The Liberal Party of Canada held a leadership election on April 6, 1968. The election was won by Minister of Justice and Attorney General Pierre Elliott Trudeau, who became the new prime minister of Canada as a result. He was the unexpected winner in what was one of the most important leadership conventions in party history. The Globe and Mail's newspaper report the next day called it "the most chaotic, confusing, and emotionally draining convention in Canadian political history."
The convention was held following the announced retirement of Lester B. Pearson, who was a well-respected party leader and prime minister, but who had failed to win a majority government in two attempts. Eight high-profile cabinet ministers entered the race, but by the time the convention began on April 3, the charismatic Trudeau had emerged as the front runner. He was strongly opposed by the party's right wing, but this faction was divided between former Minister of Trade and Commerce Robert Winters and Minister of Transport Paul Hellyer and failed to mount a united opposition. Trudeau won the leadership with the support of 51% delegates on the fourth ballot of the convention.
Pearson retires
Liberal leader and Prime Minister Lester Pearson announced on December 14, 1967, that he would be retiring in April 1968. Pearson had been Liberal leader since 1958 and prime minister since 1963. He was still much liked by the party and by the Canadian people in general, but had failed to win a majority government in the 1963 and 1965 elections. Liberals were also trailing in the polls behind the Progressive Conservatives, whose popular new leader Robert Stanfield had been selected in September 1967.
Long before the actual convention, a vigorous leadership contest had begun. At the outset, the leading candidates were believed to be Secretary of State for External Affairs Paul Martin, Minister of Transport Paul Hellyer, and Minister of Finance Mitchell Sharp. The unofficial Liberal Party tradition was to alternate between francophone and anglophone leaders, and Jean Marchand was considered a possible candidate. Martin was a highly respected veteran minister who had finished second to Pearson in the 1958 convention, and his ambitions to try again for the top job were well known. Hellyer was a former Minister of National Defence who had unified the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force into the Canadian Forces.
Marchand declined to run, however, not being interested and suggesting that his English and health were not good enough to be a national leader. It was seen as necessary for national unity and the health of the party to have a strong Quebec candidate. Marchand and Gérard Pelletier united behind Justice Minister Pierre Trudeau. Trudeau had little experience and was not well known nationally, but had earned some renown for his wit and charisma. He had received plaudits for a wide-ranging overhaul of the criminal code that removed many of the morality laws, such as those against sodomy. Trudeau also had the strong support of top Pearson advisor Marc Lalonde as well as the tacit backing of Pearson himself, who felt it was important that a Francophone finish at least second in the race.
Candidates
About ten days before the convention, the organizing committee of the convention released a list of nine candidates that would be permitted to address delegates at the convention, in response to numerous fringe candidates declaring in the few weeks prior to the convention.
- Joe Greene, 47, agriculture minister since 1965 and MP for Renfrew South, Ontario since 1963
- Paul Hellyer, 44, transport minister since 1967 and had been a Toronto MP since 1949. He served briefly as associate minister of national defence in 1957 in St. Laurent's last government, and as minister of national defence under Pearson prior.
- Eric Kierans, 54, Quebec Liberal MNA since 1963, and a former senior cabinet minister as minister of revenue and then minister of health under Quebec Premier Jean Lesage as well as president of the Quebec Liberal Party.
- Allan MacEachen, 46, health minister since 1965 and MP for Inverness—Richmond, Nova Scotia from 1953 to 1958 and again since 1962, served previously as minister of labour in Pearson's cabinet.
- Paul Martin (Sr.), 64, secretary of state for external affairs since 1963 and MP for Essex East, Ontario since 1935, had first entered Cabinet in 1945 as Secretary of State of Canada in the King ministry, served as minister of national health and welfare in the St. Laurent ministry. He was the runner-up to Pearson in the 1958 leadership convention.
- Mitchell Sharp, 57, finance minister since 1965 and MP for Eglinton, Ontario since 1963. He was and previously trade and commerce minister. Withdrew the day before the convention and endorsed Trudeau.
- Pierre Elliot Trudeau, 48, justice minister since 1967 and MP for Mount Royal, Quebec, since 1965. Before entering politics he had been a law professor, writer, and founder and editor of the dissident journal Cité Libre.
- John Turner, 38, minister of consumer and corporate affairs since 1967 and MP for St. Lawrence—St. George, Quebec since 1962. He entered cabinet as a minister without portfolio in 1965.
- Robert Winters, 57, trade and commerce minister since 1966 and MP for York West, Ontario since 1965. He was previously MP for Queens--Lunenburg, Nova Scotia 1945-1957 and a public work minister, resources and development minister and reconstruction minister during the post-war years in the St. Laurent ministry. He lost his seat at the 1957 election and became a corporate executive in Toronto, and was persuaded to return to politics by Pearson.
