The decision by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step aside after a Liberal leadership race and let someone else lead his party into the next election means that Canada will – briefly – have a prime minister who never ran in a national campaign.
While Canadians often treat their votes in general elections as a vote for a party and its leader, prime ministers are not elected. The prime minister is typically the leader of a party that commands the confidence of the House of Commons.
The track record for parties replacing the prime minister ahead of an election yields mixed results.
True North is going over the most recent examples in Canadian history of a prime minister resigning to make way for a new party leader ahead of an election.
Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson to Pierre Elliott Trudeau
In 1963, Liberal leader Lester B. Pearson managed to defeat the Conservative government of John Diefenbaker, forming a minority government.
Pearson would lead the Liberals in an election in 1965, once again winning the election with a minority government.
This election would see Liberal newcomer Pierre Elliott Trudeau elected in the safe Grit riding of Mount Royal.
Just two weeks before year’s end in 1967, Pearson announced his intention to resign as the Liberals’ leader and as prime minister.
At the Liberal party’s leadership convention in April 1968, Pierre Trudeau won the race and was sworn in as prime minister soon after.
Trudeau would immediately call an election in June, winning the election and forming a majority government.
Trudeau would go on to serve as one of Canada’s longest serving prime ministers, winning four elections and governing for 15 years, albeit with a short break between his final two terms.
Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau to John Turner
During Trudeau’s tenure as prime minister, he appointed John Turner as his minister of justice, serving in the role for four years. After that, Turner was made minister of finance in 1972.
However, in 1975, Turner resigned after a disagreement with the prime minister over the implementation of price controls and returned to working in the private sector.
After winning the 1980 election and patriating the Canadian constitution in 1982, Pierre Trudeau had become deeply unpopular, and decided to announce his intention to “take a walk in the snow” and resign as Liberal leader and prime minister.
Turner decided to return to politics and won the Liberal leadership race in June 1984, defeating Liberal cabinet minister Jean Chrétien.
After being sworn in as prime minister, Turner decided to call for an election one year before an election was due, despite the Liberals trailing Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservatives in the polls.
Turner led the Liberals to a remarkable defeat in the 1984 election, winning just 40 seats to the Progressive Conservatives’ 211 and the NDP’s 30.
Turner would contest the next election as Liberal leader in 1988 but lost to Mulroney’s Tories once again.
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney to Kim Campbell
Despite having won the 1984 and 1988 elections, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney was deeply unpopular with the Canadian people by the early 1990s.
After failing to pass constitutional reform and allowing his political coalition in Western Canada and Quebec to collapse, Mulroney announced his intention to resign as prime minister and leader of the Progressive Conservatives in February 1993.
After the PCs conducted a months-long leadership race, former attorney general and defence minister Kim Campbell won the leadership by narrowly defeating environment minister Jean Charest.
Campbell saw a brief moment of popularity after ascending to the premiership, but quickly saw her support dissipate and her opponent Chrétien’s support rise.
After running a disastrous campaign, Campbell’s PCs were levelled by the electorate, only winning two seats to the Liberals’ 177, the Bloc Québécois’ 54, the Reform Party’s 52, and the NDP’s nine.
The 1993 election marked the worst electoral defeat for an incumbent party in Canadian history and would mark the end of the Progressive Conservative party’s ability to legitimately compete in federal elections.
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to Paul Martin
After forming three straight majority governments in 1993, 1997, and 2000, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien faced a revolt from his finance minister and intra-party rival Paul Martin.
In 2002, Martin resigned from the cabinet and began geering up to contest Chrétien’s leadership of the Liberal party.
After seeing his support within the party wane, Chrétien announced in August 2002 his plan to resign as Liberal leader and prime minister, stepping down a year later on Dec. 12, 2003.
Martin easily won the leadership race to replace Chrétien and after half a year of governing, he called for an election to be held on June 28, 2004.
Martin’s Liberals won the 2004 election, though they were reduced to a minority government in the face of gains by the new Conservative party.
Martin would eventually lose the confidence of the House in late 2005 and lose the 2006 election to Stephen Harper’s Conservatives.
Like his predecessors, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will hand the leadership of his party and the premiership of Canada to the Liberal who wins the forthcoming leadership race.
According to Angus Reid’s Trudeau Tracker, the prime minister’s popularity is at an all-time low, reaching a disapproval rating of 74% and an approval rating of 22% for a net approval rating of -52%.