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.
