Martin has been waiting since 1990, when he lost the Liberal leadership to Chrétien.
Chrétien said he would go to a meeting of Commonwealth nations in Nigeria in early December. The meeting will discuss a number of important issues, he said, and Martin will be busy forming his cabinet at the time.
Chrétien prorogued Parliament last week, leaving a number of key bills in limbo.
They include bills to create an independent ethics commissioner, redraw riding boundaries and add seven seats to the House of Commons, ban human cloning, and decriminalize possession of marijuana.
Chrétien said he believes those bills will still be passed.
Written by CBC News Online staff
I think it's going to be interesting up here.
Tellin' it like it is.
Quote:Some of Chretien's subordinates publicly ridiculed Mr. Bush over his unilateral policies, with one quoted as calling him a moron.
Hmmm.... Canadians seem to have a bad habit of uttering reality out loud. Canada is looin' better to me every day.
I, for one will miss Chrétien :-(
pistoff - sometimes I'm afraid more people will find out how wonderful it really is to be a Canadian.
doughnut lovers, anyway . . .
ehBeth wrote:pistoff - sometimes I'm afraid more people will find out how wonderful it really is to be a Canadian.
I try not to tell people, but it slips sometimes
Canada has remained sane.
Four more years of Shrub and Canada may get an immigration boom.
Re: Canada has remained sane.
pistoff wrote:Four more years of Shrub and Canada may get an immigration boom.
Well then, you'll have to change your avatar because we don't have faces like that here.
I've seen pissed off people in Canadia, and gotten the two finger salute on the highways, as well . . .
No problem.
I won't be so pistoff if I live there, right? :wink:
You've got a definite point there, pistoff.
Well, we do get pissed off too, but there are more smiles than I've seen anywhere else.
I actually yelled at a guy today for flinging open his truck door right when I was going by when there wasn't anything behind me. They all do that in my corner of Canada and I just can't get use to that.
I didn't realize Canada had a Prime Minister. I was always under the impression that Canada was an Anarchy and that guys in red plaid hats with those funky-lookin' ear flaps ran around, blind drunk, shooting at bear, moose, and elk while the womenfolk stayed inside their igloos and made quilts out of seal fat.
I guess I'd better read up on Canada.
That's right Gus. Elmer Fudd hasn't been our leader in a very long time. It is almost 2004 you know.
Hurry up, Gus. It's getting cold, and Montana's waiting.
montana wrote : "i for one will miss Chrétien ". the writers for canadian political comedy ("this hour has 22 minutes" is the best example) are crying; they don't think they'll have as good a target for a long time. besides, chretien was always willing to play right along when approched by one of the character players; as long as he was allowed to be "in the scene" he didn't mind if anyone made fun of him(it was the exposure that was important to him - and seems to be to the last minute. even today when he allowed cameras to record a part of his meeting with paul martin, he traded verbal punches with the reporters. of course he has even traded real punches in the past and was well known for putting a chokehold on a protester - no secret service intervention needed.sorry, but martin is a pretty pale bit player). hbg
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