Turner to Resign as Liberal Party Leader in Canada

John Turner, who led a dramatic but unsuccessful fight against Canada’s free trade agreement with the United States, announced Wednesday that he is stepping down as leader of the opposition Liberal Party.

The Liberals lost twice to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservative Party since Turner took over the leadership in 1984. The most recent defeat was in November, 1988.

“It is my intention to resign as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada at an appropriate time, after the national executive has chosen a date for a leadership convention,” Turner said in a letter released at an Ottawa news conference.

“I do feel regret that I was not able to accomplish the ultimate goal of a politician: To win an election and become prime minister,” Turner said.

Turner, 59, inherited the prime minister’s job in 1984 after Pierre Trudeau resigned, but Turner’s term lasted only 79 days. He and the Liberals were ousted by Mulroney and the Conservatives in an election that left barely 40 Liberals in the Commons.

Much of his era as Liberal leader was marked by fierce internal battles within the party, which dominated Canadian politics for much of the 20th century.

Turner, a lawyer, revived his own and his party’s sagging fortunes with a persistent, emotional campaign against the free trade agreement that Mulroney signed with then-President Ronald Reagan in January, 1988.