Two fringe candidates managed to secure 50 delegate signature by close of nomination to get on the ballot, and were allocated time to address delegates.
- Harold Lloyd Henderson, 61, was a Presbyterian minister and the former mayor of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. He had stood in the 1958 Liberal leadership convention, where he received a single vote.
- Ernst Zündel, 29, a German immigrant self-described as a "nuisance candidate", campaigned on a "immigrant rights" and "national unity" platform. He delivered his convention speech and withdrew before balloting. Decades later he would gain infamy as Canada's most prolific Holocaust denier, but his view was not known then as he published his opinions under the pseudonym.
The candidacies of other fringe candidates were announced by the party, were not placed on the ballot as they did not obtain the 50 delegate signatures required:
- Ronald Ball, 36, of Toronto
- James Belding, 23 of Fredericton, a student at the University of New Brunswick, on platform of being a voice for the youth, and for post secondary education funding
- Theodore Greenslade, of Cornwall, candidacy announced by the party, but he later claimed his name was submitted without his knowledge.
- Leonard Kruger, 55, of Winnipeg, a music writer, campaign to introduce a space-age calendar to increase the number of Sundays from 52 to 61 per year.
- John Kroeker, 38, of Ottawa, a disgruntle former public servant fired from the finance department in 1965 for public criticism of the Canada Pension Plan.
- Lionel Laframboise, 46, of Elliot Lake, a mine development agent and an salesman of the Paul Desmarais Bus Lines, insured his emblemaic mustache for $1 million with Lloyd's of London for the duration of the campaign.
- Gerry Reinboth, 56, of Toronto, a welfare worker
- Rod Woodcock, 21, of Edmonton, withdrew prior to convention and endorsed Trudeau, he would later be the runner-up to Bob Russell at the 1971 Alberta Liberal leadership convention with 51 votes.
The campaign
The campaign consisted of trying to win over the almost twenty-four hundred delegates who would go to the April convention. These consisted of prominent Liberals from across the country and also ordinary party members elected by each riding association. The campaign lasted from after the Christmas recess up to the convention. Parliament was in session during this period and since all the major candidates were important cabinet ministers finding time to campaign was difficult. Thus it mostly consisted of the candidates taking short trips to various parts of the country to try to win over delegates.
Trudeau campaign
As Trudeau gained more public exposure, his popularity grew. Trudeau is believed to have decided he would run while on holiday in Tahiti over the Christmas break of 1967. The winter of 1968 was dominated by the lead-up to a February constitutional convention, at which Trudeau as justice minister was expected to play an important role. Lalonde, with the approval of Pearson, organized a pre-convention national tour in which Trudeau met with each of the premiers to talk about the constitution, and also to get guaranteed news coverage. One of his most important meetings was with Newfoundland Premier Joey Smallwood, whom Trudeau sufficiently impressed to earn Smallwood's lasting support. At the constitutional convention itself, Trudeau made a strong impression by outmanoeuvring and outdebating Quebec Premier Daniel Johnson, Sr. on national television. Johnson, and many others, felt that French Canadian disaffection could only be addressed by giving Quebec more autonomy. Trudeau rejected this approach, arguing that the best way to protect the interests of French Canadians was to guarantee their rights across Canada. On February 17, only days after this success, Trudeau declared himself as an official candidate for the Liberal leadership.
To the surprise of many, Trudeau became one of the prime contenders. Marchand played a leading role in Trudeau's campaign and brought in many supporters, especially in Quebec. Trudeau received endorsements from three cabinet ministers, and two provincial premiers, with Louis Robichaud of New Brunswick joining Smallwood. Trudeau's charisma and attention-grabbing behaviour earned him far more media coverage than any other candidate. A Université Laval study found that from January 1 to March 20, Trudeau had received 26% percent of the media coverage devoted to the nine candidates running. Finance Minister Mitchell Sharp was a distant second, with only 16%. Trudeau also received attention outside Canada, being profiled in both the British and American media.
By the end of the campaign, Trudeau was unquestionably the most popular figure among the Canadian public. A public opinion poll gave Trudeau 32% support, Martin 14% and Winters 10%, with the other candidates in single digits. Many within the Liberal Party still had deep doubts about him, however. He was a recent convert, having joined the party only in 1965, and was still considered an outsider. Some saw him as too radical and outspoken a figure and bitterly opposed his views on divorce, abortion and homosexuality. A number of minor scandals also broke out, including one where articles written by Trudeau that were deeply critical of Pearson, especially of the decision to accept nuclear weapons in Canada, were republished. Trudeau was also forced to explain why he had been blacklisted by the United States in the 1950s. His campaign was not run by professional political consultants, instead being directed by a group of young, extremely well educated amateurs such as Gordon Gibson and Jim Davey. The team impressed many, but it also made a number of errors.