2004 Liberal Party of Canada Infighting - 1990 Convention

1990 Convention

Chrétien and Martin squared off in the 1990 leadership convention after Turner resigned, with Martin being acknowledged as the ideological successor to Turner.

The Meech Lake Accord had been a potentially divisive issue for the Liberals. Trudeau came out of retirement to campaign against the Accord, while Turner and Martin declared their support for it. While Turner had privately opposed many of Trudeau's policies while in Cabinet, Meech Lake was seen as one of the signs of open disagreement among both factions.

Chrétien himself said that he never forgave Martin for some of the "wounds" that the latter inflicted; the most notable was during a leadership debate when Martin supporters shouted "vendu", a French insult meaning sellout.

Although Chrétien won on the first ballot, Martin had a strong second-place showing, which allowed him to force concessions. Martin played a major role in drafting policy during the 1993 federal election. The Liberals, as it turned out, won a landslide majority government, and Martin was appointed to the key post of Minister of Finance.